Justice-Involved Women with Co-occurring Disorders and Their Children

Women with “co-occurring disorders” are a diverse group—they may have major depression, bipolar disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder, in addition to their addiction to one or more drugs. Some suffer from psychotic spectrum disorders, including schizophrenia. Treatment of their complex, interactive disorders will span a several year period and involve admissions to hospitals, participation in community programs, and, very possibly, episodic incarcerations. Female detainees have twice the rate of major mental illness (19%) than their male counterparts (9%) (National GAINS Center). Adding to the challenge for an unprepared, ill-equipped justice system, is that these women are largely women of color (63.8%; BJS, 1994), with histories of physical and sexual abuse and who are responsible for one or more dependent children.