Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole, Michigan, 2011-2013 (ICPSR 36986)

Version Date: May 29, 2025

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Miriam Northcutt Bohmert, Indiana University

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36986.v1

Version V1

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Summary

This study focused on transportation deprivation in women offenders. For the purpose of exploring transportation disadvantage for women on community supervision, interviews were conducted with 75 women on probation or parole. These interviews focused on women's struggles with transportation and featured questions regarding whether they have driving licenses, have social support, are stressed or unsafe when they travel, and whether transportation problems have impacted supervision violations or recidivism events.

The interviews were used to explore the following themes:

  • Women's insights and experiences about getting from place to place while under supervision
  • Their strategies for increasing transportation resources and access
  • The connections of transportation access to attending required/needed programming and supervision appointments
  • Whether any violations or new offenses resulted from inadequate transportation access

    • Citation

    Northcutt Bohmert, Miriam. Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole, Michigan, 2011-2013. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-05-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36986.v1

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    Funding

    United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2013-IJ-CX-0041), National Science Foundation. Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SES-1323461)

    Subject Terms

    Geographic Coverage

    Restrictions

    Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

    Distributor(s)

    Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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    Time Period(s)

    2013-10-01 -- 2013-11-30

    Date of Collection

    2013-10-01 -- 2013-11-30
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    Study Purpose

    The purpose of the study was to capture women's insights, experiences, and strategies regarding transportation resources and access. This study aimed to gain insight of whether transportation deprivation contributed to failure to attend needed or required programs.

    Study Design

    A cross section subsample of 75 women on probation and parole were selected for the interview. The interview was designed to increase understanding of:

  • The types and intensity of transportation problems women experienced while under supervision
  • Use of additional resources that increased their transportation access
  • Strategies women used to increase transportation access and whether these strategies brought women into conflict with the law (e.g., driving without a license or riding with a friend who has a felony conviction)
  • The contribution of transportation problems to any violations or new offenses

    • To place transportation in context with women's other needs, women were asked over the past five years: whether they could recall three significant events that had occurred; during which months they were institutionalized (times during which transportation was not relevant); during which months they received help from family, friends or social services for transportation, and also for things other than transportation such as food, money, or housing. The use of the life history calendar (Roberts and Horney, 2010) helped women recall events with more accurate timing and allowed the researcher to see whether transportation problems coincided with recidivism or other problems (e.g., lack of food).

    Sample

    A purposive subsample of 75 women were recruited from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Women Offender Study participants who completed the wave three interview (n=379). Three subgroups, of 25 women each, were assembled based on women's responses to Phase I quantitative indicators of transportation resources, access and recidivism using the six months of recidivism data available at that time. The three created subgroups were Transportation Troubled, Transportation Untroubled, and Transportation Strategizers.

    The Transportation Troubled subgroup were chosen because they represented the researchers' expected finding, that women who had low resources would also have low access which would lead to recidivism problems. The Transportation Untroubled subgroup represented those for whom transportation did not appear to be related to recidivism at all; that is, despite low levels of both access and resources, recidivism rates remained low. The Transportation Strategizers subgroup represented women where transportation resources did not appear to be linked to transportation access. They had achieved medium to high levels of access despite low levels of resources. To place women into the three subgroups, based on available quantitative data, women were first rated as low or medium/high in each of three areas: resources, access, and recidivism.

    Users should note that while the 75 women subsample was recruited from the NSF Women Offender Study, no quantitative materials or data is included in this release.

    Time Method

    Cross-sectional

    Universe

    Women with felony convictions, histories of substance abuse problems, and living in Michigan.

    Unit(s) of Observation

    Individual

    Data Type(s)

    Mode of Data Collection

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    Original Release Date

    2025-05-29

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    Notes

    • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

    • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

    NACJD logo

    This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.