Women in Focus: An evaluation

Abstract

First paragraph: The development and operation of Women in Focus resulted from the concerns that many practitioners, policy-makers and others have expressed in relation to the increasing imprisonment of women in Scotland (and internationally). There is evidence of considerable innovation and insight in the development of recent initiatives and actions which have emerged in Scotland; for example the 218 service in Glasgow (Loucks et al, 2006; Easton and Matthews, 2010) the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee on Female Offenders (Equal Opportunities Committee, 2010). However, innovative attempts, while making a significant difference to the individual women who are able to access them, are introduced and required to operate within, a wider social, political and economic context that can influence how services operate (i.e. short-term funding imposes its own constraints) and how ‘effective' these innovative services can be seen to be.