School of Law

Women’s experiences of electronic monitoring

Planned Submission Date: 01 October 2015

I am researching the experiences of women who have been given electronically monitored curfews as a sentence. Little academic research has been conducted in England and Wales on electronic monitoring. Similarly, women and community sentences is an under-researched area, but previous research indicates that women differ significantly from men in relation to their offending-related needs, their criminal careers and their experiences of punishments.

I am particularly interested which women receive electronically monitored curfews, their expectations at the start of the curfew, their interactions with the monitoring company and other agencies, and the impact of the electronically monitored curfew on women’s lifestyles, attitudes and behaviour both during and after the curfew.

The study adopts a multi-method approach, involving the use of structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with women who have received an electronically monitored curfew as a sentence. It is expected that the research findings will contribute to knowledge on how women experience punishments generally and community sentences in particular, while also contributing to knowledge on electronic monitoring.