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29 Women & Crim. Just. 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/wwcj29 and id is 1 raw text is: Women& Criminal Justice, 29: 1-13, 2019 Routledge Copyright C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Taylor&Francis Group ISSN: 0897-4454 print/1541-0323 online DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2017.1389331 Psychotropic Medication Experiences of Incarcerated Women: A Qualitative Inquiry into Conundrums of Access and Identity Rachel C. Casey and Kia J. Bentley School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA The study examines narrative data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 25 women in a medium security prison with the hope of deepening the knowledge base related to women's beliefs about their mental health problems, mental health care during incarceration, and especially their experiences with psychotropic medication. The findings highlight the functional role of psychotro- pic medication in the lives of incarcerated women, while also emphasizing problems with limited access to prescribers, preferred medications, and other forms of mental health treatment. Trauma, substance use, and the impact of medication use on sense of self all emerged as interfacing with quality of life. Keywords access to medication, forensic mental health, incarcerated women, lived experiences with psychotropic medication, psychosocial aspects of psychotropic medication The number of women incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States continues to rise at alarming rates (Glaze & Kaeble, 2014) and research consistently shows these women disproportionately experience mental health challenges (James & Glaze, 2006; Prins, 2014) and use psychotropic medications (Beck & Maruschak, 2001; Langner, Barton, McDonagh, Noel, & Bouchard, 2002). Indeed, psychotropic medication remains the predominant treatment modality in most correctional facilities (Baillargeon, Contreras, Grady, Black, & Murray, 2000). Heavy reliance on psychotropic medication is thought to be due to a lack of resources for alter- native or complementary approaches (Baillargeon et al., 2000; Langner et al., 2002; Wilper et al., 2009). This reality-plus the relatively limited scope of current research-provides a strong rationale for additional inquiry into psychotropic medication use among incarcerated women. Most notably, research to date inadequately gives voice to women's lived experiences related to psychotropic medication use in forensic settings. The present study specifically examines narrative data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews collected in conjunction with a larger quantitative study (see Bentley & Casey, 2017) that attempts to deepen and extend those findings related to women's beliefs about their mental health problems, mental health care dur- ing incarceration, and especially their experiences with psychotropic medication. We sought to address this major gap in the forensic mental health literature and further build a knowledge Correspondence should be sent to Rachel Casey, MSW, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Social Work, 1000 Floyd Avenue, P.O. Box 842027, Richmond, VA 23284, USA. E-mail: caseyrc@vcu.edu

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