findings generated by this study may not be generalizable to inmate populations in other state
prisons.
Policy Implications
Policy makers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to reform multiple aspects of
California’s correctional policies, and specifically those addressing women offenders. Yet it
appears that drug-dependent men and women offenders may have similar needs with regard to
addiction and mental health issues. The contrast for men and women is the degree of intensity of
these needs and the ways in which they should be addressed by criminal justice and treatment
programs to reduce the risk of relapse and recidivism and improve prosocial behaviors.
However, even programs that provide services responsive to trauma issues may not be able to
address all of these needs due to staff capabilities and funding limitations.
The finding that mental health problems among offenders may have their origins in
childhood events indicates the need for early prevention and intervention initiatives for girls and
boys. Nurse home-visits for at-risk mothers and children and adolescent treatment programs
focused on trauma and abuse could help reduce the incidence of child abuse as well as the
lifelong impact as a result of such abuse. Early prevention and intervention programs could also
help to alleviate the growing costs to society that are a result of the mental health problems
experienced by adult offenders with such histories of abuse, as well as the subsequent effects
upon their children. The long-term consequences of these untreated mental health problems have
implications for community health as well as for promoting positive health behaviors that may
also help to reduce future recidivism.
Conclusion
Histories of childhood abuse and household dysfunction are commonly reported by both
men and women under criminal justice supervision, even more so for those who are drug-
Childhood Adverse Events and Current Traumatic Distress
2/22/2007
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Convention