Christine Lindquist

The Differential Risk Factors of Physically Forced and Alcohol- or Other Drug-Enabled Sexual Assault Among University Women

The Campus Sexual Assault Study examined whether undergraduate women’s victimization experiences prior to college and lifestyle activities during college were differentially associated with the type of sexual assault they experienced: physically forced sexual assault and incapacitated sexual assault. Self-reported data collected using a Web-based survey administered to more than 5,000 undergraduate women at two large public universities indicated that victimization experiences before college were differentially associated with the risk of experiencing these two types of sexual assault during college. Women who experienced forced sexual assault before college were at very high risk of experiencing forced sexual assault during college (odds ratio [OR] = 6.6). Women who experienced incapacitated sexual assault before college were also at very high risk of experiencing incapacitated sexual assault during college (OR = 3.7). Moreover, women’s substance use behaviors during college, including getting drunk and using marijuana, were strongly associated with experiencing incapacitated sexual assault but were not associated with experiencing forced sexual assault. Implications for education and prevention programs, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

Social Integration and Mental Well-Being Among Jail Inmates

Although social integration has consistently been linked to mental well-being among the general population, this relationship has not been explored for persons confined in total institutions. Jails, in particular, represent unique conditions that have the potential to alter the traditional relationship between social ties and mental health. Although previously unexamined, social ties maintained by jail inmates outside and inside of the institution are commonly presumed to weaken some of the adverse effects of a stressful environment and positively influence mental health. The current study explores the impact of social integration on mental well-being among 198 male and female inmates incarcerated in a large county jail. The impact of marital status, parental status, and social support (both inside and outside of the jail) on various dimensions of mental health was examined. The results indicate that rather than promoting mental well-being, social relationships inside and outside of the institution are associated with higher levels of distress. Specifically, married inmates report higher levels of depression and anxiety, and inmates with close social relationships inside of the jail report higher levels of hostility, although gender differences in these patterns are evident. The results of this study suggest that social integration may play a different role for persons incarcerated in total institutions than among the general population due to the unique conditions of social stigmatization and separation from support networks.

Review of evaluation tools used to assess the impact of nutrition education on dietary intake and quality, weight management practices, and physical activity of low-income audiences:

Nutrition education programs and social marketing campaigns frequently focus on low-income audiences with the goal of improving dietary intake and quality, weight management practices, and physical activity. The impact of nutrition education can be assessed by measuring change in relation to any or all of these broad variables. Unfortunately, little information is available concerning the reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of measures used to assess these constructs with low-income audiences of adults and adolescents. This article reviews the literature and discusses the types of available measures that have been used and evaluated for the above audiences. It describes specific measures used to assess total diet, consumption of food groups from the Food Guide Pyramid, and behaviors related to weight management and physical activity. Overall, this review suggests that there is a critical need for additional development and evaluation of dietary quality measurement tools for low-income and minority audiences.

Comparing sexual assault prevalence estimates obtained with direct and indirect questioning techniques.

Concerns have been expressed about the validity of self-reported data on sexual assault, as victims might be reluctant to disclose what happened to them. In this study, using an anonymous, web-based survey, a sample of 5,446 undergraduate women were asked about their experiences with physically forced sexual assault using both direct and indirect questioning methods. The prevalence of physically forced sexual assault obtained via indirect questioning was slightly higher than, though not substantially or statistically different from, the estimate obtained via direct questioning. The results suggest that either direct questioning yields reasonably valid estimates of the prevalence of sexual assault or that the item count technique does not produce estimates that are any more valid.

