Stephanie C. Kennedy

Does Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Reduce Future Physical Abuse? A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To use meta-analytic techniques to evaluating the effectiveness of parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) at reducing future physical abuse among physically abusive families. Methods: A systematic search identified six eligible studies. Outcomes of interest were physical abuse recurrence, child abuse potential, and parenting stress. Results: Parents receiving PCIT had significantly fewer physical abuse recurrences and significantly greater reductions on the Parenting Stress Index than parents in comparison groups. Reductions in child abuse potential were nonsignificant, although 95% confidence intervals suggest clinically meaningful treatment effects. The studies examining physical abuse recurrence had a medium treatment effect (g = 0.52), while results from pooled effect size estimates for child abuse potential (g = 0.31) and parenting stress (g = 0.35) were small. Conclusions: PCIT appears to be effective at reducing physical abuse recurrence and parenting stress for physically abusive families, with the largest treatment effects seen on long-term physical abuse recurrence. Applications to social work practice are discussed.

Examining Dose–Response Relationships Between Childhood Victimization, Depression, Symptoms of Psychosis, and Substance Misuse for Incarcerated Women

The current study uses the dose–response model to examine the relationships between childhood victimization events and subsequent depression, symptoms of psychosis, and substance misuse in a sample of 230 randomly selected incarcerated women in the United States. Results on the frequency of victimization were mixed. In this sample, both frequency of physical abuse and frequency of sexual abuse significantly predicted current symptoms of psychosis, but only frequency of physical abuse significantly predicted substance misuse. Incarcerated women who experienced multivictimization were 5.7 times as likely to report depression, 4.2 times as likely to report current symptoms of psychosis, and 3.8 times as likely to meet criteria for a substance use disorder. Results indicate that adjusting prison-based interventions to address multivictimization may improve outcomes and reduce recidivism among this population.

Childhood Abuse and Postpartum Psychosis: Is There a Link?

Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a serious mental health issue associated with maternal suicide and infanticide. Although a growing research base suggests that childhood abuse is predictive of psychosis, bipolar disorder, and postpartum depression, the link between abuse and PPP is less clear. Currently, prevention and treatment strategies are pharmacological and require hospitalization once symptoms arise. Unfortunately, these strategies are not ideal for affected women and their infants. Testing the relationship between experiences of childhood abuse and PPP may reveal abuse variables to be both statistically and clinically meaningful predictors of the disorder. A dose–response model suggests that women who report more severe abuse or multivictimization will be more likely to develop PPP. The authors suggest trauma screening in psychiatric, obstetrical, and community practice settings to identify women at risk for PPP and advocate for the addition of gender-responsive and trauma-focused psychotherapy to pharmacological interventions for this population.

Initial Validation of the Mental Health Provider Stigma Inventory

Objective: To conduct an initial validation of the mental health provider stigma inventory (MHPSI). The MHPSI assesses stigma within the service provider–client relationship on three domains—namely, attitudes, behaviors, and coworker influence. Methods: Initial validation of the MHPSI was conducted with a sample of 212 mental health employees and graduate student counseling interns. Scale conceptualization and development, content validation, and construct validation measures are discussed. Results: Preliminary psychometrics indicated good model fit for a three-factor multidimensional scale. Reliabilities were strong (coefficient αs ranged from .83 to .93) and the global stratified α was .95. Evidence of construct validity supported the hypotheses about the accuracy of underlying constructs. Conclusions: The MHPSI appears to be a reliable and valid measure of mental health provider stigma. As social workers comprise the front lines of mental health service provision, the MHPSI may be a valuable tool for guiding agency trainings and social work education.

“Behind every woman in prison is a man”: Incarcerated Women’s Perceptions of How We Can Better Help Them in the Context of Interpersonal Victimization

ABSTRACT Although women’s rates of incarceration have increased dramatically, the criminal justice system does not meet women’s unique needs. This article used qualitative methods to describe the responses of 113 incarcerated women to the following question: How can we better help women like you? Analyses focused on women’s experiences of victimization and highlighted how to address trauma in prison reform and abolition efforts. Women suggested how victimization fueled their criminal offending behavior, detailed re-victimization in the prison milieu, and identified program gaps during custody and after release. Opportunities for immediate action include policy advocacy, mitigation, and shifting to a trauma-informed correctional approach.

Assessing Attitude and Reincarceration Outcomes Associated With In-Prison Domestic Violence Treatment Program Completion

Studies indicate that as many as 30%–56% of incarcerated men have perpetrated domestic violence, and that factors related to domestic violence perpetration are associated with long-term recidivism after release. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of an in-prison domestic violence treatment program called STOP and Change Direction to increase positive attitudes toward women, decrease levels of criminal thinking, and reduce general recidivism rates for program completers. Two research designs are used: a single-group pretest–posttest design to assess the attitude-related outcomes, and a quasiexperimental design with a comparison group created using propensity score matching to assess the impact of program participation on reincarceration. Paired samples t tests revealed significant increases in positive attitudes toward women and decreases in criminal thinking. Binary logistic regressions revealed no significant differences in the 5- and 7-year reincarceration rates, although examination of the 95% confidence intervals suggests encouraging clinical implications of program completion.

The Death Penalty Attitudes of Social Work Students: Current and Future Opportunities

Although much is known about the death penalty attitudes of U.S. adults, the attitudes of social workers are less clear. The current study assesses the death penalty attitudes of 406 social work students at a southern university. Support was measured in isolation, in conjunction with alternative sentencing structures, and using vignettes to provide mitigating factors about the defendant and the crime. Social work students reported low levels of death penalty support (32%), which decreased when alternative sentences were provided (11%). Death penalty support was lowest on case vignettes (range: 0–16%). Implications for social work and future research directions are discussed.

The Relationship Between Interpersonal Victimization and Women’s Criminal Sentencing: A Latent Class Analysis

Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of incarcerated women differentiated by experiences of child abuse and intimate partner violence victimization. The abuse subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Abuse Behavior Inventory were used as indicators. Data were drawn from a probability sample of 217 incarcerated women housed in two state-level prisons in North Carolina. Four classes were extracted—Low Victimization, Child Abuse, Lifetime Physical and Psychological Abuse, and Lifetime Sexual Abuse; classes were then related to current sentence length, holding criminological predictors constant. Women in the Child Abuse and Lifetime Sexual Abuse classes had significantly longer sentences, despite the lack of significant between-class differences on criminological predictors. Results suggest that certain victimization patterns, notably experiences of sexual violence, were associated with sentencing disparities despite the use of structured sentencing grids. Recommendations for trauma-informed sentencing are provided.

The Intersectional Effects of Race and Gender on Time to Reincarceration

Abstract People of color are disproportionately incarcerated and reincarcerated after release. When compared to women, men of all races report higher rates of recidivism. However, minimal research examines the intersectional effects of race and gender on recidivism. Proportional hazards models estimated the effects of varied risk factors for Black men, White men, Black women, and White women on 8-year recidivism rates among 21,462 incarcerated Black and White men and women. Black men were incarcerated more often and more quickly when compared to all other race/gender groups. However, with two exceptions (age at intake and marital status), Black men had lower risk scores on most variables when compared to other members of the sample. The interaction of race and gender was a potent predictor of time to reincarceration, even when controlling for a range of identified risk factors. Additional research is needed to examine the individual and structural mechanisms that lead to recidivism for Black men beyond hypothesized criminogenic risk.