[NYAPRS Enews] Study Finds Women in Jails Have High Rates of Trauma, Psych Conditions

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Mental Health & Trauma among Women in Jails

By Andrew Taylor, Public Information Officer, Idaho State University
Corrections.com October 29, 2012

	
Findings from a national study of women in jail suggest that these women
have high rates of serious mental illness, along with co-occurring
posttraumatic stress and substance use disorders. 

"These findings suggest that many women in jail have multiple disorders
and, subsequently, have complex treatment needs," said the study's lead
investigator, Shannon Lynch, professor and chair of the Idaho State
University Department of Psychology, who worked with investigators Dana
DeHart of the University of South Carolina College of Social Work,
Joanne Belknap of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Bonnie Green
of Georgetown University. 

Most jails, however, are limited in their capacity to provide mental
health treatment. 

Between June 2011 and June 2012, 491 women in rural and urban jails in
five states - Colorado, Idaho, Washington, D.C., Maryland and South
Carolina - participated in structured diagnostic interviews for the
study funded by the United States Department of Justice and Bureau of
Justice Assistance. 

The investigators report that 43 percent of the participants met
criteria for a lifetime serious mental illness, with rates including: 

*	major depressive disorder, 28 percent;
*	bipolar disorder, 15 percent; and
*	schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 4 percent.

 

In addition, 82 percent of the women met criteria for a substance use
disorder, and just over half, 53 percent, met criteria for lifetime
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

These rates of major depression, bipolar, substance use disorders and
PTSD are 1.4 to 5 times higher than rates for women in the general
population. 

Women in jail also demonstrated high rates of co-occurring disorders;
for example, one in four women met lifetime criteria for a serious
mental illness, posttraumatic stress disorder and a substance use
disorder. In addition, about 25 percent of women with disorders reported
severe functional impairment in their daily lives. 

"Women's mental health struggles were linked to their pervasive
victimization histories--these women suffered many different types of
abuse in childhood and into adulthood," DeHart explained. 

"This is important as we know multiple experiences of victimization
increases risk of mental health problems," Lynch said. And jails have a
hard time treating those mental health problems. "It's not what we are
resourced to do," said one correctional officer interviewed for the
study. 

Corrections administrators and staff uniformly expressed awareness of
mental health as a serious problem for female offenders but also noted
scant funding for mental health programming in jails, as well as
deficient resources for coordinating efforts of correctional staff with
mental health services in surrounding communities. 

"It is important to recognize that allowing women to go untreated
represents a serious risk for recidivism," said Lynch. 

Findings suggest that serious mental illness was associated with more
experiences of victimization prior to incarceration, more extensive
criminal histories, with more violent offenses, and with earlier onset
of offenses such as running away, substance use, and drug related
crimes. "Assessment of victimization experiences and mental health,
especially recognizing the extent of co-occurring disorders, is critical
to inform treatment programming and to interrupt the cycle of
reoffending," Lynch said. 

This is one of the first and largest studies to include women in
multiple states, including both urban and rural sites. 

Click here for the "Women's Pathways to Jail Factsheet"
<http://assets2.corrections.com/images/mephisto/icons/doc.png?1339678625
>  

Released by Idaho State University
October 24, 2012
Contact: Shannon Lynch, Professor and Chair of the ISU Department of
Psychology, 208-282-2110 or lyncshan at isu.edu

 

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