The Role of Transportation Disadvantage for Women on Community Supervision

• NCJ Number: 251971
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 43 Issue: 11 Dated: 2016 Pages: 1522-1540
• Author(s): Miriam N. Bohmert
• Date Published: 2016
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-IJ-CX-0041
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole

Annotation

Since access to transportation (i.e., walking, public transit, personal vehicles), or lack thereof, has not been extensively explored in criminal justice samples, the current mixed-methods study of 366 women on probation and parole is the first to define transportation disadvantage, document its prevalence, and explore the problems related to it.

Abstract

Based on quantitative data analysis and buttressed by qualitative accounts, findings point to four themes that show the importance of transportation to justice-involved women. First, women have extensive transportation deficits at the individual level (e.g., they have poor physical health). Second, women rely heavily on social support. Third, women have deficits at the community level (e.g., they reside in inaccessible areas). Fourth, women have trouble identifying transportation-related problems directly, but through their narratives identified 10 distinct types. Further, transportation was a pressing concern for 42.6 percent of women due to other needs, such as health, safety, employment, neighborhood accessibility, and social support. (Publisher abstract modified)