Transcript Female felons in America

Female felons in America
Based on research by Warren, J.,
Hurt, S., Loper, A., Bale, R.,
Friend, R., & Chauhan, P. (2002)
Psychopathy in female prison
populations
• Psychopathology: Symptoms that cause
mental, emotional, and/or physical pain.
• Research confirms that more females in
prison suffer from higher rates of
psychopathy than their male counterparts.
Mental health issues among
females incarcerated
Most common diagnoses:
Substance Abuse/Dependence (70%)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (34%)
Severe disorders (19%)
Includes: Schizophrenia, Mania &
Major Depression
Definitions
(Nolen-Hoeksema, 2004)
• Substance use: Recurrent substance use
leads to significant harmful consequences
• Substance Dependence: Substance use
leads to physiological dependence or
significant impairment or distress
• PTSD: anxiety disorder characterized by
repeated mental images of experiencing
traumatic event, emotional numbing, and
hyper vigilance
• Schizophrenia: disorder consisting of
unreal or disorganized thoughts and
perceptions. Includes verbal, cognitive
and behavioral deficits
• Mania: State of persistently elevated mood,
feelings of grandiosity, over enthusiasm, racing
thoughts, rapid speech and impulsive actions
• Major Depression: Disorder involving a sad
mood, plus four or more of the following: weight
loss, insomnia, fatigue, feelings of
worthlessness, severe guilt, trouble
concentrating, suicidal ideation. Symptoms
must be present for at least 2 weeks
Antisocial Personality Disorder
(APD):
• Pervasive pattern of criminal, impulsive,
callous, and/or ruthless behavior.
• Disregard for the rights of others and an
absence of respect for social norms.
• Use to be referred to as “psychopath”
Borderline Personality Disorder
(BPD)
• Rapidly shifting and unstable mood, selfconcept, and interpersonal relationships
• Impulsive behavior and transient
dissociative states
• Includes out-of-control emotions that
cannot be smoothed, a hypersensitivity to
other people, and history of hurting oneself
Histrionic Personality Disorder
(HPD)
• Rapidly shifting moods
• Unstable relationships
• Intense need for attention and approval
Often use overly dramatic behavior,
seductiveness and dependence
• Several studies have documented that
many female prisoners suffer from
Personality Disorders
• APD and BPD are the two most common
types identified in females incarcerated
Hypothesis for high levels of mental
illness in female prisoners
• Severe forms of early abuse and neglect
common to many incarcerated women
lead to psychiatric disorders
• Intergeneral transmission
• Typical behaviors seen in APD & BPD can
lead to arrest and imprisonment of females
Racial issues?
• Psychiatric distress is seen more in White
inmates
• Suggests the most deviant White women
are incarcerated while African American
women are imprisoned for less serious
behavior
History of victimization
• Recognized that over half of all females
incarcerated are victims of physical and
sexual abuse
• Females who have a history of
victimization are more likely to be at risk
for adult substance dependence than male
counterparts
Repeat victimization
• Several studies have shown connection
between childhood victimization and
experiencing violence in adulthood
Hypothesis
– Modeling by parents
– Exposure to deviant peer and community
influences
– PTSD
– Internalizing self as a victimized person
– Reenactment of childhood events as adult
(Either as victim or aggressor)
Violent Fems
• Research collected worldwide confirms
women commit far fewer violent crimes
than men
• Women tend to be violent towards own
family members.
• Occurs usually in the home, while on
medication
Violent Fems (continued)
• The wounds females inflict are less
serious than those by male counterparts
• Women are less likely to be arrested than
male counterparts
• APD and violent behavior has been
documented well documented in men
• Research between APD and violent
behavior in women is in early stages
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)
• Used to assess various Axis I
psychopathology
• Nine subscales: Somatization, obsessivecompulsive, interpersonal sensitivity,
depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic
anxiety, and paranoid ideation
Prison Violence Inventory (PVI)
• Used to measure the amount of violence
that each inmate has both experienced
and perpetrated in prison
The sample
• 48% were 32 years old or younger
• 3% over 50 years of age
• 61% minority
• 51% graduated from high school
• 79% had at least one child
The sample (cont.)
• 33% had previously been incarcerated
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21% in for a violent offense
8% in for a “potentially violent offense”
1% in for a sex crime
28% in for drugs
39% in for property offense
The sample (cont.)
• Over 50% screened positive for a
Personality Disorder
• More younger women (< 32) had a
Personality Disorder than their older
cohorts
The sample (cont.)
• 55% reported being victims of sexual
abuse before 18 years old
• 39% reported experiencing physical abuse
before age 18
• Younger, non minority women reported
higher levels of victimization
High violence group
• Reported two or more violent incidents
• N=73
• Age level and a positive screen for APD
significantly increased the likelihood of
being in the high violence group
Minority women
• 15-20% of United States population
• However, over 60% of women in prison
are minorities
• Stringent drug sentencing accounts for a
large part of this difference
Killers
• Majority of humans who murder do not
suffer are not antisocial or psychopathic
• Killers have the lowest recidivism rates
Predicting prison violence
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Age
Minority status
High scores on BSI Global Severity Index
APD or HPD
Sexual victimization before age of 18