This study explored the predictors of community supervision failures amongst female offenders in the United States criminal justice system. Female offenders have, in comparison with male offenders, particular challenges for community reintegration. This study used the relational theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory to investigate the effects of childhood trauma on adult female offenders' behaviors, including substance use disorder and mental health issues. Secondary archival data were obtained from the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency's AUTO Screener and Supervision and Management Automated Record Tracking System; this data pool included information on 1,085 female offenders who had served at least one year on probation, supervised released, and/or parole. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine childhood trauma, adult substance use, and substance use and mental health treatments received for the study population. Additional demographic variables were also tested as predictors of community supervision failures. Age, marital status, and caregiving for dependent children were identified as significant predictors of community supervision failures. Results indicated that community supervision failures among female offenders are predicted by relational activities. Positive social change is implicated through programmatic changes offered to female offenders. It is recommended that criminal justice agencies equip female offenders with effective strategies that address relational needs such as childcare, parenting, and life skills assistance. Through these changes, female offenders are able to promote healthier lifestyles for themselves, families, and become productive members of their communities.

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L’objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre comment se construit la pénalité, des politiques jusqu’aux pratiques, à travers l’exemple de la peine d’emprisonnement avec sursis. Elle propose une lecture transversale de la pénalité à travers chacun des niveaux du système pénal (politiques, organisations, pratiques). La thèse conceptualise le système pénal comme un système doté d’une rationalité et composé d’espaces autonomes, mais en constante communication les uns avec les autres, au sein desquels les pratiques s’opèrent. A partir d’une méthodologie qualitative fondée sur une analyse de discours politiques et une enquête de terrain au sein de huit agences de surveillance communautaires au Québec, la thèse montre que : 1) à l’issue d’un rapport de force entre différents groupes aux valeurs antagonistes, le cadre normatif du sursis a été construit selon une logique de gestion des risques ; 2) les organisations sont dotées de cultures pénales et locales qui façonnent les représentations et les identités professionnelles et 3) les pratiques individuelles sont le résultat d’un arbitrage entre une interaction, une culture locale et un cadre normatif. / This thesis aims at understand how penalty is built, from policies to practices, through the example of conditional sentence in Canada. It proposes a transversal reading of the penalty through each level of the penal system (policies, organizations, practices). The penal system is conceptualized as a social system governed by a rationality and composed of different spaces. The spaces are autonomous but communicate with each other; practices take place inside them. Our dataset was built from a qualitative study based on political speeches analysis and a field survey conducted in 8 community-based organizations from Quebec. Results show that: 1) the normative frame of the conditional sentence has been built according to a logic of risk management; 2) organizations develop criminal and local cultures that shape representations and professional identities; 3) individual practices are the result of a combination of interactions, local culture and the normative framework.