ABSTRACT
Summary: The prevalence of mental disorders in people deprived of freedom has been estimated at between 10 and 15%. Acute or chronic mental illnesses provoke a major breakdown and maladjustment to prison conditions. The more frequent diagnose of mental disorders have been substance consumption, major depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychotic disorders. Objective To identify the frequency of major depressive episode in women in prison in Mexico City, its frequency of association with alcohol and substance dependence, and to describe the symptomatic and socio-demographic characteristics. Material and method A transversal, non-experimental, descriptive, ex post facto field study, in two prisons of Mexico City (Centro Preventivo Femenil Oriente [Preventivo Oriente] and the Feminine Center for Social Readaptation Tepepan CERESO), in a non- probabilistic sample of 213 women, selected by convenience. The instrument was designed ex profeso. For the evaluation of the major depressive episode, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and DSM-IV criteria were used for substance dependence. Field work lasted from August 2001 to March 2004. Interviews were carried out under previous informed consent; confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed. In collaboration with the Center of Orientation and Classification (COC), each center elaborated a list of inmates with a history of substance abuse who met the inclusion criteria to take part in the research. Results The mean age of the interviewed population was 30.6 ± 7.9 years; 45.5% belonged to the age group between 28 to 40 years; the school attainment more frequent was elementary school (41.3%), followed by secondary school. Single women represented 48.6% of the population and 50.2% referred having, at the moment of the interview, a partner relationship. The type of offense reported with major frequency was robbery (51.6%, in different modalities: unspecific, simple, aggravated, not-aggravated, unspecific, burglary, tentative of robbery and car theft). The researched population referred that 43.7% had previously done time in some penal institution. The frequency of depressive episodes was 62% (n=132) in the interviewed population. The group between 18 to 27 years, with lower years of schooling, single mothers with children under 18 years presented the highest frequency of depression and substance abuse. Alcohol dependence and depression were more frequent in women with less than six months in prison. For depression and substance dependence, the more affected group was the one between one to four years of imprisonment. As to the length of the sentence, women with three to seven years were the most affected by the two diagnoses. Conclusions The interviewed population showed that the longer the imprisonment or the sentence, the higher the frequency of the depressive disorder. A possible explanation is that being imprisoned for a long time may have severe consequences in women's well-being due in part to the fact that in most of the cases women are abandoned by their relatives and loved ones, which intern increases their loss of social support networks. The problem of mental disorders becomes more evident when it is estimated that only 40% of the people who have a disorder had received treatment. Nearly half of the depressed women had not received support and care for their mental health problem. In the group of women with alcohol dependence, less than a quarter had asked for help, in contrast with the group with substance dependence where half of the women had asked for help. On the other hand, prison by itself generates depression and it is a normal reaction in the face of the new situation. There is also the erroneous belief that symptoms will fade away by themselves. In other studies it has been observed that being deprived of freedom causes the lose of emotional relationships, solitude and boredom, lack of services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, security, a problematic cohabitation with other unpredictable prisoners, all of which cause fear and anxiety. All these deprivations may constitute serious threats to the personality and self-esteem.
