(PS4-34) Justice Involvement and Posttraumatic Stress Among Women of Color Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence.

Abstract Text:

Objective: Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), including physical, sexual, and psychological violence, aggression, and/or stalking is a critical social and public health concern that disproportionately affects Women of Color (WoC). IPV exposure may increase the occurrence of a range of lasting adverse psychological, physical and health outcomes including elevated rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and increased engagement in risky substance use behaviors and increased contact with the criminal justice system. This secondary data analysis explored PTSD symptom severity and justice involvement/offense typologies among WoC experiencing IPV and use substances.

Methods: Participants were 103 WoC currently experiencing IPV and using substances (Mage=40.39, 51.5% Black) who were recruited from the community.

Results: Most of the sample reported an arrest history (56.7%; M = 3.72 arrests, SD = 6.02) and history of criminal charges (66.3%; M = 6.90 charges, SD = 14.85). Participants reported violent offenses (34%), property offenses (44.7%), public order offenses (37.9%), parole and probation violations (28.2%), drug charges (25.2%), and other offenses (4.9%). 46.9% reported that the charges resulted in convictions with a mean average of 2.08 convictions (SD = 3.83). 36.3% reported that they had been incarcerated at some point during their lifetimes with a mean average of 7.64 months incarcerated (SD = 22.86). The mean average PTSD symptom severity score in the sample was 33.78 (SD = 22.61), and 45.6% of the sample met for probable PTSD. Implications: Findings underscore the importance of development and validation of psychodiagnostics and forensic assessments encompassing a range of static and dynamic gender and race/ethnicity related factors. Likewise, development of interventions and assessments should consider the impact of systems which uphold institutional racism.