Return to reoffending

This chapter focuses on the factors associated with the women who returned to prison. It considers when they went back to prison, the offences they committed, their risk levels, their criminal history, age, drug use, length of their original sentence, finances, children, prison programmes, housing, substance use, mental health and support from parole. Women who had a diagnosis of mental health conditions, commonly anxiety and depression, those who were on medication for mental health issues and those who reported mental health issues when in prison returned to prison more often than women who showed no evidence of mental health issues. Women who said that the problems which led them to offending before release were also likely to be problems for them following release returned to prison at a rate of 62 per cent. Women who received parole returned to prison less often.