Criminal Justice-involved Women Research Articles

Associations between Cannabis Use and Sexual Risk Behavior among Women under Community Supervision: A Brief Report

Objectives Cannabis use and sexual risk behavior have been found to co-occur, but more research on these associations is needed among criminal justice-involved women (i.e., courts, jails, or prisons). Methods Regression models examined past 90-day cannabis use on unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, and STIs/HIV among 306 women under NYC community supervision, adjusting for alcohol, other illicit substances, and socio-demographics. Results Cannabis use, but not alcohol or other illicit substance use, was positively associated with having unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners, but not STIs or HIV. Conclusions Criminal justice-involved women may benefit from sexual risk reduction interventions incorporating cannabis content.

The Persistent Impact of Childhood Trauma: Current Mental Health Challenges Faced by Women in Jail

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between childhood trauma and current mental health status of 110 women incarcerated in a Midwestern jail. The K6 distress scale was used to assess current mental health status. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale was utilized to measure traumatic events occurring in childhood. The percentage of women identified as having serious psychological distress exceeded rates found in the extant literature involving criminal justice-involved women. Women reporting more ACEs scored significantly higher on the K6. Additionally, women with higher K6 scores forecast a greater likelihood of arrest post-release, were older, had been in jail fewer times, were in jail for a longer time when interviewed, and were more likely to be mothers of minor children. These findings support the need for gender-responsive treatment and trauma-informed care to address mental health challenges among women in jail.

Multilevel Factors Shaping Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention among Criminal Justice-Involved Women.

Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a key tool in HIV prevention efforts, little is known about PrEP as a prevention strategy for criminal justice-involved (CJI) women. The purpose of this study was to examine multilevel factors shaping PrEP awareness and acceptability among CJI women. Between January 2017 and December 2017, we conducted 52 interviews with CJI women at high risk for HIV and stakeholders from the criminal justice (CJ) and public health (PH) systems. Interviews explored awareness of PrEP and the multilevel factors shaping PrEP acceptability. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and executive summaries. Atlas.ti facilitated analyses. The majority of CJI women (n = 27) were, on average, 41.3years, from racial and ethnic minority groups (56% Black/African-American; 19% Latinx) and reported engaging in recent high-risk behavior (nearly 60% engaged in transactional sex, 22% reported ≥ 4 sexual partners, and 37% reported injection drug use). Of system stakeholders (n = 25), 52% represented the CJ sector. Although CJI women were generally unaware of PrEP, attitudes toward PrEP were enthusiastic. Barriers to PrEP acceptability included medication side effects (individual level); distrust in HIV prevention mechanisms (community level); lack of local HIV prevention efforts among high-risk women (public policy/HIV epidemic stage level). Factors promoting PrEP included perceived HIV risk (individual level); PrEP being an HIV prevention method that women can control without partner negotiation (social and sexual network level); and availability of public health insurance (community level). Despite low awareness of PrEP, CJI women expressed positive attitudes toward PrEP. To improve PrEP access for CJI women, implementation efforts should address barriers and leverage facilitators across multiple levels to be maximally effective.

Better Together? Intimate Partner Effects on Offending Women

The role of marriage has been extensively studied for its positive impacts on male desistance. However, the role of romantic partners for women is less understood. Do partners exert a prosocial “protective” effect or are they criminogenic? The present study empirically drills down on this question. Specifically, we assess the character and quality of romantic relationships on substance use and illegitimate income using a sample of incarcerated women. Drawing from social control, social learning, and strain theory, we hypothesize that the effects of both being in and breaking up from a relationship on illicit behavior are conditional on the quality of the relationship and behavior/characteristics of the partner. Using data from the Women’s Experience of Violence (WEV) project, consisting of a custodial sample of criminal justice-involved women (N = 770), we examine how relationship status and quality, as well as partner offending, influence drug use and illicit earnings. A series of multi-level random effects models are estimated to explore how within-person changes in relationship/breakup status are related to changes in the two dependent variables. Contrary to expectations, we find that romantic dissolution (of either a high- or low-quality relationship) does not negatively impact this sample of women and that being in a high-quality relationship is not a protective factor, as has been found often in male samples. Findings suggest partner behavior may be more important than the quality of the relationship with the partner. Our results link drug use and participation in the illicit economy to factors mostly outside of a woman’s relationship status and quality, thereby challenging some commonly understood mechanisms of desistance.

Resolving Health Disparities for Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System.

Women who are involved in the criminal justice system experience poorer reproductive health outcomes. Resolving this inequality will require addressing reproductive health disparities facing incarcerated women, improving the health of criminal justice-involved women in the community, and preventing engagement of women with the criminal justice system altogether.

Risky Sexual Behaviors, Substance Use, and Perceptions of Risky Behaviors Among Criminal Justice Involved Women Who Trade Sex.

This study examined risky sexual behaviors, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV)-defined alcohol and substance use disorders, and perceptions of risky behaviors among community released, justice-involved women, who are currently trading sex (CTS), formerly traded sex (FTS), or have never traded sex. Data were derived from 266 sexually active women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in St. Louis, Missouri. In an adjusted multinomial regression model, being dependent on alcohol and cocaine was the most robust correlate of sex-trading status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: CTS = 4.21, FTS = 4.66). Perceptions of sexual risk and HIV were significantly associated with CTS (AOR = 3.39), however, not FTS. Other significant correlates of sex trading status included age, lifetime injection drug use, lower education, child sexual abuse, and unstable housing. Gender-specific interventions tailored toward currently and formerly sex-trading women are needed.

