Abstract
Objective
Given incarcerated women's lack of access to contraception prior to, during, and post-incarceration
and concerns of potential reproductive coercion in correctional settings, the objective
was to explore incarcerated women's perspective of making provider-controlled methods
of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) available in an U.S. urban jail.
Study design
Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, we explored contraceptive use and method
choice prior to and after incarceration among women detained in a U.S. urban jail.
Focus group discussions primarily focused on incarcerated women's perceptions of LARC.
Results
In the 30 days prior to arrest, 28 of 116 women (24%) were using a non-barrier contraceptive
method. Methods of LARC were used the least, and the majority (n = 74, 64%) were not interested in initiating LARC in jail. Concern about the potential
side effects of LARC was the main reason for disinterest followed by distrust in correctional
health care staffs’ qualifications. Study participants did not reference coercion
as a concern.
Conclusions
Apprehension about the training of health care providers and cleanliness of the detention
facility outweighed participants’ concerns regarding autonomy restrictions associated
with provider-controlled methods of LARC. Despite limited interest in initiating LARC
use while incarcerated, participants supported making all forms of contraception more
accessible in jail settings.
Implications
Understanding incarcerated women's reproductive and contraceptive desires, including
their perceptions of LARC, will help improve the provision of equitable reproductive
health care in correctional settings. Our findings highlight the importance of contextual
factors in determining women's willingness to access contraceptive care in carceral
settings, if available.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to ContraceptionAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Crime in the United States, 2019 (Table 33).Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, Washington, DC: U.S2020 (https://www.ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/tables/table-33/table-33.xls. [accessed June 18, 2021])
- Jail inmates 2018.Bureau of Justice Statistics, District of Columbia2020
- Predicting who reoffends: the neglected role of neighborhood context in recidivism studies.Criminology. 2006; 44: 165-197
- A feminist call for transforming the criminal justice system.Affilia. 2017; 32: 37-49
- Reproductive justice, health disparities and incarcerated women in the United States.Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2015; 47: 213-219
- Pregnancy attitudes and contraceptive plans among women entering jail.Women Health. 2006; 43: 111-130
- Highly effective birth control use before and after women's incarceration.J Womens Health. 2015; 24: 530-539
- Contraceptive use among barriers to access among newly arrested women.J Correct Health Care. 2012; 18: 111-119
- Contraceptive needs among newly incarcerated women in a county jail in the United States.Int J Prison Health. 2018; (just-accepted)00-00
- The influence of stress on the menstrual cycle among newly incarcerated women.Womens Health Issues. 2007; 17: 202-209
- What women want: a qualitative study of contraception in jail.Am J Public Health. 2015; 105: 2269-2274
- Killing the black body: race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty.Pantheon Books, New York1997
- Judge promises reduced jail time if Tennessee inmates get vasectomies.NPR. 2017; ([accessed July 21, 2020])
- Judge promises reduced jail time if Tennessee inmates get vasectomies.NPR. 2017; ([accessed January 10, 2019])
- Defining quality in contraceptive counseling to improve measurement of individuals' experiences and enable service delivery improvement.Contraception. 2017; 96: 133-137
- Expanding contraceptive access for women with substance use disorders: partnerships between public health departments and county jails.J Public Health Manag Pract. 2019; 25: 229-237
Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DSPCS). DSPCS average daily population-FY 2016 annual. 2016. http://dpscs.maryland.gov/publicinfo/publications/pdfs/research/AverageDailyPopulationFY2016.pdf [accessed January 9, 2019].
- Research electronic data capture (REDCap)–a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support.J Biomed Inform. 2009; 42: 377-381
- Standards for healthcare in jail.NCCHC, Chicago2018
- Female prison inmates sterilized legally, California audit confirms.Reveal. 2014; ([accessed January 10, 2019])
- Women or LARC first? Reproductive autonomy and the promotion of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods.Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2014; 46: 171-175
- Contraception services for incarcerated women: a national survey of correctional health providers.Contraception. 2009; 80: 561-565
- Motivational interviewing with computer assistance as an intervention to empower women to make contraceptive choices while incarcerated: study protocol for randomized controlled trial.Trials. 2012; 13: 101
- Family planning services for incarcerated women: models for filling an unmet need.Int J Prison Health. 2017; 13: 10-18
- Incarcerated women's perceptions of a reproductive life-planning class: a qualitative study.Women Crim Justice. 2020; 30: 188-203
- Reproductive health care for incarcerated women and adolescent females: committee opinion no. 535.Obstet Gynecol. 2012; 120: 425-429
- Does a two-visit protocol for long-acting reversible contraception differentially impact socioeconomically disadvantaged women?.Contraception. 2016; 94: 413
- Sterilized in the name of public health: race, immigration, and reproductive control in modern California.Am J Public Health. 2005; 95: 1128-1138
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In for a penny: the rise of America's new debtors’ prisons. https://www.aclu.org/report/penny-rise-americas-new-debtors-prisons [accessed January 9, 2019].
Wagner P, Sawyer W. Mass incarceration: the whole pie 2018. The Prison Policy Initiative. 2018. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/factsheets/pie2018.pdf [accessed December 12, 2018].
- Long-acting reversible contraceptives for incarcerated women: feasibility and safety of on-site provision.Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2015; 47: 203-211
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 13, 2021
Accepted:
August 2,
2021
Received in revised form:
August 1,
2021
Received:
September 6,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
