scholarly journals Sexual Victimization and Mental Illness Prevalence Rates Among Incarcerated Women: A Literature Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie E. Karlsson ◽  
Melissa J. Zielinski
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Incarcerated Women ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress

Incarcerated women evidence high rates of both interpersonal trauma and mental illness. In particular, the rates of sexual violence victimization are so high that some researchers have suggested that sexual abuse may be a pathway to prison for women, likely through the development of mental illness, including substance abuse. This review article summarizes the literature on sexual victimization ( n = 32 articles; 28 independent studies) and mental illness ( n = 11 articles; 8 independent studies) prevalence among samples of incarcerated women ( Ns ≥ 100) in context of methodological choices within included articles. Best estimates for sexual victimization from studies using established survey methods were as follows: 50–66% for child sexual abuse, 28–68% for adult sexual abuse, and 56–82% for lifetime sexual assault. Although data directly comparing prevalence of sexual victimization among incarcerated women to prevalence for other groups are limited, the existing data indicate that incarcerated women have significantly greater exposure than incarcerated men and community samples of women. Moreover, compared to findings from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication, incarcerated women evidence greater prevalence of most lifetime and current mental illnesses, especially depressive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Surprisingly, only two independent studies have investigated the overlap between sexual victimization and mental illness in samples of incarcerated women. Both studies found disproportionally high rates of mental illness among victims of sexual violence. Suggestions and implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

Violence Against Incarcerated Women: Predicting Risk Through the Lens of Childhood Harm

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110358
Author(s):  
Nancy Wolff ◽  
Eva Aizpurua ◽  
Dan Peng
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Incarcerated Women ◽  
Latent Classes ◽  
Correctional Staff ◽  
Emotional Harm

Victimization is common inside prisons and much remains unknown about the predictors of violence against incarcerated women. A sample of 564 incarcerated women was used to examine the link between in-prison victimization, childhood (physical, sexual, and emotional) harm, and mental illness. Nearly half or more of women reported childhood harm and over one-quarter experienced in-prison victimization. Childhood harm fell into four latent classes and low sexual abuse and high abuse classes predicted resident-on-resident sexual victimization, as did single types of childhood harm. Current depressive symptoms and perceptions of overcrowding predicted physical and sexual victimization perpetrated by residents and correctional staff.

Which biopsychosocial view of mental illness?

2020 ◽  
pp. 82-96
Author(s):  
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong ◽  
Jesse S. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Almost All

Biopsychosocial theories of mental illness claim that biological, psychological, and social factors are all central to every mental illness. This general approach cannot be assessed or employed properly without specifying the precise relation between mental illnesses and these three levels of understanding. This chapter distinguishes disjunctive, causal, explanatory, therapeutic (or treatment), and constitutive (or definitional) versions of biopsychosocial theories. However, all of these claims are uncontroversial and not distinctive of the biopsychosocial approach, except the constitutive claim. That constitutive claim is inaccurate, because almost all mental illnesses are and should be defined by their psychological symptoms instead of their biological or social causes. These lessons are applied to case studies of post-traumatic stress disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and scrupulosity.

scholarly journals Believe #metoo: sexual violence and interpersonal disclosure experiences among women attending a sexual assault service in Australia: a mixed-methods study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e026773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rees ◽  
Lisa Simpson ◽  
Clare A McCormack ◽  
Batool Moussa ◽  
Sue Amanatidis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress

ObjectivesSexual abuse is a strong predictor of future psychiatric problems. A more nuanced qualitative understanding of mental health outcomes, in the context of interpersonal responses from family members towards survivors after sexual abuse, may help to better inform prevention and interventions.DesignA mixed-methods approach included a qualitative timeline method to map and identify contextual factors and mediating emotional responses associated with mental disorder following sexual abuse.SettingParticipants were adult survivors of sexual abuse, seeking support from the Sexual Assault Counselling Service, Sydney Local Health District, Australia.ParticipantsThirty women 18 years and older with current or past mental disorder or symptoms were interviewed between August 2015 and May 2016.Outcome measuresA qualitative timeline interview and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI, 5.5.0) were applied.ResultsThe MINI prevalence of current post-traumatic stress disorder was 96.6% (n=28) and of major depressive disorder was 82.8% (n=24). More than half (53%) reported suicidal ideation at some time in their lives. Women exposed to childhood sexual abuse reported being ignored, not believed, or threatened with retribution on disclosing the abuse to others, usually adult family members, at or close to the time of the violation(s). Participants described experiences of self-blame, betrayal, and psychosocial vulnerability as being the responses that connected negative disclosure experiences with mental disorder. Participant accounts suggest that these reactions created the foundations for both immediate and long-term adverse psychological outcomes.ConclusionA more in-depth understanding of the type and emotional impact of negative responses to disclosure by parents and other family members, and the barriers to adequate support, validation and trust, may inform strategies to avert much of the longer-term emotional difficulties and risks that survivors encounter following childhood abuse experiences. These issues should receive closer attention in research, policy, and practice.

