Self-reported demographic characteristics of women who participated in a peer health mentoring program for up to 3 days after their release from a correctional centre in British Columbia
| Characteristic | No. (%) of women |
|---|---|
| Self-identified Indigenous identity (n = 172) | |
| Indigenous | 92 (54) |
| First Nations | 71 (41) |
| Métis | 16 (9) |
| Inuit | 4 (2) |
| Don’t know | 1 (1) |
| Not Indigenous | 77 (44) |
| Don’t know | 2 (1) |
| Missing data | 1 (1) |
| Demographic data (n = 66)* | |
| Age, yr | |
| 16–30 | 19 (29) |
| 31–50 | 43 (65) |
| 51–70 | 2 (3) |
| Missing data | 2 (3) |
| Sexual orientation | |
| Straight/heterosexual | 54 (82) |
| LGBTQ2+ | 10 (15) |
| Prefer not to say | 2 (3) |
| Marital status | |
| Married | 1 (2) |
| Divorced | 2 (3) |
| Common-law | 6 (9) |
| Single, never married | 46 (70) |
| Widowed | 5 (8) |
| Separated | 6 (9) |
| Highest educational attainment | |
| Grade 8 or lower | 7 (11) |
| Grade 9–10 | 26 (39) |
| Grade 11–13 | 17 (26) |
| Some postsecondary | 12 (18) |
| Don’t know/prefer not to say/missing | 4 (6) |
| Homeless at time of intake interview | 16 (24) |
| Source of support† | |
| Accessing social assistance/disability at time of intake interview | 57 (86) |
| Wages and salaries | 1 (2) |
| Under the table income | 1 (2) |
| Nonlegitimate source of income | 1 (2) |
| Parental support | 1 (2) |
| Other | 3 (4) |
| Don’t know | 3 (4) |
| Prefer not to say | 1 (2) |
| Have children | 53 (80) |
| Children < 18 yr | 46 (70) |
| Incarceration history (n = 66) | |
| Age at first conviction, yr | |
| ≤ 18 | 29 (44) |
| 19–30 | 23 (35) |
| 31–50 | 7 (11) |
| Missing data | 7 (11) |
| Type of offence on record | |
| Violence | 27 (41) |
| Property | 40 (61) |
| Drugs | 22 (33) |
| Administrative | 18 (27) |
| Time served (most recent incarceration), d | |
| Average | 115 |
| Median | 45 |
| Range | 0–1095 |
| First time in custody‡ | 5 (8) |
| On parole at time of intake | 4 (6) |
| On probation at time of intake | 54 (82) |
| No. of years incarcerated over lifetime | |
| < 1 | 20 (30) |
| 1–2 | 20 (30) |
| 2–5 | 16 (24) |
| 5–10 | 6 (9) |
| 10–15 | 2 (3) |
| 15–20 | 2 (3) |
↵* Collection of demographic data began in July 2016; therefore, demographic data are not available for women who participated from March 2013 to June 2016 inclusive.
↵† Respondents could select more than 1 answer. One woman reported being employed at the time of intake.
↵‡ Among the 61 women who reported that it was not their first time in custody, responses regarding how many times they had previously been in custody included “too many to count,” “lots,” “many,” “countless” and “don’t know.”
The number of times in provincial custody ranged from 2 to 50 (average 6.7, median 4.5). Seven women reported having been previously incarcerated in a federal facility.