Table Of Content‘IT WAS DO OR DIE’ – HOW A WOMAN’S EXPERIENCE OF DOMESTIC
ABUSE CAN INFLUENCE HER INVOLVEMENT IN CRIME: A QUALITATIVE
INVESTIGATION OF THE EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY-BASED FEMALE
OFFENDERS
Thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Leicester
by
Joanna Marie Roberts BA (Hons), MSc Econ
Department of Criminology
University of Leicester
2015
‘It was do or die’ – How a woman’s experience of domestic abuse can
influence her involvement in crime: A qualitative investigation of the
experiences of community-based female offenders.
Joanna Marie Roberts
Abstract
Female offenders are far more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than the
general female population. Yet despite wide acknowledgement of a relationship
between domestic abuse and female offending there is a lack of research seeking to
explore how this relationship operates. Therefore the central premise of this research
was to examine ways in which a woman’s experience of domestic abuse may influence
her involvement in crime. By focusing upon how women cope with their experiences
of domestic abuse this research explored how women’s actions and reactions, in
response to the abuse they experience, affected their offending.
The study was approached from a combined feminist and symbolic interactionist
perspective, drawing upon interviews with 25 community-based female offenders who
had experienced domestic abuse, placing the women’s own voices and perspectives at
the very centre of the discourse. A supplementary sample of 15 probation service
practitioners were also interviewed to draw upon their experiences of supervising
female offenders.
The research findings reveal how women’s situated, subjective and individualised
experiences within, and responses to, their abusive relationships can directly or
indirectly influence their offending. Consequently, this research demonstrates that
women’s criminal offences can occur in a much wider context than has previously
been understood when examining the relationship between domestic abuse and
women’s offending. Rather than women offending against, or with, an abuse
perpetrator, or being forced or coerced by an abuse perpetrator to commit crime, this
research illustrates the broader and longitudinal effects of domestic abuse.
Significantly, women’s offences occur without their abuser present, after the
relationship has ended, or even years after the abuse has ceased, yet their actions can
still be attributed to their experience of domestic abuse. The findings have significant
implications for criminal justice policy and practice including magistrates’ training,
completion of pre-sentence reports and sentence compliance.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Department of Criminology at the
University of Leicester for funding my studies. Without the financial assistance my
scholarship provided it would not have been possible for me to pursue a doctoral
degree, something which had been a long-held ambition of mine, and for this I am
extremely appreciative.
I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to my supervisors, Dr Sarah Hodgkinson, Dr
Rebecca Barnes and Professor Carol Hedderman for their much valued knowledge and
guidance. Words cannot do justice to the unwavering support, encouragement and
enthusiasm provided by Dr Sarah Hodgkinson, without which I would never have
completed this doctorate.
I would like to thank both the Wales Probation Trust and Llamau for allowing me to
access my research sample through their services. I would also like to recognise the
involvement of the Wales Probation Trust practitioners. I was genuinely touched by
the interest shown in my research, the assistance provided, and the contributions of a
large number of individuals throughout my fieldwork.
I am of course immensely grateful to my family for the endless support they have
provided throughout my PhD. I appreciate the time my Mum invested in listening to
and discussing my ideas, theories and concerns. But I particularly wish to acknowledge
my sister’s unrelenting belief in me which has been a driving force throughout my
entire doctoral studies. I cannot express how grateful I am to her for her help, ideas,
contributions, reflections and constant words of encouragement.
I would like to conclude my acknowledgements by thanking all of the women who
participated in this research for sharing their stories with me, something which
required honesty, bravery and strength. The stories of the women comprise the
foundations of this entire study therefore without their involvement this research
would never have been possible.
