The prevalence of violence and relation to depression and illicit drug use among incarcerated women in Recife, Brazil.

PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence and different types of violence experienced by women prisoners in Brazil and the effects of violence on women's depression and illicit drug use. METHODS: Participants (N=377) were incarcerated women from a state prison in a northeastern city of Brazil. Multivariate logistic regression models (adjusted for age, education, partner status, prison history, drug related offense, and sentencing status) were used to assess associations between each type of violence (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and life threats) and each outcome variable: recent depression and illicit drug use. RESULTS: The majority of participants (87%) reported experiencing some type of violence in their lifetime, including physical violence (83%), sexual victimization (36%), and threats on their life (29%.) Sexual violence was significantly related to both recent depression (Odds Ratio (OR)=2.8; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=1.4-5.3) and recent substance use (OR=2.7; 95% CI=1.6-4.4) in adjusted models. Experiences of life threats were also significantly associated with illicit drug use (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.3-3.7), as was physical violence (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.2-4.9); however, neither of these latter two violence variables were significantly associated with depression. CONCLUSION: Reports of lifetime violence victimization among this incarcerated sample of women were extremely prevalent and relevant to women's depression and illicit drug use. Prison efforts to address women's depression and illicit drug use may be most effective by incorporating aspects related to women's history of victimization, especially given the high rates of violence experienced by women in this sample.

Incidence of child and adolescent abuse among incarcerated females in the northeast of Brazil.

The intergenerational transmission of violence and the tendency for abused and neglected children to become abusers, delinquents, and violent offenders in their adult life is an important field to be understood. It is also important to understand these backgrounds to guide future preventative interventions. Through a cross-sectional study, the occurrence of abuse during childhood and adolescence of adult women incarcerated in a female state prison at Recife in northeast Brazil was investigated. Among 219 prisoners, 190 accepted to join the research; 149 were young women (23-27 years) with severe educational deficiency. Living in poor socioeconomical conditions with problematic and violent familiar relations, 116 (61 per cent) left home at the end of their adolescence and the same number reported having been abused (p < 0.000015). There was a statistical significance between the abuses suffered and witnessed by the subjects and the perpetration of abuse against children and adolescents by themselves (p < 0.0022 and p < 0.0000049). Parents were the most frequent perpetrators (37.4 per cent). Sexual activity and use of legal and illegal drugs occurred early in adolescence. The group also had a family history of violence. Based on the analysed data of this studied group, the authors assumed that the abuse suffered in childhood and adolescence of these women drove them to be abusers in adult life and could have been a predictive marker for their conduct disorders and subsequent criminal behavior.