Women Behind Bars: A Scoping Review of Mental Health Needs in Prison
,
Abstract
Background: Women prisoners are a population that is vulnerable to mental health problems. Women prisoners have a higher risk of mental health problems than women in the general population. So far, there have been very few studies with specific on women prisoner populations discussing mental health needs in prisons. The high prevalence of mental health problems in women prisoners is inseparable from meeting the mental health needs of women prisoners in prison. This review aimed to identify the mental health needs of women prisoners.
Methods: A scoping review was used, a systematic search of the articles on Oxford Academic Journals, Emerald Insight, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar using the keywords “Mental Health” OR “Health” AND “Needs” OR “Needs Assessment” OR “Addressing Needs” AND “Female” OR “Woman” OR “Women” AND “Inmates” OR “Prisoners” OR “Offenders” OR “Convicts”.
Results: A total of 10 out of 254 selected, were considered eligible for inclusion and the results showed that the six major themes of mental health needs of women prisoners were treatment of substance, drug, and alcohol abuse, support system, empathy, training, mental illness treatment and access to health services, and health intervention: therapy and counselling.
Conclusion: It is recommended for further research to focus more on the problem of access to gender-based mental health services in prisons.
1. Tyler N, Miles HL, Karadag B, Rogers G (2019). An updated picture of the mental health needs of male and female prisoners in the UK: prevalence, comorbidity, and gender differences. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 54:1143-1152.
2. Feoh FT (2020). Studi fenomenologi: Stress narapidana perempuan pelaku human trafficking. NURSING UPDATE: Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Keperawatan, 11:7-16.
3. Binswanger IA, Merrill JO, Krueger PM, White MC, Booth RE, Elmore JG (2010). Gender differences in chronic medical, psychiatric, and substance-dependence disorders among jail inmates. Am J Public Health, 100:476-82.
4. Archambault K, Joubert D, Brown G (2013). Gender, Psychiatric Symptomatology, Problem Behaviors and Mental Health Treatment in a Canadian Provincial Correctional Population: Disentangling the Associations between Care and Institutional Control. Int J Forensic Ment Health, 12:93-106.
5. van den Bergh BJ, Gatherer A, Fraser A, Moller L (2011). Imprisonment and women's health: concerns about gender sensitivity, human rights and public health. Bull World Health Organ, 89:689-94.
6. Jakobowitz S, Bebbington P, McKenzie N, et al (2017). Assessing needs for psychiatric treatment in prisoners: 2. Met and unmet need. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 52:231-240.
7. McKenzie N, Killaspy H, Jakobowitz S, Faranak H, Bebbington P (2019). Assessing needs for psychiatric treatment in prisoners: 3. Comparison of care received by black and minority ethnic prisoners and by white prisoners. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 54:883-886.
8. Stoever H, Moller L, Jürgens R, Gatherer A, Nikogosian H (2007). Health in prisons. A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health. ed.
9. Kulkarni SP, Baldwin S, Lightstone AS, Gelberg L, Diamant AL (2010). Is incarceration a contributor to health disparities? Access to care of formerly incarcerated adults. J Community Health, 35:268-74.
10. Bloom BE, Covington S (2008). Addressing the mental health needs of women offenders. http://www.nationaljailacademy.org/_documents/resources/female/addressing-women-mental-health.pdf
11. Colbert AM, Sekula LK, Zoucha R, Cohen SM (2013). Health care needs of women immediately post-incarceration: a mixed methods study. Public Health Nurs, 30:409-19.
12. Fedock GL (2017). Women's psychological adjustment to prison: A review for future social work directions. Soc Work Res, 41:31-42.
13. Arksey H, O'Malley L (2005). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol, 8:19-32.
14. Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, et al (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Ann Intern Med, 169:467-473.
15. Antonetti G, D'Angelo D, Scampati P, et al (2018). The health needs of women prisoners: an Italian field survey. Ann Ist Super Sanita, 54:96-103.
