The overall goal of this study is to understand how drug use and criminality are related to health disparities, particularly HIV, and service utilization among African American drug using and non-drug using women across criminal justice status. While drug use is similar across racial groups in the US, African Americans are disproportionately more likely to experience severe health consequences and criminal involvement as a result of drug misuse. Adequate health care may not be received by African American female offenders because they experience the burden of their race, class, gender, and criminal offender status. There is limited scientific data to help understand the linkages between health disparities such as HIV, untreated drug abuse, barriers to service utilization, and status as a criminal offender among African American females. This study is significant because of its potential to identify differences in health disparities and service utilization among African American drug using and non-drug using women in selected levels of criminal justice status (intensive correctional supervision-prison (n=200), moderate correctional supervision-jail (n=200), community supervision-probation (n=200), and no criminal justice involvement (n=200)). All 800 African American females will be followed longitudinally for three 6-month intervals to examine health status and the use of health services across time.
The specific aims are: (1) To describe the prevalence of health problems among African American women across criminal justice status and drug use status;(2) To determine the cultural, predisposing, historical health, and potential enabling factors that are predictors of health problems among African American drug using and non-drug using women across criminal justice status over 18 months;(3) To describe the prevalence of untreated health problems, the patterns of health services utilization, and the cultural barriers to service utilization among African American women across criminal justice status and drug use status;and (4) To examine the factors that predict the likelihood of using health services among African American drug using and non-drug using women across criminal justice status over 18 months. The significance of this study includes the potential to provide criminal justice systems-level data for health planning and health policy for prevention, intervention, and treatment of African American female drug users. This study is significant to the public health field because of its potential to understand the severity of health disparities among African American women across criminal justice status and drug use status and to predict health status and the use of health services over time. This knowledge of African American females can be used as a foundation for future criminal justice systems-level interventions to increase the use of preventative health care and subsequently reduce the need for expensive medical services, as well as to decrease HIV risk behaviors including drug use, unprotected sex, and recidivism.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA022967-02
Application #
7600531
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSCH)
Program Officer
Jones, Dionne
Project Start
2008-04-01
Project End
2013-01-31
Budget Start
2009-02-01
Budget End
2010-01-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$573,161
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Kentucky
Department
Social Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
939017877
City
Lexington
State
KY
Country
United States
Zip Code
40506
Harp, Kathi L H; Oser, Carrie B (2018) A longitudinal analysis of the impact of child custody loss on drug use and crime among a sample of African American mothers. Child Abuse Negl 77:1-12
Pullen, Erin; Oser, Carrie (2017) Disadvantaged Status and Health Matters Networks among Low-Income African American Women. Soc Sci (Basel) 6:
Oser, Carrie B; Pullen, Erin; Stevens-Watkins, Danelle et al. (2017) African American women and sexually transmitted infections: The contextual influence of unbalanced sex ratios and individual risk behaviors. J Drug Issues 47:543-561
Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Knighton, Joi-Sheree'; Allen, Kristin et al. (2016) John Henryism Active Coping as a Cultural Correlate of Substance Abuse Treatment Participation Among African American Women. J Subst Abuse Treat 63:54-60
Harp, Kathi L H; Oser, Carrie B (2016) Factors associated with two types of child custody loss among a sample of African American mothers: A novel approach. Soc Sci Res 60:283-296
Vinson, Ebony S; Oser, Carrie B (2016) Risk and Protective Factors for Suicidal Ideation in African American Women With a History of Sexual Violence as a Minor. Violence Against Women :
Oser, Carrie B; Bunting, Amanda M; Pullen, Erin et al. (2016) African American Female Offender's Use of Alternative and Traditional Health Services After Re-Entry: Examining the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations. J Health Care Poor Underserved 27:120-48
Luke, David J; Oser, Carrie B (2015) Ebony and Ivory? Interracial dating intentions and behaviors of disadvantaged African American women in Kentucky. Soc Sci Res 53:338-50
Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Sharma, Sakshi; Knighton, Joi Sheree' et al. (2014) Examining Cultural Correlates of Active Coping Among African American Female Trauma Survivors. Psychol Trauma 6:328-336
Pullen, Erin; Perry, Brea; Oser, Carrie (2014) African American women's preventative care usage: the role of social support and racial experiences and attitudes. Sociol Health Illn 36:1037-53

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