Houser Kimberly, Belenko Steven
Department of Law and Justice Studies.
Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University.
Psychiatr Rehabil J. 2015 Mar;38(1):24-34. doi: 10.1037/prj0000110. Epub 2015 Feb 9.
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.
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.
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.
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. (PsycINFO Database Record
大多数女性囚犯患有心理健康问题、药物使用问题或共病（COD），这会给她们适应监禁带来更大困难，并导致更高的监狱不当行为发生率。监狱管理人员对机构内不当行为的反应，对女性囚犯在监禁期间的经历、获得假释的可能性以及她们病情的临床进程具有重要影响。本文研究了对患有共病的女性采取的纪律处分是否更为严厉。
数据由宾夕法尼亚州惩教部提供，涵盖2007年1月1日至2009年7月30日期间被监禁的所有女性州立监狱囚犯（N = 2279）。最终样本为211名女性，包括在监禁期间有轻微不当行为的人。根据入狱评估创建了疾病类别，并估计了多变量模型，以确定疾病类别对监狱对不当行为采取严厉或轻微纪律反应的影响。
患有共病的女性因轻微不当行为而受到严厉纪律处分的几率，显著高于患有单一精神疾病或药物滥用疾病的女性，或没有疾病的女性。
研究结果表明，惩教机构对女性囚犯共病的症状表现采取了惩罚性反应。这些发现表明了惩教环境中筛查工具对于评估双重疾病存在情况的重要性。此外，惩教管理人员必须为惩教人员和工作人员实施关于共病复杂性以及识别与这一弱势群体相关的行为和情绪症状能力的培训方案。（PsycINFO数据库记录）
