Original article Offenders Who Are Mothers with and without Experience in Prostitution: Differences in Historical Trauma, Current Stressors, and Physical and Mental Health Differences Tasha R. Perdue, MSW a , Celia Williamson, PhD a , Lois A. Ventura, PhD a , Tiffany R. Hairston, MA, PC, LICDC a , La Tasha C. Osborne, MSEd, LPC a , John M. Laux, PhD a, * , Jeff L. Moe, PhD b , Paula J. Dupuy, EdD a , Barbaranne J. Benjamin, PhD c , Eric G. Lambert, PhD d , Jane A. Cox, PhD, PCC-S e , Vincent M. Nathan, JD f a University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio b University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria, Texas c Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio d Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan e Kent State University, Kent, Ohio f Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio Article history: Received 8 June 2010; Received in revised form 12 July 2011; Accepted 10 August 2011 abstract Background: Women offenders are a growing population in the criminal justice system; most are mothers. A subset of these women have a history of prostitution. Despite more recent research identifying the needs of women offenders who are mothers, those with and without experience in prostitution are still generally represented in the literature as a homogenous group. Methods: This study examined the differences between mothers who indicated that they had engaged in prostitution with those who had not. The data were from a survey of offending mothers in a Midwestern city and was based on 889 respondents. Approximately 20% of the women indicated that they had engaged in prostitution at some point in their lives. Findings: Mothers with histories of prostitution reported more exposure to violence, witnessing crime, living in areas with high drug activity, and having a higher rate of physical and mental health problems. Conclusions: Health care professionals who interact with mothers in the criminal justice system who have histories of prostitution should be careful to assess for a history of trauma and its psychological consequences. Along with increased health care needs, interventions are needed to help these women obtain basic needs such as stable housing outside of high crime and high drug-use areas and to receive targeted psychological services that respond to the unique trauma suffered by this subpopulation of offenders. Copyright Ó 2012 by the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. Introduction Women represent a dramatically increasing demographic group among criminal justice offenders in the United States. Although male offenders still outnumber female offenders, the rate of criminal convictions for women has increased by 800% over the past three decades, twice the increase compared to the conviction rate for men (Women’s Prison Association, 2009). According to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (Glaze, 2010), approximately 112,000 women were incarcerated during 2008. Incarcerated women generally report extensive histories of Supported by Grant No. 2005-DD-BX-1066 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the United State Department of Justice. * Correspondence to: John M. Laux, PhD, MS 119, 2801 W. Bancroft, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606. E-mail address: John.Laux@UToledo.Edu (J.M. Laux). www.whijournal.com 1049-3867/$ - see front matter Copyright Ó 2012 by the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.whi.2011.08.010 Women's Health Issues 22-2 (2012) e195–e200