Social Media Usage and Incarcerated Women: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore social media usage among incarcerated women in a modified therapeutic community. An author-developed social media questionnaire was administered to 89 incarcerated women. Participants reported high levels of social media usage, and many had used social media to engage in criminal behavior. Although most of the women identified seeing pictures of friends actively using substances on social media as a trigger for relapse, they still planned to reactive their social media accounts upon release. The role and power of social media in these women’s lives must be understood and planned for in prison-based treatment programs