Gender-based violence in the pathways of incarcerated women in Spain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7179/PSRI_2025.47.10Keywords:
Incarcerated women, prisons, gender-based violence, victimization, socio-educational interventionAbstract
Gender-based violence is a phenomenon with a significant incidence among the female prison population. Scientific literature has demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences and victimization in adulthood are two of the main catalysts for female delinquency. This study, which follows a quantitative, non-experimental, and descriptive design, aims to identify the prevalence of gender-based violence in a sample of 376 incarcerated women in Spain and to analyze its relationship with various sociodemographic and criminological variables. To this end, we used quantitative data obtained from multiple questions of a questionnaire designed for women inmates in prison. The results indicate a high percentage of women who have been victimized by their partners, as well as significant associations between this variable and their educational level, having been in foster care as minors, substance use-related health issues, the type of offense for which they were incarcerated, and having suffered child maltreatment. We conclude with the need to expand the available literature on this issue in Spain and to incorporate a gender-sensitive approach in prison practices, promoting the development of specific socio-educational programs for female inmates that address the interplay between victimization, trauma, and substance abuse. Implementing such strategies would not only facilitate the comprehensive care of incarcerated women but also contribute to their social reintegration processes and reduce the risk of future revictimizations.
Downloads
References
Abajobir, A. A., Kisely, S., Williams, G. M., Clavarino, A. M. y Najman, J. M. (2017). Substantiated Childhood Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in Young Adulthood: A Birth Cohort Study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 165-179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0558-3
Adler, F. (1975). Sisters in Crime. McGraw-Hill.
Ahmadabadi, Z., Najman, J. M., Williams, G. M., Clavarino, A. M., d’Abbs, P. y Smirnov, A. (2019). Intimate partner violence in emerging adulthood and subsequent substance use disorders: findings from a longitudinal study. Addiction, 114(7), 1264-1273. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14592
Almeda, E. (2003). Mujeres encarceladas. Ariel.
Añaños-Bedriñana, F. T. (2010). Mujeres presas y su relación con las drogas. Implicaciones desde la Educación Social. En F. T. Añaños-Bedriñana (Coord.), Las mujeres en las prisiones. La Educación Social en contextos de riesgo y conflicto (pp. 77-100). Editorial Gedisa.
Añaños-Bedriñana, F. T., Melendro, M. y Raya, R. (2019). Mujeres jóvenes con medidas de protección y judiciales y sus tránsitos hacia la prisión. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 77(273), 333-350. https://doi.org/10.22550/rep77-2-2019-05
Añaños-Bedriñana, F. T. y Yagüe, C. (2013). Educación social en prisiones. Planteamientos iniciales y políticas encaminadas hacia la reinserción desde la perspectiva de género. Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, 22, 75-98. https://doi.org/10.7179/PSRI_2013.22.06
Ataiants, J., Mazzella, S., Roth, A. M., Robinson, L. F., Sell, R. L. y Lankenau, S. E. (2020). Multiple Victimizations and Overdose Among Women With a History of Illicit Drug Use. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(3-4), NP1588- NP1613. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520927501
Ball, B., Hoefer, S., Ding, X., Sevillano, L. y Faulkner, M. (2023). Promoting Healthy Relationships in Foster Care—“If I Had Seen What a Healthy Relationship Looks Like, that Would Have Changed My Perspective”. Violence Against Women, 29(14), 2824-2847. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231199106
Barlow, C. (2016). Coercion and women co-offenders. A gendered pathway into crime. Policy Press.
