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Background: The number of justice-involved women in Canada is rising, yet little is known about the mental health journeys of women on probation and parole. Using a qualitative research design, we explored this population’s psychological service use experiences. Our two research objectives were 1) to understand the types of mental health services accessed, factors shaping service use, service content and modality preferences, and coping strategies among women on probation and parole, and 2) to explore the impacts of criminal legal involvement on participants’ mental health and decisions to (not) access psychological support. We sought to understand how intersecting identities, particularly gender and parenting status, shaped women’s experiences. Method: Women on probation and parole in Canada were asked to complete a 30-minute online survey in Qualtrics, which included questions about their demographics and psychological service use. In total, nine women completed the survey. Quantitative data concerning service use were analyzed descriptively, while responses to open-ended questions were analyzed by two researchers using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Results: All participants reported accessing mental health services in the past year, with the most common supports being therapists, psychologists, family doctors, and Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers. Although many participants were mandated to receive treatment as part of their sentence or by Child and Family Services, nearly half of our participants believed that seeking psychological support would be helpful. We developed three main themes from the qualitative analysis: Complex impacts of criminal legal involvement on well-being (subthemes: “Back on track,” “Availability and wait lists,” “Just surviving,” and “I do not like having my name in the system”), Forming help-seeking intentions (subthemes: “Face the problems,” “It is not really my decision,” “Finding the right person,” and “I want to get my life back

Childhood trauma constitutes a major public health crisis in the United States, with an estimated two thirds of children experiencing at least one traumatic event by the age of 16. Despite the prevalence of childhood trauma, there has been very little sociological research on this subject. Using rich data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current dissertation project offers important new insights on the contours and consequences of childhood trauma. The first analytic chapter shows how neighborhood racial segregation is an important determinant for exposure to multiple types of violence. The findings suggest that adolescents living in more racially segregated communities are more likely to report exposure to violence. The second analytic chapter examines whether exposure to multiple traumas or “complex trauma” mediates the association between family structure and various “markers” of life chances in adulthood. The analysis shows that children born to single mother families, relative to children who are born to two biological or adoptive parent families, are more likely to experience complex trauma in childhood, which accounts for a significant portion of the association between family structure, adult incarceration, and college completion. Finally, the third analytic chapter examines the relationship between witnessing community violence and criminal legal system involvement in young adulthood. This analysis shows that adolescents who witness community violence are significantly more likely to become incarcerated in young adulthood. The analysis also finds significant racial disparities in witnessing violence, suggesting that exposure to community violence is a potentially important mechanism in the production of racial inequalities in criminal legal system involvement.

Sexual assault is a significant public health problem. Recent research has called to hear directly from survivor-victims (SV) of sexual violence to better understand their wants and needs after enduring this harmful experience. This qualitative study used focus groups to seek input regarding SV experiences with the criminal legal system (CLS), perspectives on restorative justice (RJ), and additional ideas of participants to improve justice, facilitate recovery, and move forward. Additionally, seven key informant (KI) interviews of community and system-based service providers were conducted to include the perspectives of victim advocates and service providers. The qualitative analytic approach used computer-assisted qualitative data (CAQDA) analysis and ATLAS.ti software. The major themes of the conversations included: (1) SV participants shared a negative experience with the CLS and most often did not believe the harm could be repaired; (2) RJ was viewed with a mix of conflicting perspectives but ultimately all SV believed it should be an available option; (3) SV identified several supports that they desired to be available from individual to society levels as represented by the social-ecological model. KI and SV shared some overlapping perspectives on what services would be helpful to SV, but their perspectives were not often in alignment. The results have implications for service provision, implementation of alternative justice options, and broader needs SV express, and the disconnect between those who plan and deliver services and those who receive them.

