Predicting Women’s Recidivism: Validating a Dynamic Community-Based ‘Gender-Neutral’ Tool

Despite the growing number of women involved in the criminal justice system, most risk assessment tools used with this population were developed on male offenders, fuelling debate about whether these tools should be used with women. This study investigated the predictive validity of one such dynamic tool the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR) with a sample of female and male parolees. Unexpectedly, the DRAOR subscales predicted recidivism for women, but not for men, and the acute risk subscale independently contributed to recidivism prediction. Furthermore, the DRAOR incrementally predicted women’s recidivism above static risk. These results support the use of the DRAOR with women offenders, and more generally, a ‘gender-neutral’ approach to risk assessment tools for women. 

Via (PDF):  http://goo.gl/KdRe0s 

By: Julia A. Yesberg
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

The Social Construction of Violence among Northern Plains Tribal Members with Antisocial Personality Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder

Below:  Northern plains AI-SUPERPFP sampling strategy

Whereas recent reports from national studies have presented extremely high rates for many personality disorders in American Indian communities, persistent concerns about the meaning of these symptoms have left many troubled by these reports. American Indians as a group are known to suffer disproportionately from a number of violent experiences, but the dynamics of this violence have received little attention. This paper examines perspectives on violence in the lives of 15 northern plains tribal members who met criteria for antisocial personality disorder and comorbid alcohol use disorder. It explores how study participants constructed and understood their own violent encounters, as well as the motivations they described (characterized here as reputation, leveling, retaliation, catharsis, and self-defense). Violence was gendered in this study, with men generally presenting as perpetrators and women as victims. Men often described themselves as ready participants in a violent world, while women were quite clear that aggression for them was often simply required as they tried to defend themselves from male violence. While this analysis does not replace clinical analyses of violence in antisocial personality disorder, it does reveal an underlying cultural logic that may play a role in shaping the recourse to violence for that minority of individuals for whom it appears to be the obvious choice.

Read more at:  http://ht.ly/QZHxx HT @UofOklahoma 

Gendered Pathways: Violent Childhood Maltreatment, Sex Exchange, and Drug Use

Below:  Parameter Estimates for Direct-Indirect Effects Model in Women and Men

Note: Unstandardized regression weights (and standard errors) for women are left of the diagonal and in bold; estimates for men are right of the diagonal and in regular font. Correlations between the independent variables are not shown, but are similar to those reported in Table 1.

First, structural equation modeling revealed that childhood sexual and physical abuse were related to increased drug engagement in women and men, respectively, above the influence of early childhood contextual variables (e.g., neighborhood, family) and age. Second, sexual abuse was related to sex exchange, which in turn was related to drug use symptoms in women but not men.

These data provide empirical support for distinct trauma-related pathways to drug use problems in men and women, which has implications for gendered explanations and prevention approaches.

Via:   http://ht.ly/QngMt  HT @USouthFlorida