2009/05/07 by Emily J. Salisbury, Patricia Van Voorhis · 1 citation
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Child Abuse and Trauma #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Intimate Partner and Family Violence
paper · doi:10.1177/0093854809334076
openalex publication_date 2009/05/07 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Although qualitative research in the area of gender-responsive offending pathways has grown extensively, little quantitative work has been conducted. This study utilizes interview and survey data to assess various gender-responsive needs with an intake cohort of 313 women probationers. Using a path analytic approach, the study statistically supported three gendered pathways to women offenders' incarceration: (a) a pathway beginning with childhood victimization that contributed to historical and current forms of mental illness and substance abuse; (b) a relational pathway in which women's dysfunctional intimate relationships facilitated adult victimization, reductions in self-efficacy, and current mental illness and substance abuse; and (c) a social and human capital pathway in which women's challenges in the areas of education, family support, and self-efficacy, as well as relationship dysfunction, contributed to employment/financial difficulties and subsequent imprisonment. Support for such gendered pathways has implications for both criminological explanations of female offending and correctional interventions for women.