Chapter 7: Groups Vulnerable to Penal Control

The application, effects and experiences of various community sanctions on Aboriginal and Torres Islander people, people with physical, mental and cognitive disabilities, and women, alongside those at the intersections of these groups, have been central to our research. In this chapter we critically analyse Australian correctional agencies' reliance on ‘universal interventions’ to reduce reoffending and reimprisonment. In contrast we consider the value of approaches that start squarely from the context and needs of specific groups, rather than those that tweak or tinker at the edges of current policies and programmes. Our argument is that policy and programme design and delivery must start from the intersections of the multiple needs of the individual within the specific social, cultural, economic and historical context of the broader communities to which they belong.