16. Augsburger A, Neri C, Bodenmann P, Gravier B, Jaquier V, Clair C (2022). Assessing incarcerated women’s physical and mental health status and needs in a Swiss prison: a cross-sectional study. Health Justice, 10:8.
17. Derkzen D, Booth L, Taylor K, McConnell A (2013). Mental health needs of federal female offenders. Psychol Serv, 10:24-36.
18. Barry LC, Adams KB, Zaugg D, Noujaim D (2020). Health-care needs of older women prisoners: Perspectives of the health-care workers who care for them. J Women Aging, 32:183-202.
19. Leese M (2018). Vulnerable women: Meeting the needs of female offenders within a gender-specific service. https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/publications/vulnerable-women-meeting-the-needs-of-female-offenders-within-a-g
20. Morse DS, Cerulli C, Bedell P, et al (2014). Meeting health and psychological needs of women in drug treatment court. J Subst Abuse Treat, 46:150-7.
21. Jones RM, Patel K, Simpson AIF (2019). Assessment of need for inpatient treatment for mental disorder among female prisoners: a cross-sectional study of provincially detained women in Ontario. BMC Psychiatry, 19:98.
22. MacDonald M (2013). Women prisoners, mental health, violence and abuse. Int J Law Psychiatry, 36:293-303.
23. Lynch SM, Fritch A, Heath NM (2012). Looking Beneath the Surface:The Nature of Incarcerated Women’s Experiences of Interpersonal Violence, Treatment Needs, and Mental Health. Fem Criminol, 7:381-400.
24. Nowotny KM, Belknap J, Lynch S, DeHart D (2014). Risk Profile and Treatment Needs of Women in Jail with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders. Women Health, 54:781-795.
25. Pratt D, Appleby L, Piper M, Webb R, Shaw J (2010). Suicide in recently released prisoners: a case-control study. Psychol Med, 40:827-35.
26. Kinner SA, Forsyth S, Williams G (2013). Systematic review of record linkage studies of mortality in ex-prisoners: why (good) methods matter. Addiction, 108:38-49.
27. Chang Z, Lichtenstein P, Larsson H, Fazel S (2015). Substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and mortality after release from prison: a nationwide longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry, 2:422-430.
28. Chang Z, Larsson H, Lichtenstein P, Fazel S (2015). Psychiatric disorders and violent reoffending: a national cohort study of convicted prisoners in Sweden. Lancet Psychiatry, 2:891-900.
29. Baillargeon J, Binswanger IA, Penn JV, Williams BA, Murray OJ (2009). Psychiatric disorders and repeat incarcerations: the revolving prison door. Am J Psychiatry, 166:103-9.
30. Rivlin A, Hawton K, Marzano L, Fazel S (2010). Psychiatric disorders in male prisoners who made near-lethal suicide attempts: case-control study. Br J Psychiatry, 197:313-9.
31. Teasdale B, Daigle LE, Hawk SR, Daquin JC (2016). Violent Victimization in the Prison Context: An Examination of the Gendered Contexts of Prison. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, 60:995-1015.
32. Steiner B, Wooldredge J (2008). Inmate versus environmental effects on prison rule violations. Crim Justice Behav, 35:438-456.
33. Begun AL, Early TJ, Hodge A (2016). Mental health and substance abuse service engagement by men and women during community reentry following incarceration. Adm Policy Ment Health, 43:207-218.
34. Fazel S, Yoon IA, Hayes AJ (2017). Substance use disorders in prisoners: an updated systematic review and meta‐regression analysis in recently incarcerated men and women. Addiction, 112:1725-1739.
35. Zurhold H, Haasen C (2005). Women in prison: Responses of European prison systems to problematic drug users. Int J Prison Health, 1:127-141.
36. May C, Sharma N, Stewart D (2008). Factors linked to reoffending: a one-year follow-up of prisoners who took part in the Resettlement Surveys 2001, 2003 and 2004. Research Summary, 5.
