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Women are one of the fastest growing sectors of the prison population, and have different pathways into prison and differing needs during the reentry process when compared to men (Cloyes et al. J Forensic Nurs; 6:3-14, 2010b; Herrschaft et al. J Offender Rehabil; 48:463-482, 2009). Women report higher levels of mental health problems overall, and report more severe symptomatology (Cloyes et al. J Forensic Nurs; 6:3-14, 2010a; Hyde 2012; Lynch et al. 2014). The current study focuses on the role of severe mental disorders for women released from prison. Data collected from the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice were used to analyze the specific role of severe mental disorders in women's recidivism at eight years post-release (n = 2311). Approximately 20% of women in this sample met the criteria for diagnosis with a severe mental disorder (SMD). Logistic regression analysis indicated that there was an association between SMDs and recidivism for this sample only (p = .11). Cox regression analyses indicated that women diagnosed with SMDs were 16% more likely to have recidivated at eight years post-release compared with women who were not diagnosed with an SMD (p < .05). Implications for the recognition, role, and treatment of SMDs during reentry are discussed.

This study advances research on intervention dosage, potency, and measurement considerations.

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Objectives: Positive social support is critically important to postprison well-being outcomes. However, researchers and program developers are still trying to understand how to best promote stable and sustainable social support for formerly incarcerated individuals during reentry to the community. We sought to add to the body of knowledge on social support and prisoner reentry by comparing men and women releasing from prison on the quality (e.g., positive or negative) and amount of informal social support. Methods: A random sample of 395 male (n = 165) and female (n = 230) releasing prisoners participated in the study. After unadjusted bivariate comparisons, multivariate regression was conducted to identify gender differences in preincarceration social support quality of influence and anticipated number of postrelease support persons while controlling for important covariates such as substance abuse and mental illnesses. Results: Males reported higher rates of negative social support overall, and females reported higher rates of both mixed and positive social support compared to their male counterparts. Older participants reported higher levels of positive support compared to younger participants. Men of color reported significantly higher levels of positive support than their White male counterparts. Overall, women had higher prevalence of behavioral health factors that complicate quality of support. However, there were no differences in gender found for the amount of perceived social support available postrelease in the unadjusted models. Implications: Study findings suggest the need for gender-specific and culturally tailored targets for prisoner reentry programs addressing social support. Possible adaptations for interventions are explored.

More than 2.5 million emerging adults (ages 18-25) are incarcerated annually and most do poorly after release. Social support after an individual’s release from incarceration is a critical protective factor against recidivism for emerging adults. However, little is known about the stability of support for emerging adults post incarceration. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine whether social support declines over time after incarceration and how change in support may vary by incarceration length. Our findings show that, while a nonincarcerated group of justice-involved emerging adults experience relatively stable social support, there are negative and volatile effects of social support among their incarcerated counterparts. Moreover, longer incarceration stays are related to greater deterioration of support over time after community reentry for emerging adults. Study findings advance the field of postincarceration intervention development by responding to the challenge of determining the appropriate targets and length of interventions designed for emerging adults.

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