The Needs and Experiences of Justice-Involved Young Women

The dissertation includes three studies with a focused analysis on the needs and experiences of Justice-Involved Young Women (JIYW). The first two studies utilize a cross sectional data collected from the Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) (n=365). The first study, “How are they different? An exploration of family and school factors among post-adjudicated young women” explores the associations between family and school factors, and their relationship to criminal risk among JIYW using multiple regression analyses. After controlling for age, the model (Family incarceration history, Running away from home, School suspension or expulsion, Abuse, Neglect and a Special learning need) emerged as significant predictors of criminal risk (p= <.001). However, only family incarceration and special education needs (learning, behavioral or ADHD/ADD) were predictive of higher levels of criminal risk for Black JIYW, while running away from home was predictive for Hispanic JIYW. The second study, “Risk and protective factors among post-adjudicated young women with high criminal risk: An exploratory cross-sectional analysis” explores the risk and protective correlates of criminal risk among JIYW with high risk using an exploratory model building method with logistic regression analyses. The results revealed that young women with high criminal risk were more likely to have had a history of mental health problems, a history of running away from home, and were younger in age, based on the best model selected (χ2 = 51.904, df = 8, p<.001). The third study, “They see me as a bad kid”: Public School and Correctional Educational Experiences on the Self-perception of Justice-Involved Young Women” utilized a secondary dataset (n=14) to examine the self-perceptions of a sample of 10 JIYW, two probation officers and two correctional teachers from a youth correctional facility. A qualitative thematic analysis using Symbolic Interactionism and Institutional Embeddedness revealed three themes, (1) " I would pay attention and I would still get them wrong and feel stupid ", (2) I'm making straight As for the first time", and (3) "They see us as bad kids". All three studies elucidate unique experiences, across risk level and race/ethnicity, which calls for gender-specific, culturally sensitive and trauma-informed intervention for JIYW.