37. Williams K, Papadopoulou V, Booth N (2012). Prisoners’ childhood and family backgrounds. Results from the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) longitudinal cohort study of prisoners. Ministry of Justice Research Series, 4:12.
38. Mears DP, Cochran JC, Siennick SE, Bales WD (2012). Prison visitation and recidivism. Justice Q, 29:888-918.
39. Beckmeyer JJ, Arditti JA (2014). Implications of in-person visits for incarcerated parents’ family relationships and parenting experience. J Offender Rehabil, 53:129-151.
40. Brunton-Smith I, McCarthy DJ (2017). The effects of prisoner attachment to family on re-entry outcomes: A longitudinal assessment. Br J Criminol, 57:463-482.
41. Meyers TJ, Wright KA, Young JT, Tasca M (2017). Social support from outside the walls: Examining the role of relationship dynamics among inmates and visitors. J Crim Justice, 52:57-67.
42. Boman IV JH, Mowen TJ (2017). Building the ties that bind, breaking the ties that don't: Family support, criminal peers, and reentry success. Criminol Public Policy, 16:753-774.
43. Shollenberger TL (2009). When relatives return: Interviews with family members of returning prisoners in Houston, Texas. https://webarchive.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411903_when_relatives_return.pdf
44. Visher C, Courtney SM (2016). One year out: Experiences of prisoners returning to Cleveland.
45. Berg MT, Huebner BM (2011). Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties, employment, and recidivism. Justice Q, 28:382-410.
46. Grieb SMD, Crawford A, Fields J, Smith H, Harris R, Matson P (2014). " The stress will kill you": prisoner reentry as experienced by family members and the urgent need for support services. J Health Care Poor Underserved, 25:1183-1200.
47. Wallace D, Fahmy C, Cotton L, et al (2016). Examining the role of familial support during prison and after release on post-incarceration mental health. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, 60:3-20.
48. Beadle JN, Sheehan AH, Dahlben B, Gutchess AH (2015). Aging, empathy, and prosociality. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci, 70:213-222.
49. Bailey PE, Henry JD, Von Hippel W (2008). Empathy and social functioning in late adulthood. Aging Ment Health, 12:499-503.
50. Beadle JN, Paradiso S, Kovach C, Polgreen L, Denburg NL, Tranel D (2012). Effects of age-related differences in empathy on social economic decision-making. Int Psychogeriatr, 24:822-833.
51. Singer T, Klimecki OM (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24:R875-R878.
52. Mohammed H, Mohamed WAW (2015). Reducing Recidivism Rates through Vocational Education and Training. Procedia Soc Behav Sci, 204:272-276.
53. Lois M (2013). Reducing Recidivism rates through Vocational Training improves job outlook. Br J Learn Disabil, 26:79-82.
54. Grella CE, Lovinger K, Warda US (2013). Relationships among trauma exposure, familial characteristics, and PTSD: A case-control study of women in prison and in the general population. Women Crim Justice, 23:63-79.
55. Moloney KP, van den Bergh BJ, Moller LF (2009). Women in prison: The central issues of gender characteristics and trauma history. Public Health, 123:426-430.
56. Nuytiens A, Christiaens J (2016). Female pathways to crime and prison: Challenging the (US) gendered pathways perspective. Eur J Criminol, 13:195-213.
57. Wright EM, Van Voorhis P, Salisbury EJ, Bauman A (2012). Gender-responsive lessons learned and policy implications for women in prison: A review. Crim Justice Behav, 39:1612-1632.
58. Moloney K, Moller L (2009). Good practice for mental health programming for women in prison: Reframing the parameters. Public Health, 123:431-433.
59. Mak VW, Chan CK (2018). Effects of cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) and positive psychological intervention (PPI) on female offenders with psychological distress in Hong Kong. Crim Behav Ment Health, 28:158-173.
