Female Detainees Research Articles

Prison suicide in female detainees in Germany 2000–2013

Specific risk factors for suicide among female prisoners were examined using an exhaustive sample of all suicides in German prisons between 2000 and 2013. The rate of prison suicide was lower among female (53,5/100,000) than among male prisoners (101/100,000). Differences between the genders regarding the various risk factors for prison suicide are few. Significant differences were observed only for bullying among men and higher percentages of drug withdrawal syndrome among women. Factors specific to the prison setting that contribute to suicide risk in incarcerated women should be examined.

Psychiatric Morbidity and Family Environment Among Female Juvenile Detainees in a Malaysian Sample

Family environmental factors have been implicated in the development of delinquency and adolescent psychiatric disorders. We examined the association between psychiatric disorders and family environmental factors among female juvenile detainees. A hundred female juvenile detainees in a Malaysian rehabilitation center (12–17 years-old) were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Child and Adolescent and the Family Environment Scale. Majority of participants (56 %) had a psychiatric disorder, the commonest being Disruptive Behavior Disorders (40 %) and Depressive Disorders (30 %). Multivariate analysis found younger age (OR 0.52; 95 % CI 0.29, 0.94), older maternal age (OR 1.15; 95 % CI 1.03, 1.28), family history of crime (OR 7.19; 95 % CI 1.05, 49.43), family environment i.e. achievement orientation (OR 1.11; 95 % CI 1.02, 1.20) and control (OR 1.12; 95 % CI 1.03, 1.22) as significant factors for psychiatric disorder. This study demonstrated the role of age (younger adolescent and older mother), family history of crime and family environment beyond socio-economic status in psychiatric morbidity among female juvenile detainees. Future larger studies are needed to clarify familial-genetic factors that may impact strategies for family-centric mental health interventions.

Hazardously Drinking Jailed Women: Post-Release Perceived Needs and Risk of Reincarceration.

Women who drink hazardously face a high risk for re-arrest and reincarceration when they return to their communities after a jail stay. This study is the first to examine the associations between women's own reports of basic needs 1 month after jail release, and reincarceration (defined as spending at least one night in jail) during the next 5 months among unsentenced, female pretrial jail detainees who drink hazardously. Perceived needs for housing (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.63; p < .01), substance treatment services (AOR = 2.65; p < .01), assistance/benefits (AOR = 2.37; p < .05), and mental health counseling (AOR = 2.07; p < .05) at 1 month after jail release were associated with reincarceration during the next 5 months for the 165 hazardously drinking jailed women in this study. These findings demonstrate that self-reported needs during the high-risk period immediately following jail release are associated with heightened odds of reincarceration among hazardously drinking jailed women.

Psychopathic Traits Moderate Relationships Between Parental Warmth and Adolescent Antisocial and Other High-Risk Behaviors

Risk and protective factors for antisocial behavior may operate differently for youth with versus without psychopathic traits. No prior studies address positive parenting in youth with a clinical measure of psychopathic traits. This study tested whether psychopathic traits reduce responsiveness to parental warmth in terms of conduct problems, substance use, and risky sexual behavior and the alternative perspective that psychopathic traits reduce responsiveness to harsh parenting, but not responsiveness to nurturance among 214 ethnically diverse male and female adolescent detainees. Multiple regression indicated that, for adolescents with low and medium levels of affective traits—but not adolescents with high levels of these traits—higher levels of warmth were associated with marginally fewer conduct disorder symptoms and with lower levels of substance use. Similarly, the association between warmth and substance use was stronger in youth with lower levels than for youth with high levels of overall psychopathy.

Trauma and Morbidities Among Female Detainees in a Large Urban Jail.

Using data from 810 women entering the Department of Women's Justice Services in the Cook County Jail (Chicago) from 2010 to 2013, this study examines patterns of trauma exposure and the relationship between trauma exposure and mental disorders. Female detainees averaged 6.1 (SD = 4.90) types of trauma in their lifetimes, with greater trauma exposure associated with earlier age of trauma onset, more recent trauma exposure, and higher rates of fear for life or injury. Higher rates of trauma exposure were also correlated with higher rates of past-year symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder as well as other internalizing, externalizing, and substance use disorders. Behavioral health programming for female detainees in jail settings should include more trauma-sensitive mental health and substance use disorder treatments.

