According to REFERENCE 1, substance use is a key reason for initial offending and recidivism for the over one million women on probation and parole in the United States. At the conclusion of 2014, there were more than one million women around the United States that were being supervised by the county or state. Only 12% were on parole, while 25% were on probation. Most of these offenders have a history of substance abuse. The substance abuse amongst female offenders I higher than that of male offenders. With a history of substance abuse, comes a greater chance of reoffending in their lifetime. Probation/parole officers provide social support for offenders with substance abuse problems. Along with their support, family support is thought to reduce women’s recidivism in reoffending. In criminal justice research there are two topics that are mainly being focused on. These two topics are support networks and perceived availability of support. Supportive communication between a probation/parole officer and an offender is not always perceived positively by the offender. The communication may differ for a woman who is on probation versus a woman who is on parole. Those women who were in prison and are now entering back into society are limited in many factors such as housing, employment, child custody, transportation, and assistance with physical and mental illness. Women who are on parole are more likely to recall the supportive advice and comments from their parole officer than that of women who are on probation. Women parolees use the supportive feedback throughout their daily lives.
There are several forms of support that women on probation/parole tend to lean towards. The forms of support include informational, emotional, esteem, tangible, and network. Informational support has two subcategories that are frequently provided. These subcategories include referrals and suggestions/advice. Probation/ parole officers often refer women to other resources that can help them get clean and stay sober. Along with this comes suggestions and advice that they may have to reach this point. Informational support can be seen as a threat to the offender. The offender may think that the probation/parole officer thinks that they are incompetent or lacking knowledge in the subject matter and may become offended by these assumptions. Emotional support includes signs such as empathy from the probation/parole officer showing that they truly care and want to help them reach their goal. Esteem support provides the later outcome of an improved self-esteem. Tangible support involves the willingness of the probation/parole officer to help the offender. Network support is given to improve the offenders’ social interactions with others. It helps them form relationships with others that are going through similar situations.
REFERENCE 2 states that drug use is a serious threat to public health and functioning among women in the criminal justice system. Over the years, the number of women who are incarcerated has drastically increased along with probation and parole. Female jail or prison inmates are more likely to be incarcerated for a drug offense than males. Research has shown a correlation between substance use and psychological distress in women offenders. Rates of psychological distress were higher in women offenders in the general population.
During my time as an intern at the Schuylkill County Adult Probation/Parole Department, I witnessed a decent amount of people who suffer from substance abuse problems. There were men and women offenders that suffered substance abuse problems, but the women outweighed the men in this respect. Referring to REFERENCE 3, many women in the criminal justice system are involved in drugs. Most women offenders do not just suffer from substance abuse problems, they also have one or more mental health issues. The mental illnesses include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive impairments, and uncontrollable violent behavior. The increase in number of women offenders incarcerated may be due to a lack of treatment for women with substance abuse problems. Drug courts are utilized around the country and I, myself, have witnessed drug court hearings. They not only use probation officers for drug courts, but they also use the court jurisdiction with court imposed sanctions and rewards along with their treatment process. For an offender to be successful after they have been released from incarceration, they need employment, education, health, housing, and family support.
According to REFERENCE 4, the transition of drug involved offenders from incarceration to the community is a critical issue for public health and public safety. Having treatment prior and during release from incarceration can help the offender fit back into society and reduce substance use along with criminal behavior. Those offenders who may be “newly” released do not have as much interest or motivation for treatment options. Those who are released on parole and have substance abuse problems must be able to follow the special conditions for parole, which may come off to them as unrealistic because of their substance abuse problems. Many offenders are reincarcerated within 12 months for violating their parole. The violations that a substance abuser may follow would be not attending drug treatment or failing a drug screening.
Women who are getting treatment while incarcerated use drugs more frequently than men who are getting treatment while incarcerated. Women also use harder drugs for different reasons than men. Women also struggled with certain situations. Some correlations that related to this are lower levels of education, poor vocational skills, higher levels of depression, higher rates in suicide and physical problems. Women also have a greater chance to have drug related problem s in their family history, be physically or sexually assaulted in their childhood, have a close companion or spouse to have a substance abuse problem, to be diagnosed with depression, and have overall bad physical health. Despite all of these setbacks, women are less likely to have a lengthy (if any) prior criminal record. If they do have a prior criminal record, they are usually non-violent and less serious in nature then that of men’s.
REFERENCE 5 states that drug availability may link the exposure to drugs makes certain individuals more likely to use the drug. This may occur when the drug markets are at a decent height to the local community demand or when there are a substantial amount of drug users in the area that even out the supply. It would be beneficial for not only the offender, but the criminal justice system to have classes or programs in the facility that help the offender create strategies to manage their risks for themselves and others outside of prison. Offenders that live in an area with high drug rates, have an increased likelihood to relapse. These individuals can benefit from these classes or programs and help them to cope with certain cues that trigger relapse.
For women alone, arrest and incarceration rates have risen drastically for drug offenses in the past two decades, according to REFERENCE 6. This article discusses two subtopics about recidivism in women who have substance abuse problems and have been released from prison. The two topics include gender-responsive models of risk and access to treatment and other resources. Childhood physical or sexual abuse in women can increase the likelihood of offending. These experiences can be the predecessor to certain characteristics that trigger women’s involvement in criminal behaviors. It is thought that women lean towards substance abuse to alleviate the stress in their lives. This leads to a higher risk of becoming a substance abuser and also heightens the risk of committing drug-related offenses. There are several factors that correspond to poor recidivism outcomes that involve women offenders. These offenders lack certain aspects such as prerelease planning for treatment outside of prison, access to housing and limited employment options, the connection of treatments in their community, the pressure of choosing to rekindle a former relationship, and communities that cause a substance abusing offender to relapse or reoffend.