The Relationship between Victimization, Problems Caused By Alcohol Use, and Recidivism Among Women Prisoners

Background: Although there has been a decrease in the number of state and federal prisoners over the past few years, the proportion of women in prison has been increasing (Carson, 2015). In fact, women are the fastest growing population in US prisons (Drapalski, Youman, Stuewig, & Tangery, 2009; Sabol, Minton, & Harrison, 2007). It is not surprising that incarcerated women have high rates of mental health (James & Glaze, 2006) and substance use problems (Mumola & Karberg, 2007) considering their disproportionate rates of childhood and adulthood victimization (Tripodi & Pettus-Davis, 2013). Even though women in prison experience high rates of victimization and alcohol use, the relationship of these factors to each other and their influence on recidivism is unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between childhood and adulthood victimization, alcohol use, and recidivism among women in prison.

Methods: A random sample of incarcerated women (n=230) was obtained from two state prisons in North Carolina. The mean age was 33.7 (SD=9.90), ranging from 18 to 72 years old. Approximately 54% of the participants identified as white and 41% as black. Participants were asked questions about past victimization and problems associated with their alcohol use.

This study proposed and tested a path model to recidivism. The model starts with childhood abuse predicting adult abuse by family members and intimate partners. According to our hypothesized model, abuse by a family member and/or an intimate partner in adulthood would then lead to having alcohol problems, which ultimately would predict reincarceration. Recidivism was defined as being reincarcerated or getting a new probation sentence within three years of being released from prison.

Results: Approximately 26.1% of women reoffended or received a new probation sentence within three years of being released. Furthermore, 29.5% of women experienced both physical and sexual child abuse, 25.1% experienced at least occasional abuse from a family member during the year before incarceration, and 40.1% experienced at least occasional abuse from an intimate partner during the year before incarceration.

Results indicated that experiencing childhood physical and sexual abuse was predictive of experiencing frequent abuse by a family member (β=5.46, p< .001) and frequent abuse by an intimate partner (β=1.87, p=.04) during the year prior to incarceration. Intimate partner abuse was not predictive of alcohol problems, but family abuse was associated with alcohol problems (β= 0.16, p=.03). Neither childhood abuse nor adult abuse were predictors of recidivism. However, the number of problems caused by alcohol was a statistically significant predictor of recidivism (β= 1.10, p=.01).

Implications: Our findings suggest a potential pathway to recidivism for women prisoners, which reveals important implications for alcohol abuse treatment. Even though we cannot change the fact that a woman was victimized, we can change her substance use habits. If we can treat alcohol abuse and prevent problems associated with alcohol use, it is possible that we could help prevent recidivism. Based on our findings, it is important that interventions aimed at treating alcohol abuse involve helping women cope with their past victimization.