Personal Social Networks of Women with Justice-Involvement in Substance Use Treatment

Abstract

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a key common correlate of criminal offending among women, yet few studies have explored their personal network characteristics, limiting our understanding of the social context in which justice-involved women with SUD are embedded. The present study interviewed 375 women with SUD, including 299 (80%) women with a history of justice involvement, from three county-funded, women-only intensive treatment programs in the Midwest United States. No difference was observed in multiple personal social network indicators including composition, relationship quality, support availability, and structure, suggesting that these two populations may be more similar than they are distinct.

Keywords:

• Personal social network
• network composition and support
• network structure
• women with justice-involvement
• substance use disorder

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors report no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under grant (R01DA022994).