Female Prisoners, Mental Health, and Contact with Family and Friends

• Author: Irina Fanarraga,Katarzyna Celinska
• DOI: 10.1177/00328855221095518
• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Date: 01 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Female Prisoners, Mental

Health, and Contact with

Family and Friends

Katarzyna Celinska

1

and Irina Fanarraga

2

Abstract

The present study explores the psychological symptoms of 194 female

inmates housed in a northeast state prison. Imprisoned women completed

Derogatis’(2001) Brief Symptom Inventory-18 and responded to questions

on the frequency of contact with family and friends via phone calls, letters,

and visitations. The results showed signif‌icant correlations between psycho-

logical symptoms and modes of contact. Multiple regression models revealed

that certain types of contact with family and friends had a statistically signif‌i-

cant impact on the self-reported psychological symptoms of female inmates.

Policy implications and recommendations are discussed.

Keywords

female inmates, psychological symptoms, contact with family

Introduction

There has been a dramatic rise in female imprisonment in the American crim-

inal justice system, with over 231,000 women incarcerated in 2019 (Kajstura,

2019). Since 1980, the growth rate of female imprisonment has been twice

1

City University of New York-John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Dept. of Law, Police Science,

& Criminal Justice Administration, New York, NY, USA

2

City University of New York-Criminal Justice Doctoral Program, New York, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Katarzyna Celinska, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Dept. of Law, Police Science, & Criminal

Justice Administration, 524 W. 59th St., Suite 422-11, New York, NY 10019, USA.

Email: kcelinska@jjay.cuny.edu

The Prison Journal

2022, Vol. 102(3) 259–282

© 2022 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/00328855221095518

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that of males, effectively making women the fastest growing segment of US

incarcerees. In fact, between 1980 and 2018, the number of incarcerated

women increased by over 750%, and the rate of imprisonment of African

American women was twice that of White women (The Sentencing Project,

2018). These f‌igures are in line with research on so-called “triple jeopardy,”

which places a particular emphasis on the uniqueness of issues and problems

experienced by minority women as a result of the intersection between their

race, class, and gender (Enos, 2012; Lynch et al., 2012).

The increase of women in prison triggered a surge in scholarship and pub-

lications on female offenders (Belknap et al., 2016). Theoretical develop-

ments, mainly within feminist research, informed the “pathways theory,”a

perspective that identif‌ied past traumatic events in women’s lives as leading

conduits into crime and incarceration. In particular, many women who are

involved in the criminal justice system have histories of trauma and victimi-

zation and exhibit mental health issues, psychological distress, and substance

use problems (Bronson & Berzofsky, 2017; James & Glaze, 2006; Lynch

et al., 2017). Bureau of Justice Statistics indicators point to a continuous

mental health crisis in American prisons and jails (Kajstura, 2019).

In addition to histories of trauma and mental illness, a factor of salience for

female inmates is their role as mothers. It has been estimated that 62% of

women in state prisons and 80% of women in jails are mothers of minor chil-

dren, for whom they were usually the main caregivers prior to their imprison-

ment (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010; Kajstura, 2019).

While research on female inmates’mental health problems has been increasing,

there are topics that need more examination, including the association between

their mental health and contact with family and friends. The current study proposes

to examine patterns in the psychological symptoms reported by 194 female

inmates in a northeast state women’s prison. In addition, we explore correlations

and multiple regression models that focus on individual psychological symptoms,

identif‌ied by the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), and various types of

family and friends’contact (phone calls, letters, and visitation).

The present study is signif‌icant in several ways. It is important to advance

research on the mental health of incarcerated women, especially given the con-

sistent growth of female incarceration rates for the last several decades.

Because the psychological and mental health issues of this correctional popula-

tion pose a signif‌icant challenge when it comes to correctional management

and treatment, it is critical that we continue to study their prevalence, as well

as associated factors that might be relevant to improving female inmates’

mental health (see Cabeldue et al., 2019). For instance, previous research has

indicated that separation from family and children during incarceration is a

source of stress particularly salient for incarcerated women (Crewe et al.,

260 The Prison Journal 102(3)