Adding to the Evidence Base of Gender-Specific Community Re-Entry Programming

Background/Purpose: Women represent 26% of the over 12.4 million persons arrested for serious crimes (FBI, 2012). While the population of criminal justice-involved women has increased, re-entry programs tailored to women are limited (FBI, 2012; NIJ, 2012). Re-entry programs are designed to help prison parolees with community re-integration; without such interventions, ½ of parolees will be re-incarcerated within three years (PCS, 2011).  Just as there are few programs for vulnerable women, there is a dearth of research on the efficacy of evidence-based treatments. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to add to the evidence of gender-specific re-entry programming for substance abuse and trauma.

Study Objectives: Objectives of the study were to describe: 1) the demographic characteristics of women involved in a mid-western re-entry program; 2) the correlations between alcohol/drug problems, depression, self-esteem, and recidivism; 3) the baseline and post-Tx differences (self-esteem and depression) for women who received a trauma-informed EBP; and 4) the predictive ability of salient variables on recidivism.

Procedures: Helping Women Recover ([HWR], Covington, 1999) is a program for women with substance use disorders and trauma history. The HWR intervention involved 17 group sessions organized around four domains: self, support, sexuality, and spirituality. Participants received the intervention over 4 months. Data were collected as part of a program evaluation and included two waves, baseline (N = 103) and three-months post-treatment (N = 65).

Measures: Data related to alcohol and drug problems were collected via Face Valid Alcohol (FVA) and Face Valid Other Drug (FVOD) subscales on the Substance Abuse and Screening Services, Inc. instrument ([SASSI-3], Miller, 1985, 1999). Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory ([BDI], Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, Erbaugh, 1961) and self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale ([RSES] Rosenberg, 1965).  Recidivism was operationalized as any reported re-arrest over a 15-month period.

Analysis and Results: Preliminary analyses included correlation and paired sample t-tests. Primary analysis was logistic regression.  Results showed that depression was significantly lower (t = 5.03; p<. 01) and self-esteem was significantly higher (t = -6.15; p< .01) post-Tx.  There was a positive relationship between depression and alcohol and drug problems (r = .33, p< .01; r = .19, p<.05) at baseline, but not at post-Tx. Self-esteem and alcohol problems were inversely related (r = -.21, p <.05) at baseline. There was an inverse relationship between graduating from Tx and recidivism (r = -.40, p< .01). The primary model was significant (χ2(5) = 16.03, p = .007), correctly predicting 80% of cases. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test demonstrated adequate fit with non-significant chi-square values. Controlling for baseline self-esteem, depression, alcohol/drug problems, graduating from HWR was significantly associated with not recidivating (Wald χ2(1) =8.460, p <.01, OR = .16, 95% CI [.05,.55]).

Implications: Although the study had a large portion of participants that were lost to attrition (63%), important findings emerged. In a sample of women re-entering the community from the correctional system, self-esteem and depression were linked. Completing the HWR leads to positive outcomes over time. This study adds evidence to program efficacy.