"behind Every Woman in Prison Is a Man": Incarcerated Women's Perceptions of How We Can Better Help Them in the Context of Interpersonal Victimization

PURPOSE: Although women’s rate of incarceration has increased dramatically, the criminal justice system does not meet women’s unique needs. Women’s lives before prison are often characterized by trauma, violence, poverty, substance use, and mental health concerns. Gender-responsive and trauma-informed programs address these unique facets of incarcerated women’s experience, but interventions are typically designed for women with severe substance use and co-occurring PTSD and fail to reach the general population of incarcerated women. The purpose of this investigation is to use the voices of currently incarcerated women to describe opportunities to enhance trauma-informed programming within the context of their experiences of child abuse and intimate partner violence victimization (IPVV).

METHODS: This project analyzes the voices of 113 incarcerated women in response to the question: How can we better help women like you? Women were randomly selected for recruitment at two state prisons in the southeastern US as part of a larger study evaluating the relationship between interpersonal victimization and behavioral health outcomes. The mean age of the sample was 40 and the majority (72%) identified as White. Responses to the open-ended prompt were recorded using brief, direct quotes; qualitative data were coded by two independent coders and member-checked by a formerly incarcerated woman. Analyses focused on women’s experiences of trauma, and highlighted strategies for improving outcomes in prevention, intervention, and reentry efforts.

RESULTS: The overarching theme which united the data was the profound influence of child abuse and IPVV on women’s self-esteem, intimate relationships, mental health, coping, and criminal offending behaviors. Women suggested how victimization fueled their engagement with crime, detailed re-victimization in the prison milieu, and identified program gaps during custody and after release. Women’s responses identified three areas to focus prevention strategies as a means to prevent criminal offending behavior or to more effectively address the needs of victimized women after they made contact with the criminal justice system: (1) Recognizing child abuse; (2) Expanding domestic violence sheltering and service system; and (3) Addressing experiences of IPVV during sentencing. In-prison intervention strategies represented the bulk of incarcerated women’s statements, including a discussion of the prison environment as trauma and recommendations for more effective and relevant programs and services inside. Issues and challenges related to reentry represented the third and final overarching theme. Women identified a variety of tangible and emotional needs related to their success after release. Some of these needs were concrete and skills-based, while others detailed more complex concerns about negotiating problematic interpersonal relationships and thriving in the context of a felony conviction.

DISCUSSION: One of the most evocative phrases echoed by the women we interviewed – that behind every woman in prison is a man – underscores the notion that women take different pathways to prison. The collective story presented here supports the hypothesis that women’s criminal offending behavior is inextricably linked to experiences of child abuse and IPVV, and that victimization is a key pathway to prison for many women. Opportunities for immediate action include policy advocacy, mitigation, and shifting to a trauma-informed correctional approach.