260596 Influence of male partner incarceration on black women's substance use trajectories: A longitudinal qualitative study

Monday, October 29, 2012

Claire Clark, MA, MPH/PhD candidate , Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Venita Embry , Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Bethany Caruso, MPH , Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Terrika Barham, MPH , Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Hannah LF Cooper, ScD, SM , Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Background: The United States is in the midst of a period of mass incarceration, the health effects of which have recently become the subject of research. This study is among the first to investigate how the loss of an intimate partner to incarceration affects patterns of substance use among Black women.

Methods: This longitudinal, qualitative study traces the substance use patterns and pathways to recovery that emerged among 15 Black women with substance use histories following the loss of an intimate partner to incarceration. Using grounded theory to analyze 4 waves of interview data collected over an 11-month period, the study investigates how the chronological process of a partner's “progress” through the criminal justice system— from arrest, to holding in jail, to prison sentencing, to eventual re-entry—impacts women's perceptions of the severity of their substance use.

Results: Preliminary findings reveal that women may be subjected to stress from decreased access to their substances of choice, increased financial burdens and parental responsibilities, housing shifts, and uncertainty about their ongoing relationships with incarcerated partners. The availability of social and instrumental support influenced whether partner incarceration served as 1) an intervention that altered women's perception of their substance use 2) an impetus to enter addiction treatment 3) a stressor contributing to increased substance use.

Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest the need for mental health interventions for this population and present a new line of research into the particular health effects that the 30-year rise in incarceration has at the individual and societal levels.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify health-related consequences of mass incarceration for Black women with incarcerated partners 2. Describe processes by which male partner incarceration influences the substance use patterns of Black women 3. Demonstrate how interview-based qualitative methods can be used to explore social and behavioral processes over the course of an 11-month time period.

Keywords: Incarceration, Out-of-Treatment Drug Users

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a research assistant on this NIDA-funded study, I conducted analysis and wrote preliminary results.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.