The Hidden Injuries of Casework with Criminal Justice Involved Women

• In Event: Understanding the Needs of Justice Involved Women and the Service Providers Who Support Them

Abstract

Caseworkers working in women’s centres within the UK provide one-to-one support to criminal justice-involved women with unmet and (often) complex needs. They do so amidst an unpredictable funding landscape and a backdrop that has been shaped by austerity, resulting in underfunded and overstretched public services. Women’s centres, forming part of the voluntary penal sector, have had to step forward, with caseworkers providing frontline support to women including those who are in crisis and with significant histories of trauma. Despite their vital role, there is limited research which explores what it means to be a women’s centre caseworker and their emotional experiences remain largely unknown. This article contributes to this important and under-theorised area by drawing on qualitative research which comprised of 200 hours of observations at various locations in England between September and November 2023 and 38 semi-structured interviews conducted with caseworkers and managers at women’s centres between September 2023 and January 2024. In doing so, it considers what we ask of caseworkers and examines some of the hidden harms and emotional burdens that have been placed upon them.

Author

• Kelly Mackenzie, University of Birmingham, UK