NCJ Number
174935
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1997 Pages: 14-18
Date Published
May 1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Data from Offender Intake Assessment (OIA) process in Canada's correctional system were used to compare violent and nonviolent Federal female offenders on demographics, criminal history (risk) indicators, overall ratings on criminogenic need areas (employment, marital/family, drug abuse, and other factors), and indicators of suicide potential.
Abstract
The analysis produced results that were both expected and surprising. Although violent and nonviolent female offenders had some differences on variables relating to criminal history, sentencing experience, and institutional adjustment, few were statistically significant. Moreover, aside from current offense data, the observed differences were relegated to youth court experiences. However, results clearly indicated that violent female indicators present higher need levels than their nonviolent counterparts across five of the seven target domains. The exceptions were associates/social interaction and community functioning domains. Indicators associated with drug abuse had the greatest between-group differences; violent female offenders had a higher tendency to problematic drug use than did nonviolent offenders. Findings also demonstrated significant associations between suicide potential and violent offending. Findings indicated the need for ongoing, intensive drug treatment, especially for violent female offenders, and for greater attention to suicide risk and self-injury in the assessment of female offenders. Tables and 7 reference notes