Examining The Contributing Factors To Violent Crimes Committed By Women Incarcerated At The Walvis Bay Correctional Facility, Namibia

ABSTRACT

Violence amongst women has become a concern worldwide, including in Namibia. These violent and aggressive behaviours stem from various challenges experienced by women, overall. If such behaviours persist, the role of women as caregivers will be compromised as incarceration would be inevitable and their absence may have adverse consequences on the overall functioning of their families. Understanding these factors can assist in the application of gender-sensitive approaches, tailored specifically for women who engage in violent crimes. The purpose of the study was to examine the contributing factors to violent crimes perpetrated by women incarcerated at the Walvis Bay correctional facility in Namibia. A qualitative study was applied using the phenomenological research approach with an exploratory research design. Purposive sampling was utilized and the data was collected from twelve (12) sentenced female offenders confined for violent crimes. Semi-structured interviews that are narrative in nature were used to collect the data. The study revealed that the participants experienced various forms of strains and stressors during childhood and adult-hood such as physical abuse, emotional abuse and intimidation, economic abuse and neglect, sex-ual abuse and substance abuse that made them vulnerable to violent crimes. The study also re-vealed that although services are available, the participants did not make use of these services and they are not informed about existing services at the micro and mezzo levels in society, especially in rural areas. Thus, awareness should be raised about the existing services which could encourage women to make use of such services. Services should be readily accessible in society to help women deal with the strains and stressors that make them vulnerable to act violently. However, this study was conducted with only a few sentenced female offenders and cannot be generalized to the entire incarcerated population across Namibia.