Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43).

Mental health services for women in correctional settings have long been overlooked. The result is that while these women often need help, their unique needs are unmet. The purpose of this dissertation is to elucidate some of the specific characteristics of this population that is poorly understood. Due to the distinct relational needs of female offenders, it is proposed that an understanding of the attachment characteristics of this population is particularly valuable, and should perhaps be the basis for approaching treatment. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between personality characteristics, attachment organizations, and psychological distress in a sample of young female offenders who were incarcerated at Texas Youth Commission. Based on the research findings of Espelage et al. (2003) that describe personality characteristics in this population, and the attachment framework of Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991), it was expected that participants in this study would primarily be characterized by antisocial and borderline personality features (as measured by the MCMI-III; Millon, 1994). In addition, it was proposed that participants characterized by antisocial personality features would exhibit a dismissing style of adult attachment and a lack of psychological distress while participants with borderline personality features would exhibit a fearful style of adult attachment and an expression of psychological distress. Results provide support for the prominence of antisocial and borderline personality features in this sample of female offenders. However, there was no relationship between personality characteristics, attachment style and psychological distress. In order to further examine the nature of attachment in this sample, exploratory results investigated the relationship between attachment style and gang membership, and found that endorsement of gang membership was related to secure attachment, and to a lesser degree, preoccupied attachment. Implications of these findings were further discussed. Limitations and contributions of this study in addition to suggestions for future were also explored. In particular, it was suggested that future research examine these same characteristics of personality and attachment from a broader and more nuanced lens, which would reflect the complexities inherent in the population of female offenders. / text

Female offenders’ experiences within the criminal justice system and the way in which they become involved with the criminal justice system are very different than that of male offenders. Previous research that has been conducted on female offending does show that womens’ contact with the criminal justice system can often be related to histories of abuse and to mental illness, and that these can also be related to subsequent re-contacts with the criminal justice system. Abuse, mental illness and gender, along with control variables (age, aboriginal identity, LSI-OR score), were investigated in a sample of 522 male and female Ontario Provincial offenders. When males and females were compared at the bivariate level using a chi-square comparison, females were found to be significantly more likely to re-contact. Abuse and mental illness were not found on their own to be significantly related to re-contact, but when the relationship between the three variables was examined, mental illness was found to be both significant and positively correlated to both gender and abuse. Examination into the relationship between the variables found a strong relationship between gender and abuse, gender and mental illness, mental illness and abuse as well as strong relationship in the three way interaction between gender, mental illness and abuse. The cross tabulation demonstrated that women who had experienced abuse were identified as being much more likely to be suffering from a mental illness. Logistic regression was used to model the relationship between re-contact, gender, abuse and the risk for re-contact. All possible interactions (as noted above) were included in the model, but the model that best fit the data included only the controls (age, aboriginal identity, LSI-OR score), gender, abuse, mental illness and the interaction between mental illness and gender. Results indicated that there was a significantly higherrisk for re-contact for females with mental illness, compared with men with mental illness or or to men and women without mental illness.. Even though abuse as a single variable or as part of an interaction was not found to be significantly related to re-contact, it is still of importance to note that the chi-square comparisons demonstrated that abuse is significantly related to gender and mental illness, therefore the relationship was still important when looking at the implications of the research. It is recommended that future research further investigate the different needs of male and female offenders and the role that experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, mental illness and gender plays in not only offending behaviour, but in the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders within the provincial correctional system.

This study addressed substantial limitations in the literature pertaining to intimate partner violence (IPV). In particular, I addressed the gender symmetry debate, and identified factors associated with the dynamics of violent relationships by examining the correlates related to perpetrating and suffering IPV for both men and women. Finally, I examined attitudes towards IPV, communication behaviour, and conflict management techniques as a function of abuse history. Participants were recruited from three samples of the New Zealand population (student, general, and incarcerated). The inclusion of an incarcerated sample enabled the examination of more severe, frequent and injurious violence than is typically experienced within the student and general samples. There were three phases to the study. The first phase explored incidence rates and psychological correlates of IPV. As expected, the incidence of IPV was highest within the incarcerated sample (Chapter 5). Of greater significance, the incidence of IPV was similar for males and females, with the majority of violence being bi-directional (Chapters 4 & 5). Moreover, the psychological correlates associated with IPV were similar for perpetrators and victims, and males and females (Chapters 4 & 5). Due to the bi-directional nature of IPV, analyses presented in Chapters 4 and 5 were limited by the categorisation of participants as both perpetrators and victims. In Chapter 6, I overcame this limitation. The attitudes of victims were examined separately to individuals experiencing bi-directional violence. Validating the findings of Chapters 4 and 5, the attitudes and behaviours of victims and perpetrators were similar. These included being more hostile and negative towards others and ones� partner, being more controlling, and reporting more communication problems. I also further explored gender symmetry in IPV. Male and female IPV was found to be similar in frequency, severity, and similarly associated with control. However, the type of acts perpetrated differed across gender. During the second and third phase of the study, I further examined participants� communication behaviour (Chapter 7), conflict behaviour, and attitudes (Chapter 8). Findings revealed that perpetrators and victims employed less facilitative and polite linguistic devices (Chapter 7) and reported fewer skills for dealing with conflict (Chapter 8) than did other individuals. An examination of attitudes towards IPV revealed males and females had similar attitudes and were more condoning of female, than male-perpetrated IPV. Moreover, individuals with a history of IPV were the most condoning of violence. Additionally, a number of correlates associated with experiencing IPV were also associated with attitudes condoning IPV (Chapter 8). Overall, the findings revealed IPV to be bi-directional and gender symmetrical. Male and female IPV was similar in incidence, severity, and injury. Furthermore, the psychological correlates associated with IPV were similar for men and women, and perpetrators and victims. Individuals with a history of IPV were more controlling, hostile towards others, more condoning of IPV, employed less positive communication styles, and lacked skills for dealing with conflict. In light of these findings, suggestions are offered for violence prevention initiatives in the discussion sections of each chapter and in the final chapter (Chapter 9).

The BarOn EQ-i model of emotional intelligence and Factor 1 of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Screening Version were used to assess emotional literacy and callous-unemotional traits in sixty female offenders. Findings suggest that female offenders show significant emotional literacy deficits compared to the normal population especially in areas of empathy, social responsibility and interpersonal relationships. This association was examined further in relation to criminal history variables; seriousness and chronicity. Emotional literacy was predictive of criminal history, but not offender type. Contrary to expectations, callous-unemotional traits only showed a few relations to emotional literacy namely, significant correlations between PCL: SV Factor 1 score and aspects of problem solving. Violent offenders with high callous-unemotional traits showed significantly more emotional literacy deficits than non-violent offenders with high callous-unemotional traits, especially in interpersonal and adaptability emotional literacy areas. Interestingly those that demonstrated suicidal ideation regardless of offence type showed the poorest emotional literacy abilities and were more likely to show higher levels of callous-unemotional traits. The implications and recommendations for future research as well as the limitations of the study are discussed.

Thesis (B.A.Hons.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of History, 1981. / Typescript (photocopy).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Sociology, June 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-292).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1919. / A digital reproduction is available from the Open Collections Program at Harvard University, Women and work collection.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1940. / Reproduced from type-written copy. Bibliography: p. 91-94.