THE PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES OF WOMEN SERVING TIME IN JAIL

Two hundred and one randomly selected female inmates incarcerated at a municipal jail were interviewed to establish the needs of this popula tion and to formulate appropriate rehabilitative interventions. Measur es of social support for this sample were uniformly low. Scores on the Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory showed that 64 p ercent of the women were in the clinical range for mental health probl ems. Scores obtained from the Short Drug Abuse Screening Test indicate d that 83 percent of the women were in the substance abuse range. When child and adult sexual abuse were combined, 81 percent of the women h ad been sexually victimized at some time in their lives. The data poin t to the need for improved programs and conditions within penal settin gs and for intermediate sanctions for nonviolent female offenders. Suc h sanctions could include both correctional day treatment and communit y-based correctional living sites.