ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies ways forward to support women, and offer thoughts on how best to ensure they are properly seen, and attended to, rather than overlooked or perceived through a distorting lens. The chapter outlines some of the initiatives that attempt to address this dilemma, and to both see and respond to the women in their true complexity. The Ministry of Justice is committed to funding pilot women’s residential units and evaluating their success in terms of enhancing female offenders’ treatment, retaining their community ties and diverting them from custody wherever possible. For women to ‘go straight’ they need hope, and a narrative that offers meaning and a life story in which they are viewed as active agents, capable of choosing and living meaningful and pro-social lives. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
