NCJ Number
232019
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 54 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2010 Pages: 783-802
Date Published
October 2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the role of childhood sexual abuse on femaled offenders diagnosed with mental disorders.
Abstract
This study examines the role that a history of child sexual abuse played in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in a sample of 321 female offenders incarcerated in a maximum-security prison for women. The results show that a history of child sexual abuse increases the likelihood that an inmate would receive mental health treatment. Psychotropic medication is frequently prescribed in response to adjustment problems associated with childhood sexual abuse. White women who exhibit adjustment problems associated with a history of child sexual abuse are especially likely to be diagnosed as mentally disordered at admission and to be sent to the mental health unit for treatment. In the absence of a diagnosed mental disorder at admission, women who receive psychotropic medication to help them adjust to prison life are likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder later on. Tables, figure, notes, and references (Published Abstract)