Affiliation:
1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
2. Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
3. Fordham University, New York City, NY, USA
Abstract
Survivors of interpersonal violence are at increased risk of negative mental health outcomes; however, scant research has explored the relationship between violence exposure and mental health symptoms among formerly incarcerated individuals. This cross-sectional survey study investigates the demographic characteristics and mental health symptoms (i.e., psychological distress and suicidal ideation) associated with interpersonal violence exposure, including physical and sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, and sexual violence perpetrated by prison employees in a sample of formerly incarcerated men and women, with the aim that the findings both deepen the understanding of the effects of sexual violence exposure and help inform prison and jail policies. Surveys were administered to English-speaking adults ages 18 and older to recruit a sample of adults who were formerly incarcerated ( N = 201). Questions on the survey included questions regarding demographic details, sexual violence exposure, mental health symptoms, and time incarcerated. Findings show that higher levels of sexual violence exposure were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress and reporting of suicidal ideation. Results also suggest that higher levels of income and education and younger age were significantly associated with sexual violence perpetrated by prison employees. In addition, most forms of interpersonal violence were independently associated with psychological distress and suicidal ideation in this population. The findings make recommendations for prison and jail policies to include targeted treatment for individuals with sexual victimization histories, to mitigate the risk of revictimization and appropriately treat adverse mental health outcomes from sexual victimization within and outside the confines of incarceration.
Subject
Applied Psychology,Clinical Psychology
Reference34 articles.
1. Worldwide prevalence of non-partner sexual violence: a systematic review
2. Sexual Assault and Coercion among Incarcerated Women Prisoners: Excerpts from Prison Letters
3. American Psychological Association. (2004). The effects of trauma do not have to last a lifetime. https://www.apa.org/research/action/ptsd
4. Intimate Partner Sexual Violence
5. Beck A. J., Berzofsky M., Caspar R., Krebs C. (2014). Sexual victimization in prisons and jails reported by inmates, 2011-12-update. https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?iid=4654&ty=pbdetail
Cited by
5 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献