Implementation of Prisoner Reentry Programs: Findings from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative Multi-Site Evaluation:

The multi-site evaluation of the federal Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) is assessing the impact on post-release offender behavior of reentry programs funded in 2002–2003 with more than

Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Undergraduate Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

150 million in federal grant monies. The multi-faceted SVORI programs provide prison- and community-based services and programming to help released prisoners successfully transition from prison to the community. Each program was locally designed and, thus, the programs vary considerably in approach, services provided, and target populations. Although the primary purpose of the multi-site evaluation is to determine the impact of the SVORI programs, an implementation assessment is being conducted to characterize the programs in order to answer the question “impact of what?” This paper provides a brief background on prisoner reentry and the SVORI, and examines the implementation and structure of the 89 reentry programs operated by the 69 SVORI grantees. The findings, based on a program director survey, show that two years following the grant award only 74% of the programs reported being fully operational, and 31% of those reported taking more than 12 months to achieve full implementation. In addition, although most programs are targeting a broad range of offenders, enrollment of participants has proven to be a significant challenge in many sites where enrollments are below expectation. Finally, while most programs reported providing a variety of services and programs to participants, the types and quantities varied considerably among the programs.

THE MYTH OF THE MIGRANT HOMELESS: AN EXPLORATION OF THE PSYCHOSOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MIGRATION

Despite the evidence that young and minority women may be particularly vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV), there is little research on the IPV experiences of minority undergraduate women. This study addresses this gap by estimating the prevalence of IPV and examining factors associated with experiencing IPV among undergraduate women attending Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs). Findings suggest alarmingly high victimization rates; however, factors associated with IPV among HBCU women are similar to those found in prior research with women in the general population. The results also suggest that some risk factors are differentially associated with experiencing specific types of IPV.

The Reentry Court Initiative: Court-Based Strategies for Managing Released Prisoners

While migration status is frequently used to differentiate homeless subgroups, little empirical work has explored sociological distinctions between migrant and nonmigrant homeless. This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comprehensively examining differences in the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, psychological and social resources, life stressors and circumstances, and psychological well-being. We use a random probability sample of 63 migrant and 98 nonmigrant homeless, distinguished by length of residence in the study city (Birmingham, Alabama). The analysis indicated that migrant and nonmigrant homeless persons share similar demographic characteristics, stressors, and levels of psychosocial resources. Multiple regression analyses revealed that although the two groups display similar levels of depressive symptomatology, the factors influencing depression appear to operate differently among migrants and nonmigrants. Although psychosocial resources are associated with lower depression for both groups, there is a significant interaction effect between migration status and mastery, with mastery being a more salient resource for the mental health of migrants. The implications of these findings for homeless service provision are discussed.

Approaches Used by Employee Assistance Programs to Address Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence

In response to the growing need to effectively manage the large numbers of released prisoners returning into the community, the Office of Justice Programs launched the Reentry Court Initiative (RCI). Nine sites were identified and charged with developing strategies to improve the tracking and supervision of offenders upon release and providing the services necessary to help offenders reconnect with their families and the community. The current article describes the RCI programs. Telephone interviews were conducted with key site contacts from each site. Site visits were conducted to three sites, at which semistructured interviews were held with 28 key stakeholders, including judges, program directors, supervision officers, case managers, and program participants. The sites employed diverse approaches in establishing their programs, with the judicial branch maintaining programmatic authority in five of the eight operational sites, and administrative law judges and/or parole boards serving as the legal authority in the remaining three. All RCI programs required regular court appearances, although not all established a specialized reentry court docket. The majority of sites appeared to offer comprehensive services to their program participants, with case management provided either through a specialized case manager or the supervision officer. Several barriers were common across the RCI sites, particularly the difficulties in obtaining employment, and appropriate, affordable housing for program participants.

Individual, behavioral, and situational correlates of the drugging victimization experiences of college women:

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are workplace resources available to employees with problems impacting work performance. EAPs are well-positioned to address intimate partner violence (IPV), a major public health problem with workplace impacts. A purposeful sample of 28 EAPs across the United States was surveyed to identify policies and programs to address IPV, including perpetration. Most EAPs did not report having standardized approaches for addressing IPV perpetration. EAPs also described significant barriers to identifying IPV perpetrators, with the majority relying on self-disclosure on the part of the perpetrator when contacting the EAP. These results suggest that many EAPs—even when interacting with employees who present with issues known to correlate with IPV—are missing a potential opportunity to assess and intervene with IPV perpetrators.