New Publication Shows Substance Use and Mental Disorders Increase Risk of Reoffending Among Women Released from Prison

In a new publication in Scientific Reports, Vegard Svendsen and co-authors investigated the link between substance use disorders, mental illness, and recidivism in a large, national study. The study followed all women released from Norwegian prisons between 2011 and 2019 for a period of two years post-release. The article shows that women with both severe mental illness and substance use disorders, or those with multiple different substance use disorders, have a higher risk of reoffending after their release.

The researchers linked data from a study on formerly incarcerated individuals with data from various national health and crime registries. By controlling for other known risk factors, they examined the risk of violent crime, drug-related crime, and other types of offenses among women with different types of mental and substance use disorders. They compared these groups to a reference group of women with no such history.

The results clearly showed that women who had both a severe mental illness and a substance use disorder, women with substance use disorders combined with other mental illnesses, and women with multiple different substance use disorders all had a significantly higher risk of committing both violent and drug-related offenses post-release.

In contrast, women with only a severe mental illness had an increased risk for other types of crime, but not necessarily for violent or drug-related offenses.

The study concludes that women with a history of severe mental illness or complex substance use disorders have an increased vulnerability to relapsing into criminal behavior after incarceration. This underscores the importance of robust follow-up and tailored support for this group, both during and after their sentences, to reduce the risk of recidivism.

Citation: Vegard G. Svendsen, Marianne R. Stavseth, Torbjørn Skardhamar, Ingrid A. Havnes, Anne Bukten. ”Substance use disorders, severe mental illness and risk of reoffending among women released from prison: a national cohort study”. Scientific Reports (2025), Vol. 15, Issue 1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00215-y