Substance Use Patterns of Women Offenders across
Ethnocultural Groups
Research Highlights: Indigenous and White women were more likely to have substance use issues and a higher proportion indicated a link between their substance use and offending.
Why we did this study
The women federal offender population decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, although the proportion of Indigenous women continued to rise to almost 50%. Black women accounted for 3% of federal women offenders while 9% were from other ethnocultural groups.Footnote 1 Substance use continued to be a salient criminogenic need for women offenders; however, little is known about the substance use patterns for women across various ethnocultural groups.
Publication
RIB-23-18
2023
Research in Brief - PDF
Substance Use Patterns of Women Offenders across Ethnocultural Groups
What we did
Women's pre-incarceration substance use patterns are assessed at admission to federal custody using the Women's Computerized Assessment of Substance Abuse (W-CASA). Between June 2010 and December 2021, 3,579 women were assessed. Substance use indicators were compared across White, Indigenous, Black, and all other ethnocultural groups.
What we found
Indigenous women were more likely than the other groups to have an identified substance use issue
(96% versus 49% to 81%, see Table). Black women were least likely to have a moderate to severe substance use issue (13% versus 28% to 78%).
Examination of lifetime substance use patterns indicate that at least three-quarters of all women report having ever drank alcohol; however the proportions indicating ever using drugs differed across groups (29% of Black women to 89% of Indigenous women, see Table). A greater proportion of Indigenous (75%) and White (53%) women indicated a link between their substance use and criminal offending.
Substances used in the 12 months prior to arrest varied across ethnocultural group. Indigenous women were most likely to indicate alcohol, opioid or central nervous system (CNS) stimulant use. White women were most likely to indicate alcohol, opioids, and cocaine/crack use. About half of women in the other ethnocultural group did not use, but about one-third indicated alcohol use. For Black women, almost two-thirds did not use, with one-quarter indicating alcohol use. History of injection drug use (IDU) and poly-substance were most common among Indigenous and White women, as was substance use during pregnancy.
| Characteristic | Ethnocultural Groups (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White (N = 1,834) |
Indigenous (N = 1,170) |
Black (N = 253) |
Other Groups (N = 322) |
|
| Overall Substance Use Severity | ||||
| None | 19.4 | 4.2 | 51.4 | 39.1 |
| Low | 24.5 | 17.7 | 35.6 | 33.2 |
| Moderate to Severe | 56.1 | 78.1 | 13.0 | 27.7 |
| Ever drank | 92.1 | 96.6 | 78.3 | 78.3 |
| Ever used drugs | 75.6 | 89.2 | 29.3 | 48.1 |
| Link between substance use and offending | 53.4 | 75.2 | 11.5 | 30.1 |
| Substance Used Most-12 months prior arrest | ||||
| Alcohol | 31.7 | 49.0 | 26.1 | 30.8 |
| Opioids | 13.2 | 11.7 | 2.4 | 5.3 |
| Cocaine/Crack | 10.6 | 8.0 | 3.6 | 5.9 |
| CNS Stimulants | 10.3 | 10.1 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Cannabis | 6.7 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 6.8 |
| CNS Depressants | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Other drugs | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Did not use | 25.9 | 13.9 | 62.1 | 46.6 |
| History of Injection Drug Use | 28.3 | 44.3 | 4.7 | 11.5 |
| Poly-substance use | 47.7 | 66.5 | 11.9 | 27.3 |
| Used during pregnancy (among women with prior pregnancies) | 22.2 | 35.5 | 7.7 | 12.1 |
What it means
Women's substance use patterns differ across ethnocultural groups, which may have implications for the provision of in-custody substance use interventions and drug interdiction practices.
For more information
For questions and/or more information, please email the Research Branch. You can also visit the Research Publications section for a full list of reports and one-page summaries.
Prepared by: Shanna Farrell MacDonald & Sarah Cram
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