The Gap Between Best Practices and Reality: A Systematic Review on the Interventions With Incarcerated Women

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Rising global female incarceration rates necessitate specialized interventions.
• Women in prison often have unique vulnerabilities linked to adverse and traumatic experiences.
• Effective interventions must be gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and needs-based.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent psychosocial interventions for incarcerated women.
• To analyze treatment modalities, targets, and theoretical models used.
• To assess adherence to recommended principles like gender-responsivity and trauma-informed care.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
• Searched 5 databases, yielding 66 relevant articles.
• Analyzed interventions for treatment targets, duration, format, and theoretical underpinnings.

Main Results:

• Most interventions targeted a range of issues relevant to women's specific needs.
• Program duration, format, and multimodality were rarely adapted to gendered and trauma-related needs.
• Only 29 studies reported gender-responsive interventions, 18 trauma-informed, and 5 utilized the risk-needs-responsivity model.

Conclusions:

• A significant gap exists between current interventions for incarcerated women and evidence-based best practices.
• Interventions often lack sufficient duration, appropriate format, and multimodality.
• There is a critical need to implement gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and needs-based approaches in female correctional facilities.