Trauma, Power, and Intimate Relationships Among Women in Prison

Overview

Journal Violence Against Women

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialties Emergency Medicine
Gynecology & Obstetrics

Date 2019 Apr 20

PMID 30999810

Citations 3

Authors

Heather L McCauley

Fallon Richie

Sara Hughes

Jennifer E Johnson

Caron Zlotnick

Rochelle K Rosen

Wendee M Wechsberg

Caroline C Kuo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study, which included four focus groups of women ( = 21) in four New England prisons, aimed to understand how power impacted women's relationships, exposure to violence, and health. Women described power in three ways: (a) power as control over their sexuality and their sexual partners, (b) power emerging from emotional strength, and (c) power referring to a process of empowerment. Women's perceptions and experiences of power were informed by their trauma histories and influenced their sexual behavior and health. Our findings provide a framework for considering incarcerated women's experiences of power in trauma-informed interventions for this marginalized population.

Citing Articles

Contextualizing Cisgender Women's Histories of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization With Men and Women.

McCauley H, Reid T, Anderson R, Ast R, Zelazny S, Miller E Violence Against Women. 2023; 29(15-16):3244-3262.

PMID: 37710991 PMC: 11403939. DOI: 10.1177/10778012231199110.

PROTOCOL: Domestic abuse interventions for mothers in or exiting prison: An evidence and gap map.

Rogers M, Lockwood K, Speake E, Campbell F Campbell Syst Rev. 2023; 19(1):e1313.

PMID: 36911863 PMC: 9979188. DOI: 10.1002/cl2.1313.

"I'm not alone, my story matters": Incarcerated women's perspectives on the impact and acceptability of group psychotherapy involving imaginal exposure to sexual assault memories.

Zielinski M, Karlsson M, Bridges A Health Justice. 2021; 9(1):25.

PMID: 34591180 PMC: 8482612. DOI: 10.1186/s40352-021-00148-4.

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