ABSTRACT
The reciprocal nature of incarceration and social exclusion is particularly evident when considering the life experiences of cognitively disabled women who come to the attention of criminal justice authorities. Throughout this study, exclusion arising from factors such as mental illness, cognitive disability, substance misuse, poverty, homelessness, and challenging behaviours, was apparent at all stages of the women’s lives. Family violence and dysfunction, intergenerational substance use and criminality, low or no engagement with education and/or employment, unsuitable peer associations, and Indigeneity, ensured the women remained socially marginalised. Exclusion was also a significant aspect of the carceral setting, where the impact of cognitive disability included susceptibility to bullying, threats, and coercive control by other prisoners and custodial staff. While prison practitioners recognised the imperative for trauma-informed support for mental illness, interventions for challenging and addictive behaviours, criminogenic needs, and all-important adaptive skills, they also acknowledged the prison’s limited capacity to do this.
