Cumulative Disadvantage and the Role of Transportation in Community Supervision

Abstract

Drawing from cumulative disadvantage theory, we are the first to examine the role of transportation disadvantage among other known challenges for women on community supervision. We create a composite measure of transportation disadvantage using factor analyses and data for 362 women on probation and parole in one Midwestern state: It is used to predict arrest and conviction using multiepisode event history analysis and conditional logistic regression. Consistent with cumulative disadvantage theory, the results suggest each additional disadvantage makes women more vulnerable, over and above the other disadvantages. Transportation disadvantage is a significant and entrenched feature in criminal justice-involved women's lives. The import of modeling all available recidivism events, given the entrenched nature of criminal justice system involvement, cannot be overstated.

Healthcare beliefs, health information seeking, and healthcare setting preferences among women who inject drugs by community supervision status

“…The current study presents preliminary evidence towards differences in specific healthcare experiences and preferences of women on community supervision who are actively using injection drugs. These results align with the current literature which cites social vulnerability (Lorvick et al, 2015 ) and cumulative social disadvantage (Bohmert & DeMaris, 2018 ) as determinants of decreased healthcare utilization among WWID and women on community supervision.…”

“…One way of explaining gender disparities in health outcomes and healthcare utilization rates among community supervised populations is through the lens of cumulative disadvantage. Women on community supervision experience multiple levels of adverse circumstances and opportunity gaps that coalesce into significant, cumulative social disadvantages relative to men (Bohmert & DeMaris, 2018 ), such as having significantly greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence, having co-occurring mental health disorders, being unable to find employment, and having a history of trauma (Salem, Nyamathi, Idemundia, Slaughter, & Ames, 2013 ). Programs for women with co-occurring trauma and substance use disorders, such as integrated cognitive behavioral therapy programs implemented within carceral facilities (Zlotnick, Najavits, Rohsenow, & Johnson, 2003 ) and community settings (Hien et al, 2020 ), address the complex traumas experienced by justice-involved women with substance use disorders.…”

Structural discrimination and social stigma among individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses: Reentry across the rural–urban continuum

“…Individuals felt that available housing was often far away from commercial districts where jobs were more plentiful. The challenge of finding work was complicated for many as there was less proximate access to public transportation in these communities (Bohmert & DeMaris, ). Benjamin returned to live with his mother in a multifamily home in a neighborhood of a large city with a major university.…”

Hidden in plain sight: Architectures of community corrections as public secret

“…Given the studies that find access to reliable transportation, including public transportation, is a challenge for low-income populations (e.g. Denmark, 1998; Fletcher et al, 2010; Garrett and Taylor, 1999) – populations similar to individuals on probation and parole – and research highlighting the numerous challenges women under supervision face accessing reliable transportation (Bohmert, 2016; Bohmert and DeMaris, 2018), it is likely that some individuals will still struggle to access the offices. As such, no office was coded as 2 (fully accessible).…”