Free: Contests & Raffles.
There's not a single positive reason to not shoot a release. If I were you I would go to an archery pro shop with your wife and let her shoot a bunch of releases until she finds one that she is comfortable with. Shooting a 30" ATA bow with fingers, even if your draw is only 25", is a bad idea. If she's simply intimidated by the thought of using a release she just needs to find one that she's not intimidated by and fits her well. If she's set on shooting fingers it sounds like you may want to trade in her compound for a recurve that's made to shoot fingers.
I can give you a few reasons to shoot a compound bare and without a release:You don't have to worry about mechanical failure, or misplacing the release.