Shannon Lynch
Professor of Psychology, Idaho State University
Key Findings
- Women in prison have high rates of mental health disorders with a majority experiencing mental illness in their lifetime.
- Serious mental illness was associated with substance use, running away as a teen, and drug offenses.
- Experiencing intimate partner violence increased the likelihood of property crimes, drug offenses, and sex work for women.
- Witnessing violence increased the likelihood of property crimes, fighting, and use of weapons for women.
- Experiences of caregiver violence increased the risk of running away as a teen in participants.
Description
In the article, “Life History Models of Female Offending: The Roles of Serious Mental Illness and Trauma in Women’s Pathways to Jail,” Lynch and her co-authors examine how mental illness in women contributes to their incarceration. The researchers used a structured and unstructured interviews with participants from Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Idaho, and South Carolina. The content of the interviews included demographic information, history of mental illness, as well as analysis with the Life History Calendar (LHC) tool,a calendar matrix that helps map an individual’s history. The results showed that women in prison have high rates of mental health disorders with a majority experiencing mental illness in their lifetime. Serious mental illness was associated with substance use, running away as a teen, and drug offenses. Experiencing intimate partner violence increased the likelihood of property crimes, drug offenses, and sex work for women. Witnessing violence increased the likelihood of property crimes, fighting, and use of weapons for women. Experiences of caregiver violence increased the risk of running away as a teen in participants. The authors note that there is a need for gender-responsive practices to address mental disorders and victimization of incarcerated women.