scholarly journals Needs of women patients with mental illness

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Ramsay ◽  
Sarah Welch ◽  
Elizabeth Youard
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Women Patients ◽  
Specific Disorders ◽  
Gender Specific

Women patients suffer from a range of mental disorders similar to those that men may experience. However, there are some striking differences in the prevalence of specific disorders, and in their presentation and management. Some mental illnesses only occur in women. It seems that women patients may have a different experience of treatment, a consequence of differences in their needs and also of the way that health professionals perceive those needs. These differences are embedded in the wider cultural milieu in which we live. There are particular issues for women patients in relation to, for example, childhood sexual abuse, rape and domestic violence. At present, tools to measure needs of individual patients are generally not gender specific.

Women with Serious Mental Illness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Mizock ◽  
Erika Carr
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Serious Mental Illness ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Class Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Serious Mental Illnesses ◽  
Work Class

Women with Serious Mental Illness: Gender-Sensitive and Recovery-Oriented Care calls attention to a topic and a population that have been overlooked in research and psychotherapy—women with serious mental illnesses (schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder). The book focuses on the history of mistreatment, marginalization, and oppression women with serious mental illness have encountered, not only from the general public but within the mental health system as well. This book provides an overview of recovery-oriented care for women with serious mental illness—a process of seeking hope, empowerment, and self-determination beyond the effects of mental illness. The authors provide a historical overview of the treatment of women with mental illness, their resilience and recovery experiences, and issues pertaining to relationships, work, class, culture, trauma, and sexuality. This book also offers the new model, the Women’s Empowerment and Recovery-Oriented Care intervention, for working with this population from a gender-sensitive framework. The book is a useful tool for mental health educators and providers and provides case studies, clinical strategies lists, discussion questions, experiential activities, diagrams, and worksheets that can be completed with clients, students, and peers.

scholarly journals The impact of state-based language on the perceptions of mental illness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Horne ◽  
Samantha Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Null Effect ◽  
The People ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Syntactic Differences ◽  
The Impact

The American Psychiatric Association recommends that practitioners use state-based language when discussing mental illness. The aim of this initiative is to avoid treating the symptoms of an illness as a defining characteristic of the people who experience these symptoms. Consistent with these recommendations, prior research has revealed that trait rather than state-based language can increase essentialist thinking and, in turn, may increase the stigmatization of mental illness. Surprisingly, however, prior work has not directly examined how these syntactic differences affect people’s inferences when the mental illness under consideration are widely-discussed or directly experienced (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress). In three experiments, we examined the effects of state-based language on people’s inferences about familiar mental illnesses. In Experiment 1, we observed no effect of state-based language on inferences about the stability of symptoms of familiar mental illnesses. We then identified the likely source of this null effect: In two experiments, we found that people falsely remembered a protagonist as having a mental illness even when they were only describe as experiencing symptoms of this illness – people automatically label someone as having a mental illness on the basis of both proximal (Experiment 2) and more remote semantic cues (Experiment 3).

Mental illnesses and related vulnerabilities in the Hijra community: A cross-sectional study from India

2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402095077
Author(s):  
Deepak Sartaj ◽  
Vijay Krishnan ◽  
Ravindra Rao ◽  
Atul Ambekar ◽  
Neeraj Dhingra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Somatoform Disorders ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Psychoactive Substance ◽  
Psychosocial Adversity ◽  
Psychoactive Substance Use ◽  
And Gender

Purpose: The Hijra community is a cultural and gender grouping in South Asia broadly similar to western transgender communities, but with literature suggesting some differences in gender experience and patterns of psychosocial adversity. The present study aims to describe patterns of mental illness and psychoactive substance use in Hijra subjects and study their association with gender experience and psychosocial adversity. Methods: Fifty self-identified Hijras availing HIV-prevention services in New Delhi, India, were interviewed. Data on mental disorders, psychoactive substance use, quality of life, discrimination, empowerment, violence and gender identity were assessed using structured instruments. Results: Subjects were mostly in their mid-twenties, and had joined the Hijra community in their mid-teens. More subjects (46%) were involved in begging than in traditional Hijra roles (38%). Sex work was reported by 28% subjects. The rates of lifetime mental illness was 38%, most commonly alcohol abuse (26%); others had anxiety or depressive disorders (8% each), somatoform disorders (6%) and bulimia nervosa ( n = 1). Disempowerment was mostly experienced in domains of autonomy and community participation; 52% had experienced sexual or psychological violence. Discrimination was attributed to gender (100%), appearance (28%) or sexual orientation (28%). There were negative correlations between the physical domain of WHO-QOL and physical violence and depression scores; and between discrimination and WHO-QOL environmental, physical and psychological domains. Conclusions: This Hijra group showed high rates of mental disorder and substance involvement, related to QOL domains and experiences of discrimination and disempowerment.

