Many women in prison are likely to have children, but for various reasons may not be playing the role of primary
caregiver prior to incarceration, and may be unable to fulfill this role when released. This research was designed to
investigate the interpersonal difficulties that may contribute to the parenting problems of this unique population.
Female offenders have an increased likelihood of personality pathology and history of abuse, creating a set of
circumstances that affect these women's ability to have satisfactory relationships. This may be manifested in an
orientation towards relationships that could be classified as an insecure attachment style, although it is not the
relationship per se that is classified as an insecure attachment style; rather, the insecure attachment style (or pattern)
refers to the individual's view of themselves and others, and their attachment style may then influence their
responses to others in intimate relationships (e.g., their warmth, caregiving, jealousy, ability to trust, etc). The
female offender population provides a distinctive opportunity for investigating the relationships between attachment
styles and incarcerated women's personality pathology, experiences with their primary caregivers, as well as their
own experiences as mothers.
The attachment styles of one hundred eleven incarcerated female inmates were assessed using the
Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and the Experience in Close Relationships
Inventory (ECRI; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998), and a sub-sample of these women were interviewed using the
Peer Attachment Interview (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). Offenders were also assessed for quality of
relationships with parents using the Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran (EMBU; Perris, Jacobsson, Lindstrom,
von Knorring, & Perris, 1980), as well as with children using the Parental Stress Scale (PSS; Berry & Jones, 1995)
and a Parental Bonding Interview (created specifically for this research to gather information about parent-child
relationships, the level of caregiving provided to the child, and the mother's subjective account of her parenting
experiences). The SCID-Il Clinical Interview (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, Williams, & Benjamin, 1997) was used to
assess for personality disorder characteristics, which have been found in previous research to be prevalent in female
offender populations.
It was found that three-quarters of the women in the sample had given birth to children, however, 88.4%
were no longer playing the role of primary caregiver upon incarceration. Nearly 61% of respondents claimed that
social services had taken at least one child away, and 38.2% claimed that they had voluntarily given their children
away. Reasons for no longer having custody varied, but the majority of women (70%) reported that drug and alcohol
abuse was a major factor. Further, it was found that women in the sample were characterized by insecure attachment
styles. Characteristics of personality disorders were present in over 73% of the sample. Results showed a high rate
of abuse in childhood by primary caregivers, high levels of parental rejection, and low levels of parental warmth. In
addition, participants reported unstable relationships with the fathers of their children. Further, the presence of an
insecure attachment style was related to higher mean number of personality disorder characteristics, higher reported
means of maternal and paternal rejection, and higher reported means of emotional and physical abuse by fathers.
Impression management was found to be an issue with the respect to the majority of the measured utilized in the
research.
The goal of this research was to attain a greater understanding of the interpersonal difficulties of the female
offender population, and how family, romantic, and peer relationships are related to parenting difficulties for these
women. These issues, as well as limitations surrounding the use of current attachment measures, are discussed
herein.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/14737 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Swihart, Gayla |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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