Women's Pathways to Methamphetamine Dependence and Incarceration

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the mechanism by which certain groups of women developed a methamphetamine addiction and ended up incarcerated. The subjects are 202 female inmates incarcerated for violating the Stimulant Drug Control Law shortly before their release from Japanese penal institutions between January and May 2016. Estimation by structural equation model indicates that higher self-esteem is less likely to be associated with developing depression, and depression is more likely to be correlated with drug addiction. However, we find that the influences of the victimization experiences during childhood or adulthood are not significant for this group of female inmates. These results align with the more recent finding by Carbone-Lopez & Miller (2012) and Smith (2017). We discuss the implication of the result.