El análisis económico del derecho penal y crimen aborda la cuestión de la maximización del bienestar individual (utilidad) a través de una asignación óptima de recursos y tiempo de acuerdo a su relative retorno. En este trabajo en primer lugar se resumen las pruebas teóricas y empíricas sobre el nexo entre el delito y los indicadores socio-económicos. Posteriormente se testea la hipótesis de que las personas que son vulnerables a caer bajo la línea de pobreza se entregan a actividades delictivas como estrategia de consumo. Igualmente se estudia empíricamente el papel que juega el crecimiento de la economía, el desempleo, la urbanización y la calidad del sistema legal de jugarán en delitos relacionados con la propiedad. India es elegida como objeto del estudio porque tiene cuidadosamente canalizados sus fondos y recursos para el crecimiento económico, la reducción de la pobreza y la disuasión del crimen. Los resultados indican una repercusión positiva y estadísticamente significativa de la pobreza, crecimiento desigual del ingreso y la baja calidad del sistema legal sobre la incidencia de delitos relacionados con la propiedad totales. Por otra parte, las cifras de elasticidad indican que la pobreza tiene el mayor impacto en robos. El resultado más convincente proviene de las figuras de la elasticidad de la educación en rlación con el crimen: un aumento del 10% en el gasto per cápita en educación en la India conduce a una disminución entre 9.2-11,2% de las tasas totales de criminalidad en asuntos relacionados con la propiedad., Economic analysis of crime and criminal law addresses the question of individual welfare (utility) maximization through optimal allocation of resources and time in accordance to their relative returns. In this paper I first summarize the theoretical and empirical evidence on the nexus between crime and socio economic indicators. After which I test the hypothesis that people who are vulnerable to fall under the poverty line indulge in criminal activities as a consumption smoothing strategy. I also empirically inspect the role economic growth, unemployment, urbanization and quality of legal system play in inducing property related crimes. India is chosen as the case study because it has to carefully channel its funds and resources towards economic growth, poverty alleviation and crime deterrence concomitantly. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of poverty, inequitable income growth and low quality of the legal system on incidence of total property-related crimes. Moreover, the elasticity figures suggest that poverty has the highest impact on robberies. Most convincing result comes from the figures of elasticity of education with crime where a 10% increase in per capita expenditure on education in India leads to a decline between 9.2-11.2% of overall property crime rates.

El análisis económico del derecho penal y crimen aborda la cuestión de la maximización del bienestar individual (utilidad) a través de una asignación óptima de recursos y tiempo de acuerdo a su relative retorno. En este trabajo en primer lugar se resumen las pruebas teóricas y empíricas sobre el nexo entre el delito y los indicadores socio-económicos. Posteriormente se testea la hipótesis de que las personas que son vulnerables a caer bajo la línea de pobreza se entregan a actividades delictivas como estrategia de consumo. Igualmente se estudia empíricamente el papel que juega el crecimiento de la economía, el desempleo, la urbanización y la calidad del sistema legal de jugarán en delitos relacionados con la propiedad. India es elegida como objeto del estudio porque tiene cuidadosamente canalizados sus fondos y recursos para el crecimiento económico, la reducción de la pobreza y la disuasión del crimen. Los resultados indican una repercusión positiva y estadísticamente significativa de la pobreza, crecimiento desigual del ingreso y la baja calidad del sistema legal sobre la incidencia de delitos relacionados con la propiedad totales. Por otra parte, las cifras de elasticidad indican que la pobreza tiene el mayor impacto en robos. El resultado más convincente proviene de las figuras de la elasticidad de la educación en rlación con el crimen: un aumento del 10% en el gasto per cápita en educación en la India conduce a una disminución entre 9.2-11,2% de las tasas totales de criminalidad en asuntos relacionados con la propiedad., Economic analysis of crime and criminal law addresses the question of individual welfare (utility) maximization through optimal allocation of resources and time in accordance to their relative returns. In this paper I first summarize the theoretical and empirical evidence on the nexus between crime and socio economic indicators. After which I test the hypothesis that people who are vulnerable to fall under the poverty line indulge in criminal activities as a consumption smoothing strategy. I also empirically inspect the role economic growth, unemployment, urbanization and quality of legal system play in inducing property related crimes. India is chosen as the case study because it has to carefully channel its funds and resources towards economic growth, poverty alleviation and crime deterrence concomitantly. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of poverty, inequitable income growth and low quality of the legal system on incidence of total property-related crimes. Moreover, the elasticity figures suggest that poverty has the highest impact on robberies. Most convincing result comes from the figures of elasticity of education with crime where a 10% increase in per capita expenditure on education in India leads to a decline between 9.2-11.2% of overall property crime rates.

