Using meta-analytic approaches, we examined whether interventions for women offenders are effective in reducing recidivism, as well as whether gender-informed and gender-neutral interventions differ in their effectiveness. Across 38 effect sizes reflecting 37 studies and nearly 22,000 women offenders, women who participated in correctional interventions had 22% to 35% greater odds of community success than non-participants. In other words, correctional interventions for women are at least as effective as the published rates for men. Across all 38 effect sizes, gender-informed and gender-neutral interventions were equally effective; however, when analyses were limited to 18 effect sizes associated with studies of higher methodological quality, gender-informed interventions were significantly more likely to be associated with reductions in recidivism. These findings support recent research indicating that women and girls are more likely to respond well to gender-informed approaches if their backgrounds and pathways to offending are associated with gendered issues.

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Two samples of Canadian federal female offender case files are used to develop and test a gender-informed security reclassification scale. Study 1 uses 285 consecutive offender security level (OSL) reviews for federally sentenced women to empirically construct the Security Reclassification Scale for Women (SRSW). Study 2 uses all federal female OSL reviews that occurred between July 2000 and June 2003 ( n = 580) to test the validity and reliability of the SRSW. Results suggest that the SRSW is a reliable and valid tool for the security classification of federally sentenced women in Canada. Relative to the current classification method, the SRSW places fewer cases at maximum security and more cases at minimum security. Within a fixed 3-month follow-up, the SRSW is significantly more predictive of minor institutional misconduct than the structured clinical method currently in use. Results are discussed in terms of both theoretical and operational implications.

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