60. Ferszt GG, Miller RJ, Hickey JE, Maull F, Crisp K (2015). The impact of a mindfulness based program on perceived stress, anxiety, depression and sleep of incarcerated women. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 12:11594-11607.
61. Shonin E, Van Gordon W, Slade K, Griffiths MD (2013). Mindfulness and other Buddhist-derived interventions in correctional settings: A systematic review. Aggress Violent Behav, 18:365-372.
62. Yusuf N, Mundia L (2014). The Status of Counseling in Brunei Prisons: Qualitative Exploratory Case Study. J Sociol Res, 5.
2. Feoh FT (2020). Studi fenomenologi: Stress narapidana perempuan pelaku human trafficking. NURSING UPDATE: Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Keperawatan, 11:7-16.
3. Binswanger IA, Merrill JO, Krueger PM, White MC, Booth RE, Elmore JG (2010). Gender differences in chronic medical, psychiatric, and substance-dependence disorders among jail inmates. Am J Public Health, 100:476-82.
4. Archambault K, Joubert D, Brown G (2013). Gender, Psychiatric Symptomatology, Problem Behaviors and Mental Health Treatment in a Canadian Provincial Correctional Population: Disentangling the Associations between Care and Institutional Control. Int J Forensic Ment Health, 12:93-106.
5. van den Bergh BJ, Gatherer A, Fraser A, Moller L (2011). Imprisonment and women's health: concerns about gender sensitivity, human rights and public health. Bull World Health Organ, 89:689-94.
6. Jakobowitz S, Bebbington P, McKenzie N, et al (2017). Assessing needs for psychiatric treatment in prisoners: 2. Met and unmet need. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 52:231-240.
7. McKenzie N, Killaspy H, Jakobowitz S, Faranak H, Bebbington P (2019). Assessing needs for psychiatric treatment in prisoners: 3. Comparison of care received by black and minority ethnic prisoners and by white prisoners. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 54:883-886.
8. Stoever H, Moller L, Jürgens R, Gatherer A, Nikogosian H (2007). Health in prisons. A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health. ed.
9. Kulkarni SP, Baldwin S, Lightstone AS, Gelberg L, Diamant AL (2010). Is incarceration a contributor to health disparities? Access to care of formerly incarcerated adults. J Community Health, 35:268-74.
10. Bloom BE, Covington S (2008). Addressing the mental health needs of women offenders. http://www.nationaljailacademy.org/_documents/resources/female/addressing-women-mental-health.pdf
11. Colbert AM, Sekula LK, Zoucha R, Cohen SM (2013). Health care needs of women immediately post-incarceration: a mixed methods study. Public Health Nurs, 30:409-19.
12. Fedock GL (2017). Women's psychological adjustment to prison: A review for future social work directions. Soc Work Res, 41:31-42.
13. Arksey H, O'Malley L (2005). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol, 8:19-32.
14. Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, et al (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Ann Intern Med, 169:467-473.
15. Antonetti G, D'Angelo D, Scampati P, et al (2018). The health needs of women prisoners: an Italian field survey. Ann Ist Super Sanita, 54:96-103.
16. Augsburger A, Neri C, Bodenmann P, Gravier B, Jaquier V, Clair C (2022). Assessing incarcerated women’s physical and mental health status and needs in a Swiss prison: a cross-sectional study. Health Justice, 10:8.
17. Derkzen D, Booth L, Taylor K, McConnell A (2013). Mental health needs of federal female offenders. Psychol Serv, 10:24-36.
18. Barry LC, Adams KB, Zaugg D, Noujaim D (2020). Health-care needs of older women prisoners: Perspectives of the health-care workers who care for them. J Women Aging, 32:183-202.
19. Leese M (2018). Vulnerable women: Meeting the needs of female offenders within a gender-specific service. https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/publications/vulnerable-women-meeting-the-needs-of-female-offenders-within-a-g
20. Morse DS, Cerulli C, Bedell P, et al (2014). Meeting health and psychological needs of women in drug treatment court. J Subst Abuse Treat, 46:150-7.
