OBJECTIVE:
Most
female inmates have mental health, substance use, or co-occurring disorders
(CODs), which can create greater difficulty adjusting to incarceration and
higher rates of prison misconduct. The response of prison officials to
institutional misbehaviors has important implications for female inmates'
experiences while incarcerated, their likelihood of parole, and the clinical
course of their condition. This article examined whether disciplinary actions
are more severe for women with CODs.
METHOD:
Data were
provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections for all female state
prison inmates incarcerated between January 1, 2007, and July 30, 2009 (N =
2,279). The final sample of 211 women included those who had committed a minor
misconduct during their incarceration. Disorder categories were created based
on intake assessments, and multivariate models were estimated to determine the
effect of disorder category on whether the prison imposed a severe or minor
disciplinary response to the misconduct.
RESULTS:
The odds
of receiving severe disciplinary responses to minor misconduct was
significantly greater for women with CODs than those with the singular
disorders of mental illness or substance abuse disorders, or those with no
disorders.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
Findings
suggest correctional institutions are responding in a punitive manner to the
symptomatic manifestations of CODs in female inmates. These findings suggest
the importance of screening instruments in correctional settings that assess
for the presence of dual disorders. In addition, correctional administrators
must implement training protocols for correctional officers and staff on the
complexity of CODs and the ability to identify behavioral and emotional
symptoms associated with this vulnerable subset of the offender population.
- 1Department of Law and Justice Studies.
- 2Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University.
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