Belknap, J. (2014). The Invisible Woman. Gender, Crime and Justice (4.ª ed.). Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Blanchette, K. y Brown, S. L. (2006). The Assessment and Treatment of Women Offenders: An Integrative Perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
Bloom, B. E., Owen, B. y Covington, S. (2003). Gender responsive strategies: Research, practice, and guiding principles for women offenders. United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections. https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/018017.pdf
Brennan, T., Breitenbach, M., Dieterich, W., Salisbury, E. J. y Van Voorhis, P. (2012). Women’s Pathways to Serious and Habitual Crime. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(11), 1481-1508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812456777
Broidy, L. M., Payne, J. y Piquero, A. R. (2018). Making Sense of Heterogeneity in the Influence of Childhood Abuse, Mental Health, and Drug Use on Women’s Offending Pathways. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(10), 1565-1587. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818776687
Brown, S. L., Wanamaker, K. A., Greiner, L., Scott, T. y Skilling, T. A. (2021). Complex Trauma and Criminogenic Needs in a Youth Justice Sample: A Gender-Informed Latent Profile Analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 48(2), 175- 194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820964513
Cafferky, B. M., Mendez, M., Anderson, J. R. y Stith, S. M. (2018). Substance use and intimate partner violence: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of Violence, 8(1), 110-131. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000074
Caravaca-Sánchez, F., Vidovic, K. R., Fearn, N. E. y Vaughn, M. G. (2022). Incarcerated Women in Spain: The Salience of Traumatic Exposure. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(11-12), NP10126-NP10147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520985483
Caravaca-Sánchez, F. y Wolff, N. (2016). Prevalence and Predictors of Sexual Victimization Among Incarcerated Men and Women in Spanish Prisons. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 43(8), 977-991. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816656895
Carlen, P. (Ed.). (1985). Criminal Women: Autobiographical Accounts. Polity Press.
Cecil, D. K. (2006). Ceguera de género. La falta de consideración de las delincuentes femeninas por parte de la Criminología. En F. Bueno, J. L. Guzmán, y A. Serrano (Coords.), Derecho penal y Criminología como fundamento de la Política criminal. Estudios en homenaje al Profesor Alonso Serrano Gómez (pp. 171-183). Editorial Dykinson.
Cernkovich, S. A., Lanctôt, N. y Giordano, P. C. (2008). Predicting Adolescent and Adult Antisocial Behavior Among Adjudicated Delinquent Females. Crime & Delinquency, 54(1), 3-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128706294395
Chesney-Lind, M. (1989). Girls’ Crime and Women’s Place: Toward a Feminist Model of Female Delinquency. Crime and Delinquency, 35(1), 5-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128789035001002
Chesney-Lind, M. y Pasko, L. J. (2013). The female offender: Girls, Women and Crime (3.ª ed.). SAGE Publications.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2.ª ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Coolidge, F. L., Marle, P. D., Van Horn, S. A. y Segal, D. L. (2011). Clinical Syndromes, Personality Disorders, and Neurocognitive Differences in Male and Female Inmates. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 29(5), 741-751. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.997
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 8(1), 139-167. http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Cruells, M. e Igareda, N. (Coords.). (2005). Mujeres, integración y prisión. Aurea Editores.
Cyrus, E., Sanchez, J., Madhivanan, P., Lama, J. R., Bazo, A. C., Valencia, J., Leon, S. R., Villaran, M., Vagenas, P., Sciaudone, M., Vu, D., Coudray, M. S. y Atice, F. L. (2021). Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence, Substance Use Disorders and Depression among Incarcerated Women in Lima, Perú. Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111134
Daly, K. (1992). Women’s pathways to felony court: Feminist theories of lawbreaking and problems of representation. Southern California Review of Law and Women’s Studies, 2, 11-52.
Damonti, P. (2019). Exclusión social como factor de riesgo de violencia de género en la pareja. Papers. Revista de Sociologia, 104(3), 485-523. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/papers.2570
DeHart, D. D. (2018). Women’s Pathways to Crime: A Heuristic Typology of Offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(10), 1461-1482. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818782568
De Miguel, E. (2014). Encarcelamiento de mujeres. El castigo penitenciario de la exclusión social y la desigualdad de género. ZERBITZUAN, 56, 75-86. https://doi.org/10.5569/1134-7147.56.05
Favril, L., Yu, R., Hawton, K. y Fazel, S. (2020). Risk factors for self-harm in prison: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(8), 682-691. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30190-5
Fazel, S., Hayes, A. J., Bartellas, K., Clerici, M. y Trestman, R. (2016). The mental health of prisoners: a review of prevalence, adverse outcomes and interventions. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(9), 871-881. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S2215-0366(16)30142-0
Fazel, S., Yoon, I. A. y Hayes, A. J. (2017). Substance use disorders in prisoners: an updated systematic review and meta-regression analysis in recently incarcerated men and women. Addiction, 112(10), 1725-1739. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13877
Fernández-Iglesias, A. (2017). Relaciones de pareja en mujeres presas. Violencia: tipos, consecuencias y aceptación. En F. T. Añaños-Bedriñana (Dir.), En prisión. Realidades e intervención socioeducativa y drogodependencias en mujeres (pp. 105-119). Narcea Ediciones.