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Table of contents
Abstract ii
Acknowledgements iii
Table of contents iv
List of figures xi
List of abbreviations xii
List of publications and conference papers xiv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Context 1
1.2 Structure of the thesis 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1 Introduction 8
2.2 Domestic abuse 9
a. Definition of domestic abuse 9
b. The gendered nature of domestic abuse 14
2.3 Women’s involvement in crime 16
a. The extent, nature and seriousness of women’s crime 16
b. Situating women’s offending within a gendered context:
Gendered pathways to crime 18
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2.4 The relationship between domestic abuse and women’s
offending 19
a. The prevalence of victimisation within the backgrounds
of female offenders 19
b. An internationally recognised relationship 25
c. The complex relationship between domestic abuse
and female offending 26
d. How male co-defendants can influence women’s
involvement in crime: Use of coercion and abuse 27
e. The relationship between domestic abuse and
female offending: A review of the existing qualitative
literature 34
f. The effect of domestic abuse victimisation on
women’s more typical forms of offending 37
g. How responding to domestic abuse can affect
women’s involvement in crime: Coping mechanisms
and survival strategies 51
2.5 Research overview and questions 56
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 60
3.1 Introduction 60
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3.2 Ontological and Epistemological Positioning 60
a. Feminist epistemologies 60
b. Symbolic interactionism 69
3.3 Research Design and Methods 74
a. From theory to practice – connecting epistemology to
research methods 74
b. A qualitative approach 74
c. In-depth semi-structured interviews 76
d. Interview design and duration 78
3.4 Sampling 80
a. Initial sample 81
b. Sample numbers 82
c. Sampling amendment – supplementary probation
service practitioner sample 85
d. Sample composition 86
i. Female offender sample 86
ii. Practitioner sample 87
3.5 Ethical considerations 89
a. Informed consent and participant recruitment 91
b. Safety and protection from harm 95
c. The researcher’s knowledge of domestic abuse 96
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d. Supporting research participants 97
e. Confidentiality and anonymity 101
f. Addressing power hierarchies and reflexivity 103
g. Ethical approval 103
3.6 Writing up and data analysis 104
3.7 Presenting the data 107
a. In her own words 110
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS – SUBJUGATION
AND SELF-PRESERVATION 112
4.1 Explaining the relationship between domestic abuse
and women’s offending: how a woman’s experience
of domestic abuse can influence her involvement in
crime 112
a. How women’s forms of coping with domestic abuse
can influence their involvement in crime 114
b. Women’s diverse means of coping with, or responding
to, domestic abuse 115
c. How women cope: Subjugation, self-preservation, survival
and subversion 116
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d. The wide-reaching effect of domestic abuse upon women’s
behaviour 118
4.2 Subjugation 119
a. Subjugation A: Using the Criminal Justice System as a
tool of domestic abuse 119
b. Subjugation B: How a woman’s experience of domestic
abuse can affect her ability to carry out her sentence 131
4.3 Self-preservation 137
a. Prevalence of substance misuse as a means of coping
with domestic abuse 138
b. The longitudinal effects of women’s coping mechanisms
upon their involvement in crime 149
CHAPTER FIVE: SURVIVAL AND SUBVERSION 159
5.1 Survival 159
a. Survival: Women’s immediate responses to their
experiences of domestic abuse – Escaping domestic
abuse 159
b. Survival: Women committing crime as a ‘cry for help’ 177
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c. Survival: Immediate responses to experiences of domestic
abuse – Retaliation, placation and offending as a by-product
of women’s experiences of domestic abuse 183
d. Survival: The longitudinal effects, or consequences, of a
woman’s experience of domestic abuse upon her
behaviour 189
5.2 Subversion 196
5.3 The dynamic nature of domestic abuse and consequently
women’s coping mechanisms 210
5.4 Other factors contributing to women’s offending 212
5.5 Forms of coping that do not lead to crime 214
5.6 Did the female offenders themselves perceive that
the domestic abuse that they had experienced
influenced or affected their involvement in crime? 215
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 217
6.1 Key contributions made by this thesis 218
6.2 Limitations of the study and ways forward 227
6.3 Recommendations 231
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a. Further research 231
b. Implications for policy and practice 232
APPENDICES 239
APPENDIX I: Interview schedule (women) 239
APPENDIX II: Interview schedule (practitioners) 245
APPENDIX III: Female offender data table 248
APPENDIX IV: Practitioner data table 253
APPENDIX V: Probation officer briefing 254
APPENDIX VI: Informed consent form (women) 255
APPENDIX VII: Informed consent form (practitioners) 256
APPENDIX VIII: Ethics application 257
APPENDIX IX: Ethical approval from the University of Leicester 266
APPENDIX X: Research approval letter from the Wales Probation Trust 267
APPENDIX XI: Research approval letter from Llamau 268
APPENDIX XII: Research Report for the National Probation Service Wales
and the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company 269
REFERENCES 302
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