Research Note: Re-examining the Gender Responsive Approach to Female Offending and Its Basis in the Pathways Literature

Abstract This article examines the popular gender-responsive approach to assessing female offenders and providing services for them. Finding decidedly mixed results about the effectiveness of this approach, the theoretical frame underlying it, the pathways literature, is reexamined. Particular attention is given to research conducted outside of the United States and studies that examine the pathways to early and late onset of offending. Taken together, these results suggest that finances, relationships and addiction may be more proximal causes of female offending than a history of trauma and mental illness. As such, the relevance of the gender-responsive movement in women’s corrections is questioned.