Field, A. P. (2018). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (5.ª ed.). Sage.
Gelsthorpe, L. (2020). What works with women offenders? An English and Welsh perspective. En P. Ugwudike, H. Graham, F. McNeill, P. Raynor, F. S. Taxman y C. Trotter (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Rehabilitative Work in Criminal Justice (pp. 622-632). Routledge.
Heidensohn, F. M. (1968). The deviance of women: a critique and an enquiry. The British Journal of Sociology, 19(2), 160-175.
Jones, M. S., Peck, B. M., Sharp, S. F. y McLeod, D. A. (2021). Childhood adversity and intimate partner violence in adulthood: The mediating influence of PTSD in a sample of women prisoners. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(15-16), NP8590-NP8614. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519844277
Jonson-Reid, M., Scott Jr., L. D., McMillen, J. C. y Edmond, T. (2007). Dating violence among emancipating foster youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 29(5), 557-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.12.008
Katz, C. C., Okpych, N. J., Charles, P., Wall, E. y Courtney, M. E. (2023). Prevalence and Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among Youth with Foster Care Histories. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(19-20), 10611-10639. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231175910
Klest, B. (2012). Childhood trauma, poverty, and adult victimization. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(3), 245-251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024468
Leonard, E. B. (1982). Women, crime, and society: A critique of theoretical criminology. Longman.
Leone, J. M. y Beeble, M. L. (2024). Incarcerated Women’s Strategic Responses to Intimate Terrorism. Journal of Family Violence, 39, 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00400-x
Li, S., Zhao, F. y Yu, G. (2019). Childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence victimization: A meta-analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 88, 212-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.012
Lorenzo-Moledo, M. (2002). La delincuencia femenina. Psicothema, 14(Supl.), 174-180. http://www.psicothema.com/pdf/3488.pdf
Lynch, S. M., DeHart, D. D., Belknap, J. E., Green, B. L., Dass-Brailsford, P., Johnson, K. A. y Whalley, E. (2014). A Multisite Study of the Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness, PTSD, and Substance Use Disorders of Women in Jail. Psychiatric Services, 65(5), 670-674. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300172
Mapelli, B., Herrera, M. y Sordi, B. (2013). La exclusión de las excluidas. ¿Atiende el sistema penitenciario a la necesidad de género?: una visión andaluza. Estudios Penales y Criminológicos, 33, 59-95. https://revistas.usc.gal/index.php/epc/article/view/1340
McKee, S. A. y Hilton, N. Z. (2017). Co-Occurring Substance Use, PTSD, and IPV Victimization: Implications for Female Offender Services. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 20(3), 303-314. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838017708782
McNeeley, S. (2019). Gendered Pathways into Co-Offending Among a Sample of Adult Burglary and Robbery Offenders. Crime & Delinquency, 65(12), 1711-1739. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719871524
Melendro, M. (2017). La infancia y la juventud de las mujeres presas, una referencia clave para la intervención socioeducativa. En F. T. Añaños-Bedriñana (Dir.), En prisión. Realidades e intervención socioeducativa y drogodependencias en mujeres (pp. 90-103). Narcea Ediciones.
Naciones Unidas. (1993). Declaración sobre la eliminación de la violencia contra la mujer. https://www.ohchr.org/es/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-elimination-violence-against-women
Naffine, N. (1987). Female crime. The construction of women in criminology. Allen and Unwin.
Nuytiens, A. y Christiaens, J. (2015). “It all has to do with men”. How abusive romantic relationships impact on female pathways to prison. En C. Kruttschnitt y C. Bijleveld (Eds.), Lives of Incarcerated Women: An international perspective (pp. 32-46). Routledge.
Potter, H. (2013). Intersectional criminology: Interrogating identity and power in criminological research and theory. Critical Criminology, 21(3), 305-318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-013-9203-6
Quiroga-Carrillo, A. (2022). Perspectiva de género e intervención socioeducativa con mujeres en las cárceles españolas [Tesis doctoral, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela]. Minerva, Respositorio Institucional da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30357
Radatz, D. L. y Wright, E. M. (2017). Does Polyvictimization Affect Incarcerated and Non-Incarcerated Adult Women Differently? An Exploration Into Internalizing Problems. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(9), 1379-1400. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515588921
Richie, B. E. (1996). Compelled to Crime: The Gender Entrapment of Battered Black Women. Routledge.
