Ladies of Lost Causes: Rehabilitation, Women Offenders, and the Voluntary Sector

by Judith Rumgay

Ladies of Lost Causes unearths a treasure trove of archive material on a remarkable project - the Griffins Society. It documents the radical contribution of women philanthropists and practitioners to offender rehabilitation. Drawing on archival, interview, and observational sources, the book describes, analyzes, and evaluates a distinctive model of care provision by volunteer, upper middle-class women that has since been overtaken by the professionalization of the voluntary sector. It skillfully illuminates the pathways of women into, and out of, serious crime; explores the dynamics of rehabilitative practice in the volatile setting of residential care; and also analyzes the qualities of successful rehabilitative practice. Ladies of Lost Causes will appeal to academics and professionals working in the field of offender rehabilitation and those with interests in voluntary sector contributions to social programs and social reform. It will be of particular interest for those concerned with female offenders, female philanthropy, and the contributions of women to penal reform and gender-sensitive rehabilitation programs.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007