An Examination of the Associations Among Victimization, Mental Health, and Offending in Women

• Author: Joanne Belknap,Dana D. DeHart,Kristine M. Johnson,Maria M. Wong,Bonnie L. Green,Priscilla Dass-Brailsford,Shannon M. Lynch
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854817704452
• Published date: 01 June 2017
• Date: 01 June 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854817704452

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2017, Vol. 44, No. 6, June 2017, 796 –814.

DOI: 10.1177/0093854817704452

© 2017 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

796

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ASSOCIATIONS

AMONG VICTIMIZATION, MENTAL HEALTH,

AND OFFENDING IN WOMEN

SHANNON M. LYNCH

Idaho State University

DANA D. DEHART

University of South Carolina

JOANNE BELKNAP

University of Colorado Denver

BONNIE L. GREEN

PRISCILLA DASS-BRAILSFORD

Georgetown University

KRISTINE M. JOHNSON

Evidence Based Treatment Centers of Seattle

MARIA M. WONG

Idaho State University

This study examines mental health as a mediator of the victimization and offending link in women. We administered struc-

tured diagnostic interviews to 491 women in urban and rural jails in four geographic regions of the United States to obtain

detailed lifetime mental health, substance use, victimization, and conviction history. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was

used to examine associations among adult and childhood experiences of interpersonal violence, lifetime mental health and

substance use disorders, treatment utilization, and total number of convictions. Lifetime mental health and substance use

disorders mediated the relationship between childhood victimization and adversity and number of convictions, and between

adult victimization and number of convictions. In addition, greater treatment utilization was significantly associated with

number of convictions. The findings offer support for including mental health and treatment utilization in models of women’s

offending and conducting comprehensive mental health assessments of women entering jail.

Keywords: incarcerated women; victimization; mental health; treatment utilization

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This project would not have been possible without the support of many jail staff and

research team members at each site. We want to recognize the contributions of research team members Jemima

Anglade, Alina Bonci, Porschia Brown, Toyin Falebita, Pat Heiber, Kelsie Hendrickson, Ania Hornberger,

Alejandra Hurtado, Beena Kuruvilla, Andrea Lamont, Kathrine Martinez, Anjali Nandi, Kathryn Nowotny,

Sarah Rowland, Adriana Serrano, and Emily Van Ness. We also give special thanks to the women who partici-

pated in these interviews with the hope of making a difference for future generations. Points of view in this

document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S.

Department of Justice. The data utilized for this study have been submitted to Interuniversity Consortium for

Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, a national data repository at https://www.icpsr.

umich.edu/icpsrweb/index.jsp. This project was supported by Grant 2010-DB-DBX-K048 awarded by the

Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Correspondence concern-

ing this article should be addressed to Shannon M. Lynch, Department of Psychology, Idaho State University,

921 So 8th Ave., Stop 8112, Pocatello, ID 83209; e-mail: lyncshan@isu.edu.

704452CJBXXX10.1177/0093854817704452CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIORLynch et al. / VICTIMIZATION, MENTAL HEALTH, AND OFFENDING

research-article2017

Lynch et al. / VICTIMIZATION, MENTAL HEALTH, AND OFFENDING 797

INTRODUCTION

Existing research has identified high rates of victimization (Belknap & Holsinger, 2006;

Browne, Miller, & Maguin, 1999; Carlson & Shafer, 2010; McDaniels-Wilson & Belknap,

2008; Scott, Lurigio, Dennis, & Funk, 2016) and mental health disorders (Steadman, Osher,

Robbins, Case, & Samuels, 2009; Trestman, Ford, Wanli, & Wiesbrock, 2007) in incarcerated

women. Furthermore, there is clear recognition of a link between victimization and mental

illness (Hedtke et al., 2008; Lynch, Fritch, & Heath, 2012; Messina & Grella, 2006; Scott

et al., 2016), victimization and offending (Grella, Stein, & Greenwell, 2005; Topitzes, Mersky,

& Reynolds, 2011; Widom, 2000), and also between mental illness and offending (Benda,

2005; Hawthorne et al., 2012; D. J. James & Glaze, 2006; Messina, Burdon, Hagopian, &

Prendergast, 2006). However, comparatively few researchers have examined the relative con-

tributions of victimization and mental illness to offending within one model nor the potential

role of mental illness as a meditator of the well-established victimization–offending link. The

purpose of this study was to assess the associations among women’s lifetime exposure to

interpersonal violence, lifetime mental health and substance use disorders, treatment utiliza-

tion, and criminal offending history using comprehensive assessment tools.

The hypothesized associations in this model are informed by the pathways perspective

(Belknap & Holsinger, 2006; Bloom, Owen, & Covington, 2003). The feminist pathways

perspective suggests that experiences of victimization, mental illness, and substance use as

well contextual factors such as structural oppression and economic and social marginality

influence women’s entry into the criminal justice system. Women entering jail tend to over-

represent minority populations (particularly in urban areas), have committed nonviolent

crimes involving drug or property offenses, have had less access to educational and voca-

tional training, to be unemployed at the time of arrest, to be primary caretakers, and to

report higher rates of exposure to interpersonal violence and mental health disorders (Bloom

et al., 2003). The aim of this study was to test key pathways to incarceration for women, by

focusing on the relative contributions of childhood victimization and adversity, adult vic-

timization, and mental illness and substance use, and to assesses mental illness and sub-

stance use disorders as a mediator of the victimization–offending link.

MENTAL ILLNESS AND TREATMENT ACCESS

Compared to men and women in the general population, researchers have identified ele-

vated rates of mental illness in incarcerated populations (Diamond, Wang, Holzer, Thomas,

& des Anges, 2001). In a study examining mental health among incarcerated adults in

northeastern jails, Trestman and colleagues (2007) reported that 65% of men and 77% of

women had a history of mental illness, with 56% of women meeting criteria for multiple

lifetime disorders. Steadman and colleagues (2009) interviewed 822 inmates in five jails

and found that incarcerated women in jail demonstrated prevalence rates for current serious

mental illnesses (SMIs; for example, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, psychotic

spectrum disorders) at twice the rate of men in jail (31% vs.14.5%).

These rates of mental illness in women offenders are concerning for many reasons, one

of which is risk for reoffending. In a large scale survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice

Statistics, jailed offenders with mental health problems were more likely than offenders

without mental health problems to have served three or more prior sentences (D. J. James

& Glaze, 2006). In another large sample study, with samples of more than 4,000 men and