NCJ Number
209065
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 85 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 65-82
Date Published
March 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined differences between drug-using women with children and drug-abusing women without children in their care with regards to demographics, mobility, resources, drug use, and legal problems.
Abstract
Past research indicates that most adult criminally-involved drug-using females are mothers, with 65 percent of female State prisoners in 1997 having at least one child under the age of 18. Given the lack of information on criminally involved active drug-using women living in the community, this study attempted to examine differences between drug-using women with and without their children in their care, focusing on demographics, mobility, resources, drug use, and legal problems and involvement. The study consisted of 154 criminally-involved female drug-users who had given birth to at least 1 child. Results indicate a drug-consuming, mobile, undereducated, and criminally-involved group of women who do not have substantial resources at their disposal regardless of whether they have their biological children in their care. An ethnic-racial disparity emerged when examining the differences in characteristics of women who had children in their care versus those who did not. Hispanic, Native American, and interracial women were more likely to have their biological children in their care and Caucasian and African-American women less likely to have their children in their care. Overall, the results suggest that both groups of women are on the edge in terms of poverty, addiction, and rearrest. It is recommended that changing the overall approach from punishment to rehabilitation and keeping children with their mothers might promote health behaviors and avoid the intergenerational cycle of substance abuse, criminality, and family disruption. References