Gender differences in criminal justice system involvement and associations with post-deployment factors among Post-9/11 veterans.

BACKGROUND

Veterans are overrepresented in the United States criminal justice system, yet limited research has examined how mental health, substance use, and psychosocial factors intersect to shape involvement in the justice system-particularly across gender. As the population of women veterans grows, understanding gender-based differences in criminal justice involvement is critical to developing targeted, patient-centered interventions.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 1,360 post-9/11 veterans (Mage = 37.49; 51.3% women) to examine gender-specific associations between individual and co-occurring factors and criminal justice involvement. Justice involvement was defined as being arrested and charged with a crime after deployment, which was measured through self-report.

RESULTS

Overall, 15.0% of veterans reported post-deployment justice involvement (11.3% of women and 18.7% of men). Several factors were related to higher likelihood of post-deployment justice involvement in both groups (i.e., younger age, provisional alcohol use disorder diagnosis) while others were only related in one group (e.g., problematic anger among women; history of homelessness among men).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings underscore the importance of integrated, gender-responsive approaches to reduce justice involvement among veterans. Public health and criminal justice system interventions should address overlapping domains of need, including mental health, housing instability, and substance use, while tailoring strategies to gender-specific risk profiles.