Understanding Racial, Economic and Behavioral Health Barriers for Incarcerated Women of Color

Background and Purpose:

Mass incarceration causes women of color to experience oppression through marginalization, exploitation and violence. This intensifies minority women’s risk for homelessness, behavioral health concerns, and economic inequalities. Literature predominately focuses on male incarceration, thus there is a gap in the research on interventions to address the exploitation women of color face. Additionally, the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) identifies mass incarceration as a Grand Challenge for Social Work.

This poster presentation will promote smart decarceration through community-based programs to address this challenge. By grounding economic, racial and gender disparities within the criminal justice system in critical theory, research will be presented that highlights evidenced based practices to reduce incarceration inequalities. Additionally, combative methods for specific mechanisms of oppression will be emphasized. The presentation also includes interpersonal practices and interventions that focus on socially conscious and effective alternatives to mass incarceration.

Methods:

For this proposal, a systematic literature review was conducted. Following the Cochrane Collaboration Guidelines, eligible published and unpublished sources were found. The systematic review process included 5 databases and contact with two experts for studies published between January 2000 and January 2017. The databases included: PyscINFO, Academic Search Complete, Professional Development Collection, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and ERIC. Four primary keywords were used: “incarceration*,” “women*,” “race*,” and “intervention*” searched in all text. During the process, many studies did not mention incarcerated women of color in the title of abstract, even if the population was involved in the study. Therefore, key terms were searched throughout the text in the 5 databases.

Results:

Marginalization, exploitation and violence are three forms of oppression that impact incarcerated women of color, thus interventions mentioned could reduce these inequalities. For example, structural interventions that emphasize GED programs and assist women with Medicaid and ID cards post-incarceration, mitigate marginalizing polices incarcerated women of color face.

Additionally, trauma experienced by these women often stems from violence encountered before entering the criminal justice system. Women who have experienced trauma are less likely to receive effective treatment, when incarcerated, causing their symptoms to worsen. To illustrate, 98% of sampled incarcerated women had high rates of trauma exposure and 53% had met criteria for experiencing PTSD. Interventions that best combat the ramification of PTSD are trauma-based care and gender-responsive programming in prison settings.

Since incarcerated women engage in intensive labor during their sentence, they often enter the prison system with previous experiences of labor and education exploitation. The cycle of racial and gender exploitation continues during incarceration, businesses benefit from this unpaid labor from minority women.

Conclusion and Implications:  

As a result of incarceration, women of color lose disproportionate amounts of educational and employment opportunities and often experience violence and labor exploitation during their sentence. A core element of social work is instilling service to oppressed populations. The literature demonstrates that interventions targeting incarcerated women of color promote smart decarceration. Therefore, it is important for social workers to understand the influence decarceration has on economic, racial, behavioral and gender disparities.