Psychiatric symptoms, history of victimization, and violent behavior among incarcerated female felons:: An American perspective

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Introduction

Over the past decade, research conducted in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and Ireland has begun to focus on the female prison population and the psychiatric and criminological characteristics of this particular group Biron et al., 1995, Denton, 1995, Dolan & Mitchell, 1994, Jordan et al., 1996, Maden et al., 1994a, Maden et al., 1994b, O'Connor & O'Neill, 1991, Smith & Borland, 1999, Teplin et al., 1996. This research confirms that the rate of psychopathology identified in female prison populations is higher than that identified in male prison populations DiCataldo et al., 1995, Maden et al., 1994a, Maden et al., 1994b, Teplin et al., 1997 and that the patterns of utilization of psychiatric services for women exceeds that utilized or received by male inmates Maden et al., 1994a, Maden et al., 1994b, Steadman et al., 1991. Another consistent theme involves the high rates of sexual and physical victimization reported by incarcerated women with rates of physical violence by an intimate partner or by parental caretakers during childhood encompassing up to 75% of the inmates surveyed or interviewed Browne et al., 1999, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999, Heney & Kristianson, 1997.

Moreover, while it is commonly acknowledged that women perpetrate far less violent crime than men, the rates of violent crime committed by women are also becoming more pronounced. A recent Bureau of Justice Special (BJS) report in America observed that, based upon self-report, women accounted for approximately 14% of all violent offenders, an annual average of 2.1 million violent female offenders. When describing the offense pattern of these women, the BJS report observed that three out of four victims of violent female offenders are women and, in two-thirds of the offenses, the victim and perpetrator had known each other previously in a variety of relational contexts.

The current study seeks to further explore the psychiatric and criminological characteristics of female inmates and to examine these factors as they might inform our understanding of the increasing rates of violence perpetrated by women. Using data collected from a large cohort of female felons incarcerated in a maximum security prison in Virginia, we examine the relationships between types and severity of psychiatric symptoms, indices of personality disorders, and self-reported victimization, as they predict or are associated with the perpetration of a violent crime prior to incarceration and/or within the prison environment.

Section snippets

Mental health issue among incarcerated women

Investigations of psychiatric morbidity among incarcerated females consistently find rates of impairment that are significantly higher than those found among comparable community populations. This pattern of long-standing psychiatric morbidity is reflected in the structurally comparable studies conducted by Jordan et al. (1996) and Teplin et al. (1996) of women who were incarcerated in American jails, either prior to trial and sentencing or as a part of sentence of less than 1 year. Teplin et

Participant and procedures

The 802 women who completed the research protocol were contacted directly in their units over a 6-month period. Accompanied by correctional staff, the researchers entered each unit of the prison on a rotating basis and briefly described the nature of the study to the women. Immediately following this introduction, the women were invited to accompany the research staff to two rooms in the educational building where they filled out the research protocol. Prior to completing the research protocol,

Sample generalizability

Participants in the research sample were compared with nonparticipant inmates who were present in the prison since the date of its opening (April 6, 1998) to close of data collection (January 31, 2000). A comparison of group frequencies was used to assess similarity in race (minority and nonminority status), violent criminal offense (most serious offense resulting in incarceration), and security classification (three levels, indicating low, medium, and high). These analyses indicated that the

Discussion

The demographic and crime characteristics of the sample highlight the racial disparities and drug-related underpinnings of the current cohort of incarcerated women in America. While minority women represent approximately 15–20% of the general population in the Unites States, they represent over 60% of the women who were incarcerated in the prison that was the site of the current study. Drug-related crimes and stealing often related to the procurement of drugs represented 43% of the most serious

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant no. 98-CE-VX-0027 by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, to the University of Virginia. Points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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