Convicted women's trajectories of community and financial adversity and race

Purpose

To identify heterogeneity in the development of high-crime neighborhood exposure and financial adversity among justice-involved women and test for racial/ethnic disparities in patterns of change and continuity.

Methods

Data were from 402 women interviewed repeatedly over several years after a felony conviction. Group based trajectory modeling identified developmental subgroups differing in high-crime neighborhood exposure and patterns of financial adversity. Multinomial logistic regression examined racial/ethnic differences in trajectory group assignment for each outcome. Dual trajectory analysis tested for overlap between assignment to the high-crime neighborhood trajectory and financial adversity groups.

Results

Three-group models were identified for both the financial adversity and high-crime neighborhood exposure outcomes. Racially/ethnically minoritized participants were at higher risk of assignment to trajectory groups characterized by elevated and chronic levels of high-crime neighborhood exposure and financial adversity. Following a high and chronic pattern of financial adversity was associated with increased risk for high and chronic exposure to high crime neighborhoods.

Conclusions

For many justice-involved women, especially racial/ethnic minorities, high crime neighborhood exposure and financial adversity are chronic. There is a need to reconsider justice policies that impose costs of conviction, for example high bail and fees, since such policies can exacerbate exposure to criminogenic contexts and circumstances.