DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36986.v1
title: Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole, Michigan, 2011-2013
title: Version 1

description: 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
description: 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.
description: 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).
description: 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.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole, Michigan, 2011-2013
description: Women with felony convictions, histories of substance abuse problems, and living in Michigan.
description: face-to-face interview