Incarceration Trajectories of Women Who Are Mothers: A Nationally Representative Study of State and Federal Prisoners

Despite growing research on women’s offending trajectories, knowledge on the imprisonment experiences of women who are mothers is limited. This study used a nationally representative dataset of state and federal prisoners to identify and characterize subgroups of mothers based on incarceration histo...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Zhao, Qianwei (Author) ; Valdez, Avelardo 1947- (Author) ; Cepeda, Alice (Author) ; Chou, Chih-Ping (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2021, Volume: 67, Issue: 10, Pages: 1513-1535
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
foster care placement
incarceration trajectories
Mothers
Prisons
Sexual Abuse
Description
Summary:Despite growing research on women’s offending trajectories, knowledge on the imprisonment experiences of women who are mothers is limited. This study used a nationally representative dataset of state and federal prisoners to identify and characterize subgroups of mothers based on incarceration histories. Group-based trajectory modeling identified four groups with distinct incarceration trajectories: stable escalating group, moderate declining group, adolescence-peak group, and young-adulthood-peak group. Bivariate analyses then suggested that different incarceration trajectories were associated with adverse life experiences (i.e., foster care placement, sexual abuse experience) and confinement experiences (i.e., number of episodes of prison confinement). Discussed are the future research directions and implications for criminal justice policies and interventions targeting imprisoned mothers.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128720974315