21. Jones RM, Patel K, Simpson AIF (2019). Assessment of need for inpatient treatment for mental disorder among female prisoners: a cross-sectional study of provincially detained women in Ontario. BMC Psychiatry, 19:98.
22. MacDonald M (2013). Women prisoners, mental health, violence and abuse. Int J Law Psychiatry, 36:293-303.
23. Lynch SM, Fritch A, Heath NM (2012). Looking Beneath the Surface:The Nature of Incarcerated Women’s Experiences of Interpersonal Violence, Treatment Needs, and Mental Health. Fem Criminol, 7:381-400.
24. Nowotny KM, Belknap J, Lynch S, DeHart D (2014). Risk Profile and Treatment Needs of Women in Jail with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders. Women Health, 54:781-795.
25. Pratt D, Appleby L, Piper M, Webb R, Shaw J (2010). Suicide in recently released prisoners: a case-control study. Psychol Med, 40:827-35.
26. Kinner SA, Forsyth S, Williams G (2013). Systematic review of record linkage studies of mortality in ex-prisoners: why (good) methods matter. Addiction, 108:38-49.
27. Chang Z, Lichtenstein P, Larsson H, Fazel S (2015). Substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and mortality after release from prison: a nationwide longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry, 2:422-430.
28. Chang Z, Larsson H, Lichtenstein P, Fazel S (2015). Psychiatric disorders and violent reoffending: a national cohort study of convicted prisoners in Sweden. Lancet Psychiatry, 2:891-900.
29. Baillargeon J, Binswanger IA, Penn JV, Williams BA, Murray OJ (2009). Psychiatric disorders and repeat incarcerations: the revolving prison door. Am J Psychiatry, 166:103-9.
30. Rivlin A, Hawton K, Marzano L, Fazel S (2010). Psychiatric disorders in male prisoners who made near-lethal suicide attempts: case-control study. Br J Psychiatry, 197:313-9.
31. Teasdale B, Daigle LE, Hawk SR, Daquin JC (2016). Violent Victimization in the Prison Context: An Examination of the Gendered Contexts of Prison. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, 60:995-1015.
32. Steiner B, Wooldredge J (2008). Inmate versus environmental effects on prison rule violations. Crim Justice Behav, 35:438-456.
33. Begun AL, Early TJ, Hodge A (2016). Mental health and substance abuse service engagement by men and women during community reentry following incarceration. Adm Policy Ment Health, 43:207-218.
34. Fazel S, Yoon IA, Hayes AJ (2017). Substance use disorders in prisoners: an updated systematic review and meta‐regression analysis in recently incarcerated men and women. Addiction, 112:1725-1739.
35. Zurhold H, Haasen C (2005). Women in prison: Responses of European prison systems to problematic drug users. Int J Prison Health, 1:127-141.
36. May C, Sharma N, Stewart D (2008). Factors linked to reoffending: a one-year follow-up of prisoners who took part in the Resettlement Surveys 2001, 2003 and 2004. Research Summary, 5.
37. Williams K, Papadopoulou V, Booth N (2012). Prisoners’ childhood and family backgrounds. Results from the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) longitudinal cohort study of prisoners. Ministry of Justice Research Series, 4:12.
38. Mears DP, Cochran JC, Siennick SE, Bales WD (2012). Prison visitation and recidivism. Justice Q, 29:888-918.
39. Beckmeyer JJ, Arditti JA (2014). Implications of in-person visits for incarcerated parents’ family relationships and parenting experience. J Offender Rehabil, 53:129-151.
40. Brunton-Smith I, McCarthy DJ (2017). The effects of prisoner attachment to family on re-entry outcomes: A longitudinal assessment. Br J Criminol, 57:463-482.
41. Meyers TJ, Wright KA, Young JT, Tasca M (2017). Social support from outside the walls: Examining the role of relationship dynamics among inmates and visitors. J Crim Justice, 52:57-67.
