Discriminant Function Analyses: Classifying Drugs/Violence Victimization Typologies Among Incarcerated Rural Women

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between drug use and violence victimization among incarcerated women in Appalachian Kentucky. The purpose of this study was to test the utility of Goldstein’s tripartite conceptual framework among rural incarcerated women, by examining whether distinct drugs/violence nexus groups could be classified based on psychopharmacological, economic-compulsive, and systemic factors. This study used secondary data from a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded grant focused on risk reduction among high-risk incarcerated women in Appalachia ( N = 400). Predicted drugs/violence groups were developed using a series of discriminant function analyses. The data yielded three statistically significant discriminant models. Findings of the classified groupings indicated support for three distinct drugs/violence victimization subgroups. The psychopharmacological group showed the greatest prevalence ( n = 181; Wilks’s λ = .389, F = 3.94, p < .001), followed by the economic-compulsive group ( n = 77; Wilks’s λ = .584, F = 11.86, p < .001) and systemic group ( n = 55) significant (Wilks’s λ = .994, F = 2.247, p < .035). To date, this is the first study to report a relationship between systemic violence victimization among rural communities. These findings could offer novel considerations for theory development and implications for clinical practice regarding the drug-related risks for violence victimization among rural incarcerated women.

Market Dynamics and Systemic Violence: A Longitudinal Examination of Market Penetration, Entry Deterrence, and Excess Capacity in the Illicit Drug Market

“…Our findings align with previous studies that find theoretical relevance in analyzing systemic means as the foremost pathway to the genesis of violence in the illicit drug market (Contreras & Hipp, 2020; Goldstein et al, 1989; Hautala et al, 2019; Moeller & Hesse, 2013; Reuter, 2009; Victor & Staton, 2020). The market dynamics analyzed in the current study add a novel contribution to the existing body of literature that has endeavored to explicate the underlying causes and correlates of drug-related violence.…”

“…Other studies also report that systemic violence is the most widespread of the three types of drug-related violence after controlling for geographic location (Butters, 1997; Hautala et al, 2019; Moeller & Hesse, 2013), spatiotemporal elements (Contreras & Hipp, 2020), and rural drug markets (Victor & Staton, 2020). Although most studies on systemic violence gained traction in the United States (Goldstein et al, 1989; Reuter, 2009), it is essential to note that the robustness of these findings remains consistent regardless of geographic boundaries.…”

“…Despite most research on the drug-violence nexus being conducted in densely populated metropolitan cities (Coomber, 2015; Goldstein et al, 1989), rural drug markets also exist and take on differing compositions, consumers, and contextual factors given the unique configuration of rural communities (Kuhns & Clodfelter, 2009). Using Goldstein’s framework, Victor and Staton (2020) undertook a seminal study on rural drug markets and found that systemic means are a significant pathway to violence for women. Given the totality of these findings, there is little dispute among social scientists that systemic violence is a crucial explanatory element to drug-related violence (Erikson, 2001).…”

The Replacements: The Effect of Incarcerating Drug Offenders on First-Time Drug Sales Offending

“…This same market attraction also exists for drug dealers who flock to large cities over smaller rural areas to sell their products (Rengert, 1996). However, while research suggests that rural drug markets do exist, they do not adhere to the same operations and habits as drug markets in larger urbanized areas (Lee & Bartkowski, 2004; Victor & Staton, 2020). Thus, it is plausible that the effect of drug incarceration on first-time drug sales offending might be different in rural areas.…”

Systematic Review of Pattern and Prevalence of Drug use Associated with Domestic Violence

“…Abuse of substance is now recognized as a signifi cant public health problem worldwide [7]. Historically, policymaking with respect to drugs, alcohol, and violence has focused on aggression in systems of drug distribution, demand and supply [8,9] and violence arising from intoxication in the night-time economy [10].…”