Jails in the United States

In the United States, jails confine large numbers of people each day and process nearly 12 million admissions each year. The estimated average daily population in American jails, as of midyear 2014, was 744,600. Jail overcrowding has continued to remain a problem at the onset of the new millennium, especially in large jurisdictions. More stringent drug and crime control policies and enforcement strategies led to the precipitous rise in the jail population. Jails are a critical resource for the criminal justice system and the larger community. As local institutions, jails often serve the medical and behavioral healthcare needs of the residents in a jurisdiction and are home to the most impoverished and disenfranchised members of the community: the unemployed, the homeless, and those with addiction, and mental illness. Jails have also become increasingly more populated by women. This special issue of The Prison Journal was compiled to focus further attention on servicing and managing the jail detainee population and provides an in-depth look at jails through a variety of lenses. The issue includes articles about the proper role of the jail as a venue for delivering behavioral healthcare and other services and the jail reentry process in rural jurisdictions. Other articles explore a jail reentry program for detainees with substance use disorders; the problems and challenges of female detainees; the nature and extent of trauma among women in a large urban jail; the use and abuse of solitary confinement in jails; and the mentally ill in jails.

Drug Use and HIV Infection Status of Detainees in Re-Education through Labour Camps in Guangxi Province, China.

This study describes HIV disease burden and patterns of drug use before and during incarceration among detainees in Re-education-Through-Labour-Camps (RTLCs) in China. A cross-sectional survey of 576 men and 179 women from three RTLCs was conducted in Guangxi Province, China. Over three-quarters of study participants were detained due to drug-related offences. Over half of the women (n = 313, 54.3%) and two-thirds of men (n = 119, 66.5%) had been previously been incarcerated in a compulsory detoxification treatment centre (CDTC), and around one-third (men n = 159, 27.6%; women n = 50, 27.9%) in a RTLC. Of those surveyed, 49 men (8.5%) and one (0.6%) woman reported ever using drugs while in a CDTC and/or RTLC. Previous incarceration in CDTCs and RTLCs were associated with HIV infection among both male (OR = 2.15 [1.11–4.15]) and female (OR = 3.87 [1.86–9.04]) detainees. Being married/cohabiting with a partner (OR = 0.53, [0.30–0.93]) and being employed (OR = 0.46, [0.22–0.95]) were associated with a reduced odds of HIV infection among male detainees. A significant proportion of RTLC detainees had a history of drug use and a limited number of inmates had used illegal substances whilst in custody. Repeat incarcerations in CDTCs/RTLCs were associated with higher risks of HIV infection.

Comorbidity among female detainees in drug treatment: an exploration of internalizing and externalizing disorders.

The current study explored the prevalence and comorbidity of major internalizing and externalizing psychiatric disorders in a sample of female detainees participating in drug treatment programs in the nation's largest single-site jail, the Cook County (Chicago) Department of Corrections. A total of 253 women participated in a Needs Inventory. The study incorporated an extensive combination of measures, which captured the women's demographic characteristics and psychological problems as well as their substance use and drug treatment histories and their criminal thinking tendencies. For the purpose of analyses, women were combined into 3 groups: women with substance use problems but no comorbid psychiatric disorders, women with 1 comorbid psychiatric disorder (either internalizing or externalizing), and women with both internalizing and externalizing disorders. More than 3/4 of the women were comorbid for another psychiatric (an internalizing or externalizing) disorder. Comorbid disorders were related to lower self-esteem, greater drug use severity, and higher levels of criminal thinking. For example, measures of reported histories of criminal activities and trauma exposure increased with comorbidity. The most critical variables in differentiating between female detainees with no and both internalizing and externalizing disorders were criminal thinking and exposure to trauma. The women in the present investigation and other female detainees in drug treatment programs require interventions that focus on both criminal and psychiatric recidivism. These interventions are most effectively delivered in a person-focused recovery framework that provides integrated modules of services. (PsycINFO Database Record

“Unsound” minds and broken bodies: the detention of “hardcore” Mau Mau women at Kamiti and Gitamayu Detention Camps in Kenya, 1954–1960

From 1954 to 1960, the British detained approximately 8000 women under the Emergency Powers imposed to combat the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya. Kamiti Detention Camp was the main site of women's incarceration, and its importance has been widely acknowledged by scholars. However, new documentary evidence released from the Hanslope Park Archive since 2011 has revealed the existence of a second camp established for women at Gitamayu, created in 1958 explicitly to deal with the remaining “hardcore” female detainees. This article examines the British struggle to contend with the hardcore Mau Mau women in the final years of the Emergency Period, one that was marked by uncertainty, violence, and an increasing reliance on ethno-psychiatry. Debates about how to deal with this group of women engaged and perplexed the highest levels of the colonial administration, generating tensions between legal, political, and medical officials. At the center of these debates was the question of the female detainees' sanity, with some officials pressing for these women to be classified as insane. The charge that hardcore women were “of unsound mind” was used for a variety of purposes in the late 1950s, including covering up the abuses in the camps. Examining the British approach to these detainees illuminates how ideas about gender, deviancy, and mental health shaped colonial practices of punishment.

