Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Louis Favril, Ghent University, Belgium
- Second opponent: Senior Researcher Jacqueline Mallory Cohen, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Tone Kristin Omsland, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Emeritus Pål Zeiner, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Researcher Anne Bukten, University of Oslo
Summary
Women in prison represent a small, highly vulnerable and under-researched minority, often facing complex challenges related to trauma, substance use, and psychiatric disorders.
This thesis, situated within the fields of epidemiology, psychiatry, and quantitative criminology, investigates mental health, reoffending, and mortality among women with a history of incarceration in Norway.
The thesis addresses three primary aims. One, to estimate prevalence and gender differences in psychiatric disorders among incarcerated individuals, and to assess whether the proportion of women entering prison with recent psychiatric diagnoses has changed over time. Second, to examine the association between dual disorders (co-occurring substance use and other psychiatric disorders) and the risk of violent and non-violent reoffending; and third, to investigate causes and burden of death among formerly incarcerated women.
The research is based on the Norwegian Prison Release Study (nPRIS), a registry-based national cohort comprising individual level data on all incarceration episodes in Norway between 2000 and 2022. Quantitative analyses include prevalence estimates, mortality rates and ratios, survival analysis, and regression models.
Key findings show that 75% of incarcerated women had a history of psychiatric disorders, and 38% had dual disorders—both significantly higher than among men. Moreover, the proportion of women entering prison with recent psychiatric diagnoses has increased over time, and dual disorders were strongly associated with increased risk of reoffending. Furthermore, women released from prison had a fivefold higher risk of death compared to age-matched women in the general population, with overdose and non-communicable diseases as leading causes.
These findings highlight the urgent need for gender-sensitive mental health and substance use interventions in correctional settings and underscore the role of prisons in addressing public health disparities.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.