Cumulative Disadvantage and the Role of Transportation in Community Supervision

Drawing from cumulative disadvantage theory, we are the first to examine the role of transportation disadvantage among other known challenges for women on community supervision. We create a composite measure of transportation disadvantage using factor analyses and data for 362 women on probation and parole in one Midwestern state: It is used to predict arrest and conviction using multiepisode event history analysis and conditional logistic regression. Consistent with cumulative disadvantage theory, the results suggest each additional disadvantage makes women more vulnerable, over and above the other disadvantages. Transportation disadvantage is a significant and entrenched feature in criminal justice-involved women’s lives. The import of modeling all available recidivism events, given the entrenched nature of criminal justice system involvement, cannot be overstated.

Examining the Relationship Between Childhood Victimization, High-Risk Behaviors, and Health Among Criminal Justice-Involved Women.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a conceptual model of the pathways through which childhood victimization influences adult health outcomes. Specifically, measures of high-risk behaviors, tobacco use, alcohol use, illegal substance use, and HIV risk behaviors were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between childhood victimization and adult physical health. The sample consisted of 406 women on probation and parole with a history of childhood victimization in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between childhood victimization, high-risk behaviors, and physical health outcomes. The findings indicate partial mediation, with health risk behaviors accounting for 12.5% of the variance in the relationship between childhood victimization and health outcomes. Implications for policy and treatment practice in the health and criminal justice arena are discussed.

Rates of traumatization and psychopathology in criminal justice-involved women

ABSTRACTPrior research has consistently found disproportionate rates of traumatization and psychopathology in criminal justice-involved women. The current study aimed to characterize rates of traumatization, psychopathology, and diagnostic comorbidity in women involved with the justice system. Furthermore, this study examined the role of posttraumatic stress symptoms in the association between traumatic events and levels of self-esteem. Participants were 185 women from the Chicagoland area with current or previous (past 2 years) involvement with the criminal justice system. Results confirmed disproportionate rates of trauma experiences and psychopathology in this population, and logistic regression analyses indicated that rates of traumatization predicted diagnostic comorbidity. Analyses indicated an indirect effect of posttraumatic stress in the association between traumatic experiences and self-esteem. Findings highlight the importance of assessing and targeting both trauma experiences and posttraumatic stress in justice-involved women to optimize prevention and intervention efforts.

Ethnographic assessment of an alternative to incarceration for women with minor children.

Allowing criminal justice-involved women to remain with their children in the community may decrease some of the negative intergenerational effects of incarceration. Little is known about potential program models to safely support community coresidence in this population. Ethnographic methods were used to explore the historical development of and life within a supportive housing alternative to incarceration (ATI) program for women with minor children and the health and social needs of resident families. Participants included 8 current and former adult tenants, 12 of their resident children, 3 program staff, the program administrator, and 5 prosecutors who originally conceptualized it. Women also reported information about their 8 nonresident children. Analysis revealed 3 major themes: "The Cycle," "This is My Home," and "This Doesn't Go With That." While the program built on a core value of family preservation, results illustrate that keeping families together is only the beginning. Clinical and research implications for coresidence ATI programs are discussed in relation to the uniqueness of this context and population.

A Systematic Review of HIV Prevention Interventions Targeting Women with Criminal Justice Involvement

AbstractWe conducted a systematic review of HIV prevention interventions targeting women with criminal justice involvement. Thirteen studies published between 1980 and 2014 met our inclusion criteria with a cumulative sample size of 3,165. Studies were coded by intervention approach, theoretical orientation, setting of delivery, study design, outcomes, and effect sizes. Many evidence-based theoretical orientations in the HIV/AIDS prevention field were not represented in the study, reflecting the nascent status of prevention research on criminal justice-involved women. Meta-regression analyses found that collectively interventions are minimally effective at reducing sexual risk (standardized mean difference = −0.225, p < 0.001) and reducing drug use (standardized mean difference = −0.213, p < 0.001). Interventions demonstrated moderate effects on increasing HIV/AIDS knowledge and improving psychosocial outcomes. As compared with interventions without an explicit theoretical orientation, interventions using...

Romance, recovery and community re-entry for criminal justice-involved women: conceptualizing and measuring intimate relationship factors and power

Researchers have suggested that interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic relationships, may influence women's attempts at substance abuse recovery and community re-entry after criminal justice system involvement. The present paper evaluates relational and power theories to conceptualize the influence of romantic partner and romantic relationship qualities on pathways in and out of substance abuse and crime. The paper then combines these conceptualizations with a complementary empirical analysis to describe an ongoing research project that longitudinally investigates these relational and power-driven factors on women's substance abuse recovery and community re-entry success among former substance abusing, recently criminally involved women. This paper is designed to encourage the integration of theory and empirical analysis by detailing how each of these concepts is operationalized and measured. Future research and clinical implications are also discussed.