Opt-Out Screening for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Female Detainees at Cook County Jail in Chicago, IL

In April of 2011, the Cook County Jail initiated opt-out screening of all women for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) at the time of intake. In this retrospective review, we assess the impact of opt-out protocol on rates of testing, diagnoses, and successful treatment. We collected the results of all CT and GC tests ordered during intake from April 2011 through December 2012 and reviewed the medical chart of every patient with a positive result for documentation of treatment. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with receipt of treatment. Opt-out screening increased the number of diagnoses by more than 4-fold (from 9.3 to 40.8 cases/mo). Among 17,065 women eligible for screening, 3729 (22%) women opted out of screening, and screening was completed in 9265 (54.2%). There were 235 (2.5%) gonococcal infections and 702 (7.6%) chlamydial infections. Of 866 women with a positive test result, 602 (69.5%) received treatment while in jail. In multivariable analysis, older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-2.63), pregnancy (aOR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.22-5.18), and longer length of stay in jail (aOR, 18.1; 95% CI, 11.7-28.1) were associated with greater likelihood of treatment. Women entering the Cook County Jail have high prevalence of GC/CT infections. Opt-out screening increased the number of GC and CT diagnoses made, and a high proportion of women were treated while incarcerated. Significant challenges remain in ensuring that screening is completed for all women who do not opt out and in providing treatment to women with short duration of incarceration.

Norms for Five Parameters of Anger: How Do Incarcerated Adults Differ From the Community?

The present study generated normative data for anger in a forensic sample in comparison to a non-forensic sample. The former sample comprised 125 incarcerated adults from an adult detention center in a large metropolitan city and the latter consisted of 182 adult patrons of a public library within the same city. Anger was assessed using the Anger Parameters Scale which taps into five parameters: Frequency, Duration, Intensity, Latency, and Threshold. Significant differences were found between both samples on three of the five parameters: incarcerated individuals experienced anger more frequently, more intensely, and for longer periods of time than participants within the non-forensic sample. These findings indicate that certain specific aspects of anger experience require greater clinical attention when treating detainees. The modest but nonsignificant gender differences across these five parameters is consistent with previous research, thus making it appropriate for treatment to target the same parameters of anger in male and female detainees.

Pilot Test of 12-Step Linkage for Alcohol-Abusing Women in Leaving Jail

ABSTRACT. Background: More than a million US women are detained in jails each year; many have alcohol use disorders (AUDs). AUD intervention with pretrial jail detainees presents a logistical challenge due to limited jail stays and lack of resources for postrelease treatment. The availability, no-cost entry, and promise of anonymity of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) make it a highly accessible resource for underserved populations. However, the outreach of AA volunteers into jails (as opposed to prisons) has been limited, and incarcerated women are unlikely to seek out strangers for help after release. This study pilot tested an enhanced referral approach introducing a 12-step volunteer to a woman in jail who would attend a meeting with her after release. Methods: Participants were 14 unsentenced female pretrial jail detainees with AUD. Intervention consisted of introducing participants detained in jail to female AA volunteers who could accompany them to an AA meeting after release. Assessments took place at baseline and 1 month after release. This uncontrolled pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of this enhanced referral approach. Pre-post alcohol use, drug use, alcohol problems, and AA attendance are also reported. Results: Enhanced referral was feasible and acceptable. Many (57%) of the 14 participants who met with AA volunteers in jail were in contact with those volunteers after release from jail. Participants had significantly fewer drinking days, heavy drinking days, alcohol problems, and drug-using days during the postrelease follow-up than they did before jail detention. Conclusions: Providing linkage between women in jail and female AA volunteers who can accompany them to a postrelease meeting is achievable, and may be a disseminable and low-cost method to improve alcohol outcomes in this vulnerable population.

The Relationship between Drug Use and Crime among Police Detainees: Does Gender Matter?

Research has shown a relationship between substance use and offending, but the nature of this relationship remains unclear, especially for women. To explore this, 867 female police detainees in New South Wales were interviewed to examine the temporal order of substance use and offending, correlates of substance use and offending, and relationships between social background, substance use, and offending. Offenses relating to substance use, such as possession, were excluded. Canonical correlations revealed a significant association between substance use and offending. Results of t-tests showed that substance use significantly preceded criminal offending. Younger, less-educated women self-reported more heroin and cannabis dependency. Women who self-reported drug dependency had higher levels of offending than those who did not. These results are markedly different from patterns observed in most male offenders. We review the implications of these findings for crime prevention, rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment.

