Assessing the Needs of Women Recently Released From Prison

Bergseth, Kathleen J.; Jens, Katie Richardson; Bergeron-Vigesaa, Lindsey; McDonald, T

doi:10.1080/08974454.2011.558799

Cited by 36 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Locating safe and affordable housing is a critical and challenging first step for all individuals returning to the community, and unstable housing places one at greater risk for reentry failure (Brown and Bloom 2009;Freudenberg et al 2005;La Vigne et al 2009;O'Brien 2001;Schram et al 2006;Van Voorhis 2009). Offenders typically exit prison with a history of economic marginalization that makes it difficult to afford independent housing; further, the stigma of a criminal record is known to influence housing decisions (Bergseth et al 2011;La Vigne et al 2009;Opsal 2008;Travis 2005).…”

Section: The Challenge Of Finding Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an attempt to control crime in and around public housing, the federal government has made it increasingly difficult for felons -particularly those who are convicted of drug offenses -to live in public housing. Because women are disproportionately represented among convicted drug offenders, it is substantially more difficult for them-and women of color in particular-to access public housing or housing subsidies otherwise available to lower-income individuals (Bergseth et al 2011;Huebner et al 2010;Travis 2005). This maybe another reason that women are less likely to reside with family members upon release (Mallik-Kane and Visher 2008).…”

Section: The Challenge Of Finding Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

Opsal

Foley

2013

Sociology Compass

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The increasing rate of imprisonment in the United States over the past few decades resulted in record numbers of individuals reentering society upon release. As men and women exit through prison gates, they encounter a range of obstacles that complicate their efforts to ''make it'' on the outside. Given the gendered impact of recent punitive prison policies, this essay focuses on women and traces their steps as they navigate the many complex, interrelated, and competing obstacles to successful reintegration post-incarceration. In particular, this essay describes how many barriers, and women's reentry experience more broadly, are shaped by gender, race, and class. Further, drawing on the feminist pathways perspective, we examine women's reentry in light of their pathways into offending focusing, in particular, on their victimization history.

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Section: The Challenge Of Finding Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Challenge Of Finding Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

Opsal

Foley

2013

Sociology Compass

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“…The period after release from custody is particularly challenging to health, as indicated by increased risks of morbidity and mortality [13][14][15][16]. People face urgent issues on release from jail and prison, including finding housing and employment, reconnecting with family, and meeting conditions of release [17][18][19][20][21][22][23], which may compete with addressing health and health care needs [24]. In the US, lack of health insurance poses a significant barrier to accessing health care after release, especially in states where Medicare and Medicaid are revoked upon arrest [18][19][20]23,[25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“When you first walk out the gates…where do [you] go?”: Barriers and opportunities to achieving continuity of health care at the time of release from a provincial jail in Ontario

Jurgutis

Edwards

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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We aimed to explore continuity of health care and health barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for people at the time of release from a provincial correctional facility in Ontario, Canada. We conducted focus groups in community-based organizations in a city in Ontario, Canada: a men's homeless shelter, a mental health service organization, and a social service agency with programs for people with substance use disorders. We included adults who spoke English well enough to participate in the discussion and who had been released from the provincial correctional facility in the previous year. We conducted three focus groups with 18 total participants. Participants had complex health needs on release, including ongoing physical and psychological impacts of time in custody. They identified lack of access to high quality health care; lack of housing, employment, social services, and social supports; and discrimination on the basis of incarceration history as barriers to health on release. Access to health care, housing, social services, and social supports all facilitated health on release. To address health needs on release, participants suggested providing health information in jail, improving discharge planning, and developing accessible clinics in the community. This pilot study identified opportunities to support health at the time of release from jail, including delivery of programs in jail, linkage with and development of programs in the community, and efforts to support structural changes to prevent and address discrimination. These data will inform ongoing work to support health and continuity of care on release from a provincial correctional facility.

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“…Present day researchers urge there is a need to better understand the prevalence of childhood victimization in women offenders, and the ability of victimization to predict mental health and substance abuse problems for these same women. These researchers argue this inquiry is an important first step towards being more responsive to women prisoners’ needs (Bergseth, Jens, Bergeron-Vigesaa, & McDonald, 2011). This study responds to that call.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research indicates women prisoners have higher exposure to trauma than men prisoners (Battle, Zlotnick, Najavits, Gutierrez, & Winsor, 2003) and have higher rates of both mental health disorders and substance abuse problems (Green et al, 2005; Jordan, Federman, Burns, Schlenger, Fairbank, & Caddell, 2002; Messina & Grella, 2006; Teplin et al, 1996). Despite these higher rates for women prisoners, very few correctional programs and prisoner reentry programs address histories of trauma and mental health problems (Bergseth et al, 2011; Calhoun, Messina, Cartier, & Torres, 2010; Petersilia, 2009; von Wormer & Kaplan, 2009). For example, Koons, Burrow, Morash, and Bynum (1997) found that just 13% of correctional programs for women target physical and/or sexual abuse, and mental health was targeted in just 7% of the programs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Histories of childhood victimization and subsequent mental health problems, substance use, and sexual victimization for a sample of incarcerated women in the US

Tripodi

Pettus-Davis

2013

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

158

126

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Women are entering US prisons at nearly double the rate of men and are the fastest growing prison population. Current extant literature focuses on the prevalence of the incarceration of women, but few studies exist that emphasize the different trajectories to prison. For example, women prisoners have greater experiences of prior victimization, more reports of mental illness, and higher rates of illicit substance use. The purpose of this study was to understand the prevalence of childhood victimization and its association with adult mental health problems, substance abuse disorders, and further sexual victimization. The research team interviewed a random sample of 125 women prisoners soon to release from prison to gather information on their childhood physical and sexual victimization, mental health and substance abuse problems as an adult, and sexual victimization in the year preceding incarceration. Results indicate that women prisoners in this sample who were both physically and sexually victimized as a child were more likely to be hospitalized as an adult for a psychological or emotional problem. Women who were sexually victimized or both physically and sexually victimized were more likely to attempt suicide. Women who experienced physical victimization as children and women who were both physically and sexually victimized were more likely to have a substance use disorder and women who were sexually abused as children or both physically and sexually victimized were more likely to be sexually abused in the year preceding prison. This article ends with a discussion about prisons’ role in providing treatment for women prisoners and basing this treatment on women’s trajectories to prison, which disproportionately includes childhood victimization and subsequent mental health and substance use problems.

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Assessing the Needs of Women Recently Released From Prison

Cited by 36 publications

References 14 publications

Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

“When you first walk out the gates…where do [you] go?”: Barriers and opportunities to achieving continuity of health care at the time of release from a provincial jail in Ontario

Histories of childhood victimization and subsequent mental health problems, substance use, and sexual victimization for a sample of incarcerated women in the US

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