Girls Incarcerated: A Textual and Visual Analysis of the Portrayal of Recidivism and Rehabilitation by Reality Television Participants

This study investigated the portrayal of rehabilitation and recidivism on the Netflix reality show Girls Incarcerated: Young and Locked Up as well as the portrayal of rehabilitation and recidivism on the Instagram accounts of eight of the girls who participated in the reality show. In doing so, this study sought to answer how rehabilitation and recidivism were portrayed and to address the morality of involving members of vulnerable populations (i.e. children, incarcerated, members of ethnic minorities) to participate in a reality television show during their rehabilitation.