scholarly journals The College's Anti-Stigma Campaign, 1998–2003

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Crisp ◽  
Liz Cowan ◽  
Deborah Hart
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Similar Range ◽  
The Media ◽  
Illness Anxiety

In autumn 1996, under the Presidency of Dr Robert Kendell, the College decided to mount a campaign to tackle the stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses. In 1997, a working party proposed goals, content, process and a 5-year governance. Other campaigns, both here and abroad, have either generically addressed ‘mental health problems' (e.g. Mind's ‘Respect’ Campaign) or targeted a specific mental illness, e.g. the World Psychiatric Association's anti-stigma campaign in respect of people with schizophrenia. Our working party decided that it might be timely to recognise the differences in public attitudes to the variety of mental illnesses. The campaign thus addressed six categories of mental illness: anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, schizophrenia, the dementias, eating disorders, and drug and alcohol misuse/addiction. Target populations were identified as doctors, children and adolescents, the workplace, the media and the general public. The working party had also secured funding and arranged for a survey, in July 1998, by the Office for National Statistics of opinions of the British public concerning people with these mental illnesses (Crisp et al, 2000). The Campaign started on 7 October 1998. Since that time, and drawing upon our survey findings within its initial literature review (Kelly, 1999) the Department of Health mounted its own anti-stigma campaign, ‘Mind Out for Mental Health’, which addressed a similar range of mental illnesses.

scholarly journals Silencing by design: Lessons learned about child sexual abuse from a university sexual assault survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 174550652110170
Author(s):  
Marika Guggisberg ◽  
Hillary J Haldane ◽  
Vicki Lowik ◽  
Annabel Taylor ◽  
Bethany Mackay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
University Students ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Prepubescent Child ◽  
The Impact

Background: University students have been recognized as particularly being vulnerable to sexual victimization. Purpose: With little research to date, and acknowledgement for the need of a better understanding of sexual violence, our study analysed the CQUniversity Sexual Assault Survey’s qualitative responses. An open-ended qualitative question allowed students to provide information anonymously. Methods: A total of 109 participants contributed responses with 17 respondents commenting on the fact that the survey omitted to ask about child sexual abuse prior to the cut-off age of 12 years. Results: University students revealed unexpected disclosures of prepubescent child sexual abuse victimization and ongoing sexual victimization into adulthood. Furthermore, students’ comments indicated negative impacts including distress, mental health and substance use problems, distrust, and interpersonal difficulties. Strong feelings about ‘silencing’ prepubescent child sexual abuse in university surveys were expressed with a request that questions about child sexual abuse prior to the age of 12 years be included. Conclusion: Our study found that child sexual abuse victimization is important to students. Recommendations indicate the need for future research about sexual violence among university students without age restrictions to gain a better understanding about the impact of trauma including revictimization experiences.

scholarly journals Design And Construction Of An Expert System For Early Detection of Mental Illness in COVID-19 Patients And Handling Using Certainty Factor Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-226
Author(s):  
Mohammad Iqbal ◽  
Nurfitria Khoirunnisa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Expert System ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
The People ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
New Type ◽  
Almost All

Covid-19 is a new type of virus that can be transmitted to humans. This virus spreads very quickly and has spread to almost all countries. In the midst of Covid-19 outbreak, social phenomenon emerged that has the potential to exacerbate the situation, it is negative social stigma against a person or group of people who experience symptoms or have COVID-19 disease. They are labeled, stereotyped, discriminated against, and treated differently because they are associated with Covid-19 disease. This pandemic puts pressure on the emergence of mental illnesses such as fatigue, stress, fear, sadness, loneliness, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its probability of dying from Covid 19 is almost 3 times higher than those who do not have mental illness. Therefore, an expert system is needed to detect mental disorders in Covid-19 patients early as prevention. This system works as psychologist experts detect Covid-19 patients through the people closest to the patient. By observing the conditions and symptoms arose in the patient's psychological condition, the user will fill the data in the system to find out the level of disturbance experienced by the patient in real time. Then, the system will provide solutions, diagnosis results and appropriate treatment methods for patients so that symptoms of mental disorders can be detected and prevented early on without direct contact between patients and experts

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