Salisbury, E. J. y Van Voorhis, P. (2009). Gendered Pathways. A Quantitative Investigation of Women Probationers’ Paths to Incarceration. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(6), 541-566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854809334076
Saxena, P., Messina, N. P. y Grella, C. E. (2014). Who Benefits From Gender-Responsive Treatment?: Accounting for Abuse History on Longitudinal Outcomes for Women in Prison. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 41(4), 417-432. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854813514405
Secretaría General de Instituciones Penitenciarias. (2010). Ser mujer.eS. Programa de intervención con mujeres privadas de libertad. Manual para Profesionales. Ministerio del Interior. https://www.institucionpenitenciaria.es/documents/20126/72836/Documento_Penitenciario_9_Ser_Mujer_profesionales.pdf
Secretaría General de Instituciones Penitenciarias. (2021). Datos estadísticos de la población reclusa. Septiembre 2021. Recuperado de https://www.institucionpenitenciaria.es/documents/20126/777158/SEPTIEMBRE+2021.pdf/95f46fe1-6848-04dc-2114-71d81e322218?version=1.0
Simpson, S. S., Yahner, J. L. y Dugan, L. (2008). Understanding women’s pathways to jail: Analysing the lives of incarcerated women. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 41(1), 84-108. https://doi.org/10.1375/acri.41.1.84
Spencer, C. M., Stith, S. M. y Cafferky, B. (2019). Risk markers for physical intimate partner violence victimization: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 44, 8-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.10.009
St. Cyr, S., Jaramillo, E. T., Garrison, L., Malcoe, L. H., Shamblen, S. R. y Willging, C. E. (2021). Intimate Partner Violence and Structural Violence in the Lives of Incarcerated Women: A Mixed-Method Study in Rural New Mexico. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), 6185. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126185
Stone, R. y Rothman, E. F. (2019). Opioid Use and Intimate Partner Violence: a Systematic Review. Current Epidemiology Reports, 6(2), 215-230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40471-019-00197-2
Tyler, N., Miles, H. L., Karadag, B. y Rogers, G. (2019). An updated picture of the mental health needs of male and female prisoners in the UK: prevalence, comorbidity, and gender differences. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 54(9), 1143-1152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01690-1
van Dam, D., Vedel, E., Ehring, T. y Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2012). Psychological treatments for concurrent posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(3), 202-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.01.004
Vives-Cases, C., Gil-González, D., Ruiz-Pérez, I., Escribà-Agüir, V., Plazaola-Castaño, J., Montero-Piñar, M. I. y Torrubiano-Domínguez, J. (2010). Identifying sociodemographic differences in Intimate Partner Violence among immigrant and native women in Spain: A cross-sectional study. Preventive Medicine, 51(1), 85-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.03.017
Widom, C. S., Czaja, S. y Dutton, M. A. (2014), Child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration: A prospective investigation. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 650-663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.11.004
Wright, E. M., Van Voorhis, P., Salisbury, E. J. y Bauman, A. (2012). Gender-Responsive Lessons Learned and Policy Implications for Women in Prison: A review. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(12), 1612-1632. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812451088
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright and right to archive
The published version of the articles can be self-archived by their authors in open access institutional and thematic repositories. However, Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria must authorize partial or global reutilisation on new papers or publications.
Published papers must be cited including the title of the journal Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, issue, pages and year of publication
Ethical responsibilities
Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria does not accept any material that has been previously published in other documents or publications. Authors are responsible for obtaining the required permissions for partial or global reproduction any material from other publications, and to correctly quote its origin.
Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria is obliged to detect and report fraudulent practices.
Only those who have intellectually contribute to the development of the paper must appear as authors.
The journal expects authors to declare any commercial partnership that might entail a conflict of interest with respect to the submitted article.
Authors must mention in the article, preferably in the “methodology” section, that the procedures used during the samplings and controls have been made after getting informed consent.
The journal will not use any received contribution in a way other than the goals described in these guidelines.
Copyright Notice
© Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuniversitaria. Papers published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are property of Pedagogia Social. Revista Interuniversitaria, being required to cite the source in any partial or total reproduction.
Unless otherwise stated, all content of this electronic journal is distributed under "Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial 3.0 Spain" (CC-by-nc) license for use and distribution. The informative version and the legal text of this license is available here. This has to be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
