Gender-Sensitive Substance Abuse Treatment and Arrest Outcomes for Women

Abstract

The present study links an empirically-developed quantitative measure of gender-sensitive (GS) substance abuse treatment to arrest outcomes among 5,109 substance abusing women in mixed-gender short-term residential programs in Washington State. Frailty models of survival analysis and 3-level hierarchical linear models were conducted to test the beneficial effects of GS treatment on decreasing criminal justice involvement. Propensity scores were used to control for the pre-existing differences among women due to the quasi-experimental nature of the study. Men's arrest outcomes were used to control for confounding at the program level. Results show that women in more GS treatment programs had a lower risk of drug-related arrests, and women in more GS treatment programs who also completed treatment had a significant reduction in overall arrests from two years before- to two years after treatment, above and beyond the reduction in arrests due to treatment alone. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Sex differences in drug addiction and response to exercise intervention: From human to animal studies

“…Once addicted to a drug (i.g., opiates, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and the psychomotor stimulants), females tend to have more difficulty giving up drugs and are at greater risk for relapse following abstinence compared to their male counterparts (Becker and Hu, 2008; Lynch et al , 2002). Compared to male subjects in drug abuse treatment programs, female drug users often develop more severe withdrawal symptom, greater mood and anxiety disorders (Fox and Sinha, 2009; Doran, 2013; Back et al , 2011), use more combinations of different drugs and legal psychoactive substances and have an unwillingness to participate detoxification program during the treatment (Kissin et al , 2014; Ignjatova and Raleva, 2009; Bawor et al , 2014). Increasing evidence suggested that sex hormone related brain organization and activities may contribute significantly to the differences in drug addiction between men and women.…”

Use of psychoactive substances in women in outpatient treatment

“…Regarding the treatment, although the first contact with the service was the criterion of selection of the sample, it was noticed that 26 women presented innumerable passages through hospital treatment units. Studies have identified that the average stay in treatment for women addiction was approximately 21 days (10,17) . general, adolescent girls, besides using alcoholic beverages, use illicit substances such as marijuana, cocaine and crack cocaine, whereas older women prefer cigarettes, alcohol and medications, especially anorectics and tranquillizers (3,19) .…”

“…It is also added that women who completed the treatment and are accompanied by specialized treatment are 29% less likely to be arrested for involvement in substance trafficking or use (10) , that is, maintaining unproblematic social interaction and consequent greater reintegration social.…”

“…Although women accumulate innumerable risk factors, the specificities in the health-disease process of this group are not always observed in mental health care (9)(10) . For example, while men tend to attribute more hedonistic meaning to substance use (11) , women relate use to depression, feelings of social isolation, family and professional pressures, health problems, as well as various attempts to lose weight (12)(13)(14) .…”

Chapter 2. Mass Incarceration: What’s at Stake and What to Do

“…A 2013 Wall Street Journal article (Fields & Phillips, 2013) noted that the three largest county jail systems in the United States (Cook County, Los Angeles County, and New York City) are also the country's largest mental health treatment facilities. Within these jails, 11,000 people received mental health treatment each day (of an approximate total population of 41,500 people in 2013); however, there are large numbers of people with mental health and substance use problems who do not receive treatment while incarcerated (James & Glaze, 2006;Teplin, Abram, & McClelland, 1997) and many whose lack of adequate treatment in the community is related to heightened risk of criminal justice system involvement (Evans, Li, Pierce, & Hser, 2013;Garnick et al, 2014;Kissin, Tang, Campbell, Claus, & Orwin, 2014;Van Dorn, Desmarais, Petrila, Haynes, & Singh, 2013). Especially given the context of the war on drugs and the disproportionate representation of people with substance use problems who are incarcerated (68% of people in local jails and approximately half of people in state [53.4%] and federal [45.5%] prisons are estimated to meet diagnostic criteria for a substance use disorder); (Karberg & James, 2005;Mumola & Karberg, 2006), it is stunning that the majority of people with need do not receive treatment while incarcerated, upon community return, or while on probation or parole (Belenko & Peugh, 2005;Karberg & James, 2005;Mumola & Karberg, 2006;Taxman, Perdoni, & Harrison, 2007).…”