Relationships between Abuse History, Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Recidivism in Female Offenders

Abstract

There has been a substantial increase in the number of crimes committed by females over the past 30 years, which has resulted in significant growth in the population of incarcerated females and the number of females re-entering society after incarceration. Despite the ongoing debate among researchers regarding what unique risk factors, if any, are significantly correlated with recidivism in females, it is relatively undisputed that female offenders do have much higher rates of abuse/victimization, mental health, and substance abuse issues than their male counterparts. How victimization history, mental health problems and substance abuse variables interact in females, and how they may relate to recidivism and criminal behavior in females is less clear. The current study supported the gender-specific findings that female offenders have high rates of substance abuse and victimization and that an increase in number of types of victimization is correlated with an increase in substance abuse severity. The present study also found that victimization and mental health functioning are positively correlated in female offenders, but did not find an increased rate of Depression and Anxiety symptoms in the sample. Consistent with previous research on female offenders, the rate of Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms was high. Last, the combination of mental health, substance abuse and victimization variables significantly predicted recidivism in the two-years immediately upon release into the community. The Borderline variable, which is truly a gender specific variable (affecting nearly three times as many women than men), showed promise in its relationship to recidivism, indicating an area for future research.%%%%Ph.D., Psychology – Drexel University, 2016