System-involved Girls Research Articles

Profiles of Risk for Self-injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Among System-Impacted Girls of Color

Suicide is a leading cause of death among youth in custodial settings. Prior research investigating risk factors for suicide among system-impacted youth fail to incorporate an intersectional framework to contextualize suicide risk among system-impacted girls of color. Profiles of risk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) were investigated in a sample of 240 racially and ethnically diverse system-impacted girls (mean [SD] age= 14.5 [1.7] years, Hispanic/Latinx 49.6%, Black 37.1%). Participants completed self-report measures evaluating traditional risk factors for suicide (mental health symptoms, trauma exposure) as well as assessments of minority stress (eg, daily discrimination) and recent engagement in SITBs at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Latent profile analysis revealed 3 distinct profiles: low-risk, characterized by relatively low levels of suicide risk indicators (n= 102); high-risk internalizing, characterized by elevations in internalizing symptom indicators (n= 96); and high-risk comorbid, characterized by relatively high levels of suicide risk indicators (n= 42). Girls in the high-risk profiles reported more SITBs at baseline and 3-month follow-up than girls in the low-risk profile. Results suggest that indicators of suicide risk can be used to classify system-impacted girls into profiles that differ concurrently and prospectively on SITBs. Findings could be used to inform more accurate risk and referral assessments for system-impacted girls of color, whose SITB-related challenges may be overlooked or framed as criminal. These findings highlight the continued need for assessments evaluating multiple indicators of risk for SITBs in the juvenile legal system. System-impacted girls of color represent an understudied subset of youth at elevated risk for engagement in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs). This study investigated profiles of risk for SITBs in a sample of 240 racially and ethnically diverse system-impacted girls of color (mean age = 14.5 years) utilizing frequently studied factors associated with SITBs, including mental health symptoms and trauma experiences along with understudied risk factors such as minority stress. The authors found that three distinct profiles of risk for SITBs: "Low-Risk," characterized by relatively low levels of suicide risk indicators (n = 102); "High-Risk Internalizing," distinguished by elevations in internalizing symptoms (n = 96); and "High-Risk Comorbid," defined by relatively high levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms (n = 42). Participants in both high-risk groups had high levels of trauma, minority stress, and were more likely to identify as a member of a sexually minoritized group. We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. We actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our author group.

Persistent Paternalism: The Instantiation of Gendered Attributions in the System Response to Girls.

Prior research suggests that the juvenile legal system does too little to address the sources and underlying reasons for girls' court referrals. Drawing on attribution theories, the current study examined perspectives that characterize the response of the system to girls' behaviors. Data from this study were derived from a multimethod, qualitative study on system-involved girls. We find that court actors hold gendered attributions of girls' delinquency, in turn informing their decision-making about how to treat and sanction girls. Paternalism remains a persistent feature in how the system locates, defines, and responds to girls through varying gendered attributions. The findings lend further support to attribution perspectives that suggest implicit gender-biases influence court actor decision-making, exacerbating the challenges girls face in and out of the juvenile legal system. By extension, this study offers concrete policy and practice implications for systems change and improving its response to girls.

(In)Effectiveness of In-Home Detention Tethers to Reduce Recidivism for System-Involved Girls

In-home detention tethers are an intermediate, correctional sanction that have become popular alternatives to detention or incarceration. However, there is limited research on whether in-home detention tethers reduce recidivism among juvenile legal system involved girls. The current quasi-experimental study examines recidivism outcomes among adjudicated girls who received the intervention compared to a matched comparison group of girls. Recidivism rates were analyzed following completion of the intervention. In-home detention tethers were not found to be an effective method to reduce recidivism among girls.

Starting With Girls and Their Resilience in Mind: Reconsidering Risk/Needs Assessments for System-Involved Girls

Despite the numerous differences between boys and girls in the juvenile justice system, there are currently no gender-responsive risk/needs assessments for system-impacted girls, thereby limiting agencies to the use of gender-neutral risk/needs assessments. This article examines commonly used gender-neutral risk/needs assessments and illustrates how these instruments are not truly “neutral.” We argue that predictive validity is not enough to demonstrate effectiveness; these tools can harm and possibly discriminate against girls by placing them in similarly labeled risk categories (i.e., high, medium, low) as boys, despite engaging in less delinquency. This practice of force-fitting girls to assessments primarily developed for boys results in over- and misclassification of girls’ risk and fails to capture their gendered needs and resilience. We see this as an opportunity to reconsider risk assessments altogether for girls and propose a resilience/needs assessment may be better suited to identify girls’ needs and predict future behavior.

Factor structure of the critical consciousness scale in juvenile legal system-involved boys and girls.

The Critical Consciousness Scale (CCS) is a recently developed and validated measure for use with low-income, diverse adolescents. However, research on the psychometric properties of this scale with juvenile legal system-involved youth is lacking. This study examines the psychometric properties of the critical reflection subscales of the CCS in a cross-sectional sample of 206 youth (48% girls) involved in the juvenile legal system to investigate (a) the factor structure of the critical reflection subscales of the CCS compared to existing adolescent samples, and (b) the extent to which critical reflection demonstrates measurement equivalence between boys and girls. Findings indicate (a) congruence with the previous literature on critical reflection but for system-involved girls, and (b) a difference in the structural relationships between perceived inequality and egalitarianism by gender. This study contributes to the nascent, psychometric literature on measures of critical consciousness in an underrepresented and unique adolescent population.