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ABSTRACT
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Abstract: Violence against women is an everyday problem which is expressed in various ways, whether physically, sexually or emotionally, and it may occur at either public or private level. The subject of violence against women has been regarded as a worldwide priority, since it obstructs every area of women's development. Society has acknowledged the fact that this violence "prevents the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace and that it violates, reduces or prevents (women's) enjoyment of human rights and fundamental liberties. A recent report by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Center for Health and Gender Equity shows that at least one out of every three women has been physically mistreated, forced to engage in sexual relations or suffered some type of abuse in the course of their lives. In Mexico as in other countries, violent behavior has been regarded as "natural" in relation to the way how to treat women; norms and everyday life have kept it hidden. Epidemiological surveys, however, show figures that reflect the scope of the problem, which in turn has meant that it is now considered as a serious health problem. Consequently, approaching the issue of intra-familial violence compels one to consider a characteristic cultural aspect: the questionable fact of referring to its existence solely within the private sphere. It is felt that what goes on inside a home is an intimate affair and that outsiders should not be aware of this, far less intervene. The same happens when one discusses the violence experienced by women living in prison, since they often continue to experience violence or abuse when they receive their conjugal visits; or else at the hands of other prisoners or from the institute itself and no-one seems willing to intervene. Women living in a penitentiary environment designed essentially for men, occupy a secondary position and are marginalized as regards planned work, cultural, sports, and recreational programs, partly due to the fact that the prison population is thought to be primarily male (1990 to 1994 reports). As Barquín notes, most women in prison experienced violence from their parents or witnessed their mothers being mistreated, and therefore became used to this type of behavior and more tolerant of it. This does not mean that these experiences should be regarded as the reason why women commit a crime or the main cause why they were admitted to the penal system. The cycle of violence that begins in the family is perpetuated in marriage and would appear to be completed in prisons, recommencing when women are released from prison. Being deprived of freedom as a result of imprisonment, together with the abuse that take place in jail appear to be a further link in the chain of multiple types of violence which constitute the path for some part of this population. Human Rights Watch is an organization that has undertaken specialized research in prisons since 1987 and in its 1988 report points out that Venezuelan prisons housed a total population of 25381 individuals, 4% of which were women. This same source reported that drug-related crimes led to a 55% increase in the jail population. In 1991, the percentage of female prisoners held in US state prisons for violent crimes was 32.2%, although that the majority had been imprisoned for non-violent crimes. Donzinger points out that the majority of women prisoners that had been sentenced for the murder of someone close to them had been victims of mistreatment or sexual abuse at some time in their lives, and thus violence against women should become an important issue for the authorities, as it is one of the most outstanding problems that reflects the current situation of the living conditions in prison centers. Given the importance that has violence against women in general, and the lack of statistical indicators on the issue of women in prison, the main objective of this paper was to describe the types of physical violence exercised by the partners of 213 women, interviewed at a Preventive Center and at Social Re-adaptation Center, in order to determine the scope of the problem and to propose intervention strategies. A non-probabilistic sample of 213 women, selected for reasons of convenience, was used. A specially designed instrument was used, consisting of a semi-structured interview with 242 questions, covering the following areas of the lives of the women interviewed: demographic data, school history, current family, family of origin, legal status, previous history of imprisonment, work experience, social networks depression, suicide risk, anguish, alcohol consumption variables, alcohol consumption measurement, variables for measuring the use of medical and non-medical drugs, scale of motives for consumption, treatment barriers, intimate relationships and sexuality, sexual abuse, violence/victimization, criminal violence, post-traumatic stress, prison environment, general health, and life styles and impulsiveness. The most important demographic characteristics of women found were: most were in the group aged from 28 to 40 year (45.5%), had six years or less of schooling (41.3%), secondary school (36.2%) and high school or technical college (16.4%) and were single (48.6%) or living with their partners (21.6%) while 50.7% had children under the age of 18. Of the 213 women interviewed, only 161 reported having suffered violence at the hands of their partners; 29.2% had experienced 1 to 5 acts, 23.4% had experienced 6 to 10, and 23.4% had been the object of 11 to 17 acts of violence. Statistics presented in this article in various research studies on family violence in most countries only show a small part of all the violence produced in families, and the results found in this research show that violence is higher among the group of female prisoners. One should not forget that prison reflects an exercise of the system that performs a marginalizing function, as it includes the poorest women from the most disadvantaged sectors, with low educational level. As Lima suggests, women are doubly stigmatized in prison, as they suffer first as women and second as criminals, not only because they belong to an underprivileged group in every social aspect, but because they belong to the group that has violated the classic image of women imposed by society, a fact for which they are severely punished, while the violence and abuse they have suffered is ignored.