Abstract
Researchers have suggested that interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic relationships, may influence women's attempts at substance abuse recovery and community re-entry after criminal justice system involvement. The present paper evaluates relational and power theories to conceptualize the influence of romantic partner and romantic relationship qualities on pathways in and out of substance abuse and crime. The paper then combines these conceptualizations with a complementary empirical analysis to describe an ongoing research project that longitudinally investigates these relational and power-driven factors on women's substance abuse recovery and community re-entry success among former substance abusing, recently criminally involved women. This paper is designed to encourage the integration of theory and empirical analysis by detailing how each of these concepts is operationalized and measured. Future research and clinical implications are also discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 409-421 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Gender Studies |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 15 2014 |
Funding
Lisa C. Walt, Ph.D., is an Experimental Health and Social Psychologist and is currently employed as the Project Director of a large NIH (Center for Minority Health & Minority Health Disparities) funded grant. This project investigates the difficulties of women with criminal backgrounds and substance abuse histories face when re-entering the community. Her expertise and interests lie in the investigation and assessment of the interaction of social cognitive, self-regulatory, and interpersonal factors related to the development and progression of chronic illness (substance abuse, heart disease, HIV, and diabetes), as well as the creation of interventions aimed at addressing these issues to promote positive health outcomes.
Keywords
- interpersonal relationships
- power
- substance abuse recovery
- women
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Gender Studies
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
