Women's Experiences of Abuse As a Risk Factor for Incarceration

Applied Research Forum National Electronic Network on Violence Against Women Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration Mary E. Gilfus “My crime—being addicted to alcohol and drugs. of (1) abused and runaway girls; (2) women forced My crime—being a survivor of domestic violence. to live and work on the streets; and (3) women My crime—being a survivor of incest. addicted to substances. The process of entrapment My crime—being an American Indian woman” (Ogden, 2000-2001, p. 20). affects the above three groups of women but also applies to (4) women arrested for economic crimes, The battered women’s movement has relied sometimes coerced by batterers; (5) women ar- heavily on the criminal justice system to protect rested for harm to children or abusers; and (6) women from male violence, but this has had negative women affected by enforcement of discriminatory consequences for many women of color and their and coercive welfare, immigration and corrections communities who have historically been more policies. Once abused and socially harmed women harmed than protected by the system. Women of become labeled as offenders they are even more at color activists call for both the battered women’s risk for repeated victimizations and entrapments that movement and the prison abolition movement to join keep women imprisoned literally and figuratively. together to stop violence against women who are The framework presented here takes into account “victimized by both interpersonal and state violence” the diversity of abused women who are subjected to (Incite, 2002; Rodriguez, 2000-2001, p.17). correctional control. This paper describes how violence perpe- trated against women and girls increases their risk of Victimization in the Lives of Incarcerated arrest and incarceration through the intersections of Women and Girls interpersonal and structural violence. The processes that place victims under correctional control are the Most studies of incarcerated women have “criminalization” of women’s survival strategies observed high rates of victimization that link violence (Chesney-Lind, 1997) and “entrapment” into crime in women’s lives to their entry into the criminal by abusers and by gender, race and class oppres- justice system as defendants (Arnold, 1990; sion (Richie, 1996). Once entrapped and Browne, 1987; Browne, Miller, & Maguin, 1999; criminalized, women are re-victimized and subjected Chesney-Lind, 1997; Daly, 1994; Danner, Blount, to “enforcement violence” by the state through Silverman, & Vega, 1995; Gilfus, 1987,1992; Katz, coercive laws, immigration policies, social welfare 2000; Leonard, 2002; Owen, 1998; Richie, 1996.). policies and law enforcement practices Richie (1996) observed patterns of entrapment by (Bhattacharjee, 2001). abusive partners into crime in her study of African- This review of the research on incarcerated American battered women in jail in New York City. women and girls identifies six, sometimes overlap- Daly (1994) identified several pathways by which ping, pathways through which abused girls and primarily poor women of color become involved women are placed at risk for incarceration. The with the courts. Miller (1986) described extensive process of criminalization is most evident in the lives victimization and exploitation in the lives of “street Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration (December 2002) Page 1 of 12 VAWnet is a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence 800-537-2238 TTY 800-553-2508 Fax 717-545-9456 *The views expressed in this document may not reflect the official policy of VAWnet, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, or the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. VAWnet Applied Research Forum women” and Chesney-Lind and Rodriguez (1983) Consequences of Abuse as Correlates with and Gilfus (1987, 1992) identified early and re- Risks of Incarceration peated abuse as antecedents to women’s entry into crime. Browne and colleagues found parallels be- Government surveys of state and federal tween the well-known long-term effects of exposure prisoners estimate that 43% to 57% of women in to violence and the reasons for which the women in state and federal prisons have been physically or their study were incarcerated, particularly running sexually abused at some time in their lives (Harlow, away from home, re-victimization, drug and alcohol 1999; Greenfield & Snell, 1999; Snell & Morton, addictions and prostitution (Browne, et al., 1999). 