História de adversidade, saúde e psicopatologia em reclusos: comparação entre homens e mulheres

Adversity in childhood, risk behaviors and psychopathology are highly prevalent phenomena in inmate populations and have a strong impact on health. Knowing the differences in these variables between the sexes is most important in order to develop appropriate intervention strategies in a prison context. By administering the Socio-demographic and Life History Questionnaire and the Brief Symptoms Inventory, we sought to characterize adverse childhood experiences and relate them to risk behaviors and to psychopathological symptoms, and study the differences between the 65 male and 42 female detainees in Portuguese prison establishments. Men and women report a complex web of adversity in childhood. In a range of ten possible categories, a medium value of 5.05 (DP = 2.63) in total adversity for women and 2.63 (DP = 2.18) for men was encountered, with the prevalence being significantly higher within the female population (Z = -4.33; p = .000). A high prevalence of risk behaviors and psychopathological symptoms was found in both groups, the latter being higher among females. We concluded that the differences between men and women calls for in depth studies in order to provide guidelines for intervention projects in specific populations.

Epidemiological profile of female detainees in the Brazilian state of Paraíba: a descriptive study

justify> Aim: To describe the epidemiological profile of female detainees in the Brazilian state of Paraiba. Method: This is a transversal study, with descriptive and quantitative approaches, performed between July and October 2012, in female penitentiaries. The sample is composed by 227 subjects. The data was collected through a questionnaire and analyzed based on descriptive statistics. Results: The women were mostly from the Brazilian state of Paraiba, between 18 and 28 years old (52.4%), incomplete Middle School level (59%), single (54.2%) and with children (82.4%). Drug trafficking (28.4%) and association to drug trafficking (13.3%) were the main causes of imprisonment. It was also seen that 29.5% work and 28.2% study in prison; 25.9% have diagnosed diseases and 18.1% have medical support. Discussion: The unfavorable epidemiological conditions precede, and maybe lead to imprisonment. Conclusion: Female detainees inserted within social contexts characterized by poverty and exclusion constitute an obstacle to overcome, in order to achieve successful processes of resocialization, while such barriers also have negatively affect on their health conditions.

Temperament, insecure attachment, impulsivity, and sexuality in women in jail

Women constitute only a small proportion of inmates, but several studies have shown that they have higher rates of psychiatric disturbance than incarcerated men and community samples. Mental health treatment is necessary to prevent severe illness and suicide in these women. The convenience sample consisted of 40 female detainees and 40 controls who were administered self-report questionnaires to assess temperament (TEMPS-A), insecure attachment (ECR), impulsivity (BIS-11), and sexual behavior (SESAMO). The incarcerated women had higher levels of affective temperament (except for hyperthymia), avoidance, anxiety, impulsivity, and psychosexual issues than the female community sample. Many interrelated emotional and affective disturbances affect the physical and psychological well-being of women in jail, and it is possible that these problems may lead to suicide. Health professionals need to develop gender-specific therapeutic interventions for women in jail.

Comparing the Validity of the K6 When Assessing Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD Among Male and Female Jail Detainees

A lack of a consistent and valid approach to screening within the jail often hinders identification and treatment. Furthermore, screening instruments developed for jail populations are often inadequate in detecting serious depression and anxiety disorders in women. While the remedy thus far has been the use of separate screening instruments for men and women, others have suggested that the K6, a six-item measure validated in large epidemiologic studies, may hold promise. Building on prior research, this study assesses the validity of the K6 in detecting depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders among 494 male and 515 female jail detainees. The authors found that 15% of males and 36% of females meet criteria for serious mental illness on the K6, with receiver operating characteristics--area under the curve scores of .84 and .93, respectively. This study not only establishes the validity and efficiency of using the K6 for screening within jails but also suggests a need for adjusting scale cut points.

Morocco

Morocco

P1-S2.71 Sexually transmitted infections in Mexico-City's penitentiary centers: the Ponte a Prueba: put yourself to the test “study”

BackgroundSocial and behavioural risk factors, as well as the conditions within penitentiary centers, place incarcerated people at high risk for infectious diseases. Few data exist for penitentiary health in Latin...

Health and human rights of women imprisoned in Zambia

BackgroundThe healthcare needs and general experience of women in detention in sub-Saharan Africa are rarely studied and poorly understood.MethodsA mixed-methods study was conducted including in-depth interviews with 38 adult female prisoners and 21 prison officers in four Zambian prisons to assess the health and human rights concerns of female detainees. Key informant interviews with 46 officials from government and non-governmental organizations and a legal and policy review were also conducted.ResultsDespite special protection under international and regional law, incarcerated women's health needs–including prenatal care, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and nutritional support during pregnancy and breastfeeding–are not being adequately met in Zambian prisons. Women are underserved by general healthcare programs including those offering tuberculosis and HIV testing, and reported physical and sexual abuse conducted by police and prison officers that could amount to torture under international law.ConclusionsThere is an urgent need for women's healthcare services to be expanded, and for general prison health campaigns, including HIV and tuberculosis testing and treatment, to ensure the inclusion of female inmates. Abuses against women in Zambian police and prison custody, which violate their rights and compromise their health, must be halted immediately.