The Organic Law 1/2004, of Measures of Integral Protection against Gender Violence arose from a gender perspective in order to protect and guarantee the rights of women who experience violence by their heterosexual partner. The implementation of this law is given in a predominantly patriarchal institution, generating perverse effects for which further research is needed. The aim of this paper is to understand women's experience about the criminal justice system and analyze the subjection mechanisms of the criminal justice system, and how it constructs women's subjectivities, in order to see its effects and avoid the points of disagreement and the unwanted effects. To carry out the study, the criminal justice system in relation to the LO 1/2004 is understood as a technology of power. To do this we used qualitative methodology to approach the criminal legal environment, namely: 23 sessions of participant observation, in-depth interviews with 17 professionals working with domestic violence, 11 in-depth interviews and a group interview with women who have sued their heterosexual partners of gender violence, analyzed data using as analysis axis the theories about power, subjectivity and gender studies with qualitative analysis software Atlas.ti. The results show the criminal legal institution, and the implementation of the LO 1/2004, as a producer of women's subjectivities and their effects., La Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de Medidas de Protección Integral contra la Violencia de Género se planteó desde una perspectiva de género con el objetivo de proteger a las mujeres que viven violencia por parte de su pareja heterosexual y garantizar sus derechos. La implementación de esta ley se da en una institución eminentemente patriarcal que presenta resistencias generando así efectos no deseados ni previstos que es necesario investigar. El objetivo del presente artículo es conocer la experiencia subjetiva de las mujeres ante el sistema jurídico-penal y analizar los mecanismos de sujeción del sistema jurídico penal y construcción de subjetividades de las mujeres, para conocer sus efectos y evitar los puntos de desencuentro y los efectos no deseados del abordaje jurídico-penal de la violencia de género. Para llevar a cabo el estudio, se entiende al sistema jurídico penal en relación a la LO 1/2004 como tecnología de poder. Para ello hemos utilizado metodología cualitativa para acercarnos al entorno jurídico-penal, concretamente: 23 sesiones de observación participante, 17 entrevistas en profundidad con profesionales que trabajan con violencia de género; 11 entrevistas en profundidad y una entrevista grupal con mujeres que han pasado por un proceso jurídico-penal por violencia de género. Hemos analizado los datos tomando como ejes de análisis las teorías sobre poder y subjetividad y la perspectiva de género mediante el programa de análisis cualitativo Atlas.ti. Los resultados muestran a la institución jurídico-penal, y la implementación de la LO 1/2004 como productora de subjetividades de las mujeres y sus efectos.

The Organic Law 1/2004, of Measures of Integral Protection against Gender Violence arose from a gender perspective in order to protect and guarantee the rights of women who experience violence by their heterosexual partner. The implementation of this law is given in a predominantly patriarchal institution, generating perverse effects for which further research is needed. The aim of this paper is to understand women's experience about the criminal justice system and analyze the subjection mechanisms of the criminal justice system, and how it constructs women's subjectivities, in order to see its effects and avoid the points of disagreement and the unwanted effects. To carry out the study, the criminal justice system in relation to the LO 1/2004 is understood as a technology of power. To do this we used qualitative methodology to approach the criminal legal environment, namely: 23 sessions of participant observation, in-depth interviews with 17 professionals working with domestic violence, 11 in-depth interviews and a group interview with women who have sued their heterosexual partners of gender violence, analyzed data using as analysis axis the theories about power, subjectivity and gender studies with qualitative analysis software Atlas.ti. The results show the criminal legal institution, and the implementation of the LO 1/2004, as a producer of women's subjectivities and their effects., La Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de Medidas de Protección Integral contra la Violencia de Género se planteó desde una perspectiva de género con el objetivo de proteger a las mujeres que viven violencia por parte de su pareja heterosexual y garantizar sus derechos. La implementación de esta ley se da en una institución eminentemente patriarcal que presenta resistencias generando así efectos no deseados ni previstos que es necesario investigar. El objetivo del presente artículo es conocer la experiencia subjetiva de las mujeres ante el sistema jurídico-penal y analizar los mecanismos de sujeción del sistema jurídico penal y construcción de subjetividades de las mujeres, para conocer sus efectos y evitar los puntos de desencuentro y los efectos no deseados del abordaje jurídico-penal de la violencia de género. Para llevar a cabo el estudio, se entiende al sistema jurídico penal en relación a la LO 1/2004 como tecnología de poder. Para ello hemos utilizado metodología cualitativa para acercarnos al entorno jurídico-penal, concretamente: 23 sesiones de observación participante, 17 entrevistas en profundidad con profesionales que trabajan con violencia de género; 11 entrevistas en profundidad y una entrevista grupal con mujeres que han pasado por un proceso jurídico-penal por violencia de género. Hemos analizado los datos tomando como ejes de análisis las teorías sobre poder y subjetividad y la perspectiva de género mediante el programa de análisis cualitativo Atlas.ti. Los resultados muestran a la institución jurídico-penal, y la implementación de la LO 1/2004 como productora de subjetividades de las mujeres y sus efectos.