Factors Related to Imprisonment in Female Heroin Addicts

Abstract

Heroin addiction is a phenomenon which effects males approximately four times more frequently than females as measured by requests for treatment. Probably bacause of this, heroin addiction in females has received little attention in the literature. In 1966 Ellinwood et al. reported characteristics of 30 women in the USPHS narcotics hospital in Lexington. From clinical impressions it would appear that the natural history of addiction in women is similar to that in men, i.e., recurrent physical illnesses, arrests, incarcerations, overdoses, and high age specific mortality rates. Imprisonment is a major and not infrequent occurrence in an addict's life. However, not all addicts find their way into the prison system. While little is known about the female addict, even less is known about those factors which protect female addicts against incarceration. This study is an attempt to compare two populations of female addicts, one currently in prison and the other never having suffered imprisonment. Variables related to imprisonment in female narcotic abusers can then be identified.