Women’s pathways to substance use and offending : qualitative in-depth interviews

There is a well-established connection between substance abuse and offending for both men and women. Further, risk factors that increase likelihood of developing substance abuse and offending are generally thoroughly researched, yet specific female risk factors are under-researched. More research on gender-specific pathways to substance abuse and offending is therefore warranted. Thus, the overall aim of the current study was to explore how Swedish women with a history of substance use and offending describe their lives in terms of what factors they consider having contributed to their life style of substance abuse and crime. First general themes identified through the subjective voices of individuals will be described; second results from in-depth analyses of the material will be discussed. The data consists of ten in-depth qualitative interviews with clients at treatment facilities for substance abuse. In the interviews, they were asked to talk freely about their lives, and their narratives were analyzed using systematic text condensation. The results suggests that 1) the women’s substance abuse is a way of coping with adverse internal and external factors, 2) the women’s relationships to their family, peers, and significant others have been central for their substance abuse and offending, and 3) substance abuse and offending are closely linked. These women’s risk fac- tors for substance abuse and offending occur on different structural levels and in different life stages as will be discussed. A comprehensive view of substance abuse and offending is therefore crucial when attempting to find generative mechanisms