42. Boman IV JH, Mowen TJ (2017). Building the ties that bind, breaking the ties that don't: Family support, criminal peers, and reentry success. Criminol Public Policy, 16:753-774.
43. Shollenberger TL (2009). When relatives return: Interviews with family members of returning prisoners in Houston, Texas. https://webarchive.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411903_when_relatives_return.pdf
44. Visher C, Courtney SM (2016). One year out: Experiences of prisoners returning to Cleveland.
45. Berg MT, Huebner BM (2011). Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties, employment, and recidivism. Justice Q, 28:382-410.
46. Grieb SMD, Crawford A, Fields J, Smith H, Harris R, Matson P (2014). " The stress will kill you": prisoner reentry as experienced by family members and the urgent need for support services. J Health Care Poor Underserved, 25:1183-1200.
47. Wallace D, Fahmy C, Cotton L, et al (2016). Examining the role of familial support during prison and after release on post-incarceration mental health. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, 60:3-20.
48. Beadle JN, Sheehan AH, Dahlben B, Gutchess AH (2015). Aging, empathy, and prosociality. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci, 70:213-222.
49. Bailey PE, Henry JD, Von Hippel W (2008). Empathy and social functioning in late adulthood. Aging Ment Health, 12:499-503.
50. Beadle JN, Paradiso S, Kovach C, Polgreen L, Denburg NL, Tranel D (2012). Effects of age-related differences in empathy on social economic decision-making. Int Psychogeriatr, 24:822-833.
51. Singer T, Klimecki OM (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24:R875-R878.
52. Mohammed H, Mohamed WAW (2015). Reducing Recidivism Rates through Vocational Education and Training. Procedia Soc Behav Sci, 204:272-276.
53. Lois M (2013). Reducing Recidivism rates through Vocational Training improves job outlook. Br J Learn Disabil, 26:79-82.
54. Grella CE, Lovinger K, Warda US (2013). Relationships among trauma exposure, familial characteristics, and PTSD: A case-control study of women in prison and in the general population. Women Crim Justice, 23:63-79.
55. Moloney KP, van den Bergh BJ, Moller LF (2009). Women in prison: The central issues of gender characteristics and trauma history. Public Health, 123:426-430.
56. Nuytiens A, Christiaens J (2016). Female pathways to crime and prison: Challenging the (US) gendered pathways perspective. Eur J Criminol, 13:195-213.
57. Wright EM, Van Voorhis P, Salisbury EJ, Bauman A (2012). Gender-responsive lessons learned and policy implications for women in prison: A review. Crim Justice Behav, 39:1612-1632.
58. Moloney K, Moller L (2009). Good practice for mental health programming for women in prison: Reframing the parameters. Public Health, 123:431-433.
59. Mak VW, Chan CK (2018). Effects of cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) and positive psychological intervention (PPI) on female offenders with psychological distress in Hong Kong. Crim Behav Ment Health, 28:158-173.
60. Ferszt GG, Miller RJ, Hickey JE, Maull F, Crisp K (2015). The impact of a mindfulness based program on perceived stress, anxiety, depression and sleep of incarcerated women. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 12:11594-11607.
61. Shonin E, Van Gordon W, Slade K, Griffiths MD (2013). Mindfulness and other Buddhist-derived interventions in correctional settings: A systematic review. Aggress Violent Behav, 18:365-372.
62. Yusuf N, Mundia L (2014). The Status of Counseling in Brunei Prisons: Qualitative Exploratory Case Study. J Sociol Res, 5.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 52 No 2 (2023) | |
| Section | Review Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v52i2.11878 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Mental health Women Prisoners Scoping review | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Hidayati N, Suryani S, Rahayuwati L, Widianti E. Women Behind Bars: A Scoping Review of Mental Health Needs in Prison. Iran J Public Health. 2023;52(2):243-253.
