Erin Lucas's First Article Review

Topic: Incarcerated Women

Article Review #1

Lynch, Shannon M. “Seeking Safety: An Intervention for Trauma-Exposed Incarcerated Women?” Journal of Trauma and Dissociation 13 (2012): 88-101. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.

           In Shannon Lynch’s “Seeking Safety: An Intervention for Trauma-Exposed Incarcerated Women,” she discusses a trial program, called Seeking Safety, made for helping incarcerated women with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and those who abuse drugs. The program is meant to be an alternative to corrections programing which focus on substance abuse education or treatment. Her goal is to take this program out of trial and gear it towards widespread use. Lynch believes it is the start of helping many women out of their repeat violent offenses and PTSD symptoms.

           Lynch begins by pointing out major flaws in current correctional programs, namely the lack of focus on PTSD symptoms, and comparing them to Seeking Safety (SS) which focuses on both drug use and PTSD. Before she even mentions any correctional services, Lynch pulls out statistics on what actually causes women to be incarcerated. According to her research, 80% to 98% of female inmates have experienced interpersonal violence (IPV) in their childhood, 22% of which now have PTSD. In contrast, only 12% to 13% of male inmates have exposure to IPV. Yet, they have the same treatment for both sexes. Lynch then moves on to the differences in regular correctional methods and SS. Reportedly, women in SS have greater reduction of PTSD symptoms than those who were waitlisted for the trial.

           The next portion of the article is the methods used to assess the women’s mental health and the setup of the trial. By explaining the full trial, Lynch can easily show the results of the study and prove their accuracy. Plus, the trial can be redone several times to prove the test is both accurate and precise. The addition of the scientific methods behind her results serves her purpose by creating an undeniable base for the implementation of this program. The information is well organized into chronological segments from methods of the program to a full analysis of the results, clearly showing that women who went through Seeking Safety had a significantly higher reductions in PTSD symptoms than those who went through the regular programs.

           Finally, Lynch wraps up the article with an overview of the study and a discussion about further research. Here, she talks about potential bad results based on inmates exchanging answers and information. By pointing out the potential errors, a better study can be done elsewhere. Lynch also gives limitations to the study as it was conducted. This is a way of asking for further trials to properly show how effective Seeking Safety can be. Both of these actions help spread the idea of SS and helps to replicate the positive results she saw with it.

           This article fits perfectly with my blog topic, Incarcerated Women, and my sub topic of mental health because it discusses modern failures of the mental health system as well as discussing better alternatives to help these women. Her focus is of the solution more than of the problem, which differs from the majority of articles we read. McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” focuses on making the problem known and only touch on the solution while Lynch takes the opposite approach, making it a refreshing read. McIntosh’s article needed to be centered on alerting others of some inherent privileges they had, as most of her examples, my favorite of which is as a white person it is a given that I do not speak for all of my race, are never even thought of in a daily scenario. Lynch’s paper is talking about a more well known problem and is speaking to a specialized audience, which makes it possible to focus heavily on a specific solution without defining the problem in much depth.

-Erin Lucas