Conducting Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Through a Healing-Informed Approach with System-Involved Latinas

Latina girls are disproportionately represented in the US juvenile justice system (Freiburger and Burke 2011). Almost all girls involved with juvenile justice report some form of emotional, physical or sexual abuse prior to interactions with the juvenile justice system; with over 60% of girls reporting trauma before the age of 5 (Dierkhising et al. 2013). For Latina girls, juvenile detention is associated with early death as Latina girls who have been detained are nine times more likely to die by the age of 29 than the general non-detained population (Teplin et al. 2014). The stark reality faced by system-involved Latinas calls for innovative solutions. In 2015, the National Compadres Network (NCN), with over 30 years of work embedded in the Chicano/Latino and Indigenous communities in California, developed a project to respond to the disparities in the juvenile justice system faced by Latina girls. Through this project, the NCN used a healing-informed curriculum (Xinachtli) and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to engage Latina system-involved girls as equal partners to inform detention alternatives and reform. This paper will describe these efforts, provide insights from the YPAR facilitators and youth researchers, and provide recommendations for other community-based facilitators who are considering utilizing YPAR through a healing-informed approach within their own work with Latina girls.

Good Girls: Gender-Specific Interventions in Juvenile Court

In the juvenile legal system, many jurisdictions are adopting interventions that target girls for specialized treatment. The proliferation of so-called Girls Courts—or specialty courts designed to address the specific challenges faced by system-involved girl—is one such intervention. Girls Court rejects gender-blindness in the juvenile justice system in order to address the unique needs of system-involved girls. This Article enlists Critical Race Feminism to argue that, although well intentioned, these gender-specific juvenile courts enlist harmful gender stereotypes to guide girls towards an antiquated and hegemonic form of femininity. By examining the underlying assumptions that drive Girls Court, this Article assesses the line between gender-consciousness and gender stereotyping and critiques the role of law in entrenching harmful notions about what “good girls” ought to be. Lifting ideologies from problem-solving courts, Girls Court purports to serve the most at-risk girls, with some jurisdictions placing special emphasis on holistic intervention for child victims of sexual exploitation. Girls Court targets girls, mostly girls of color, for enhanced scrutiny and surveillance. Although heightened services are needed for girls battling intersecting forms of oppression, this Article argues that Girls Court exemplifies important limitations to gender-specific reform. While the court’s approach rightly acknowledges the role of gender in shaping outcomes for young people, it also targets girls for intrusive and punitive methods of social control. Girls Court funnels girls towards a very specific notion of girlhood—one centered in white, middle-class notions of femininity. Through criminalization, an emphasis on sexual purity, and a desire to instill obedience, Girls Court advances certain subordinating stereotypes about girls, particularly girls of color. At its core, this Article argues for an increased duty of care when it comes to programming for girls. It urges a careful examination of all the messages we send, and the values we promote, when we target young girls for intervention.

Juvenile Court Practitioners’ Construction of and Response to Sex Trafficking of Justice System Involved Girls

ABSTRACTThe commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a growing domestic health and policy concern. Exploited girls may be at heightened risk for entering the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs of CSEC victims and resources available for system-involved girls. The data from this study included semistructured interviews, case discussions, and residential placement meeting observations with juvenile justice personnel. Findings revealed labeling issues related to (1) how court workers construct female victims of CSEC through exploitation myths, (2) the importance of trauma history and relational contexts, and (3) system-level barriers. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

Trauma among lesbians and bisexual girls in the juvenile justice system.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or questioning (LGBTQ) youth are at particularly pronounced risk for experiencing trauma, and trauma appears to increase the risk for juvenile justice system involvement. While it is well documented that LGBTQ youth experience significantly higher rates of trauma and sexual orientation violence than do their heterosexual counterparts, the interconnectedness of trauma, delinquency, and sexual-minority status among teenage girls has not been well studied. In addition, the juvenile justice system is ill equipped to deal with LGBTQ youth, underequipped for addressing issues related to trauma, and may inflict further trauma through homophobia among staff and sexual majority peers. Given (a) the pronounced trauma-related treatment need among juvenile offending girls, and (b) the lack of research focused on sexual-minority girls in the justice system, this review will focus on recent trauma research involving juvenile justice system-involved and lesbian and bisexual girls. The authors review current trends and practices and make recommendations for how to improve services and treatment for justice system-involved girls.

Teaching to Make a Difference

This article addresses college classes as forums for activism. One course brought college students together with system-involved girls for a mentoring program to provide often-unavailable, relationship-oriented services to girls. A second course provided a unique educational experience for incarcerated youth and traditional college students to study restorative justice. As such, the course itself was an attempt to practice restorative justice principles by strengthening the damaged relationship between offenders and the community. Data collected from participants allow for an exploration of the experiences, perceptions, and changes in attitudes and beliefs. Further discussion on linking activism and teaching is presented.

Mentoring girls in juvenile facilities: Connecting college students with incarcerated girls*

This paper describes a course offered over the past two summers (2000 and 2001) in the Sociology/Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The course brought college students together with system-involved girls for an eight-week mentoring program. The development and a description of the course are presented, along with the rationale for providing this type of relationally-oriented program to girls. Based primarily on analyses of student papers, there is an exploration of the experiences, perceptions, and changes in attitudes and beliefs of the student mentors. The goal of the course was to provide enriching educational experiences for the students and to provide beneficial and often unavailable services to girls involved in the juvenile justice system. This assessment shows that the course was successful in achieving those outcomes and highlights the key components of a positive and productive relationship between mentor and mentee. This process analysis demonstrates the successes and problems and issues faced in the implementation of such a course.