1994). One-third of incarcerated women report Studies of women sexually abused as girls find child sexual abuse and 20% to 34% report abuse by that onset of drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, an adult intimate partner; they have multiple abuse depression, suicidal ideation, relationship distur- histories and are three to four times more likely than bances, running away from home and entry into male prisoners to have abuse histories (American prostitution are frequent negative consequences of Correctional Association, 1990; Harlow, 1999; child sexual abuse (Banyard, Williams, & Siegel, Snell & Morton, 1994). While these rates may not 2001; Briere, 1996; Chu, 1998; Follette, Polusny, be substantially higher than in the general population Bechtle, & Naugle, 1996; Herman, 1997; van der of women (see Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), these Kolk, 1996). Longer duration and severity of abuse surveys probably under-report rates of abuse appear to increase the risk of negative outcomes. because they ask only a few general screening Trauma at early stages of development may alter questions to determine victimization. Researchers brain chemistry and cognitive functioning, interfering agree that more extensive measures of behaviorally with concentration, school performance and the specific experiences result in higher and probably capacity to discern and interpret cues from the more accurate, prevalence rates (Browne, et al., environment regarding danger and risk (van der 1999; Schwartz, 2000). Kolk, 1996). Flashbacks, hypervigilance and In contrast, smaller and more in-depth studies emotional flooding may alternate with states of using expanded measures of abuse have found that psychological numbing or dissociation (Briere, 1996; nearly all girls and women in prison samples have Herman, 1997). The desire for relief from trauma experienced physical and sexual abuse throughout symptoms may lead survivors to self-medicate with their lives (Bloom, Chesney-Lind, & Owen, 1994; drugs or alcohol to invoke the numbing state; on the Browne, et al., 1999; Fletcher, Rolison, & Moon, other hand, numbing may lead some survivors to 1993; Gilfus, 1987, 1992; Owen, 1998; Richie, engage in risk-taking and self-injury behaviors in 1996). A study of 150 women at a maximum order to feel alive again (Briere, 1996; Chu, 1998). security prison for women in New York State Sexual predators tend to play on children’s (Browne, et al., 1999) found that fully 94% of the loyalty and desire for affection, leaving abused women reported severe physical or sexual abuse children confused about social relationships and the during their lives. Eighty-two percent of the women distinctions among sex, love and violence (Briere, had been abused as children and 75% had experi- 1996; Finkelhor & Browne, 1988). Sexually abused enced adult intimate partner abuse. Not only was the girls have a high rate of sexual revictimization prevalence of abuse extremely high, but the abuse (Crowell & Burgess, 1996; Koss, et al., 1994), was also severe and cumulative over the life course perhaps because perpetrators tend to target vulner- of the women. A recent study by the Chicago able young people who may have little or no adult Coalition for the Homeless (2002) reported that protection. The absence of at least one caring adult 53% of a sample of 235 women in Cook County or a stable family life, failure at school and poor Jail had been abused as children and 66% had been social skills increase the likelihood that a child will victims of domestic violence. not be able to overcome the adversity of abuse, Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration (December 2002) Page 2 of 12 VAWnet is a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence 800-537-2238 TTY 800-553-2508 Fax 717-545-9456 VAWnet Applied Research Forum especially in environments characterized by poverty, 61% had been physically abused and the majority racism and social disorganization (Benard, 1991; had been abused multiple times. Over 80% of girls Hyman & Williams, 2001; McFarlane, 1996). had run away from home and over half had at- In retrospective studies, women at risk for tempted suicide (ACA, 1990). Girls are more likely incarceration—women who work as prostitutes than boys to be incarcerated for status offenses, (Farley & Kelley, 2000; J. Miller & Jayasundara, which are behaviors that are not criminal—such as 2001; Silbert, & Pines, 1981), women with drug running away, truancy, “incorrigibility,” and being addictions (Frye, El-Bassel, Gilbert, Rajah, & deemed a child in need of supervision (Chesney- Christie, 2001; Moreno, El-Bassel, Gilbert, & Lind, 1997). Early juvenile involvement in the Wada, 2002), women with alcohol problems (Clark criminal justice system is highly predictive of adult & Foy, 2000) and homeless women (Browne & incarceration and recidivism (Greenfield & Snell, Bassuk, 1997; Wenzel, Leake, Gelberg, 2001)— 1999). Arnold (1990) used the concept of structural report very high rates of child sexual abuse and adult dislocation to describe young

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