Risk factors for Women & the Criminal Justice System
For one of my online summer classes, I learned a lot about women and the criminal justice system and some of the unjustness that they face. Risk factors for female delinquency begins at a young age. These risk factors include a poor family relationship, history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, poor school performance, negative relationships with peers and issues with substance abuse. Once a girl becomes involved within the juvenile justice system, her delinquency can cause her family to become detached from her. It is shown that girls who are incarcerated are less likely to receive support from their family compared to boys, which can lead to depression and a sense of a lack of support. The history of abuse that the girl has been faced with, which is more commonly found in girls than boys, also plays a big part within her development. Abuse may cause behavior issues such as running away, trust issues, emotional issues, and more. To reduce the risk factors that exist for girls, I think there should be more places where these girls can be comfortable and feel like they are understood. Many of these young girls do not have someone to go to to talk about their issues at hand, and they feel like they have no one to turn to. There needs to be a place where they will not be judged, and they will be cared for and a plan will be taken in place and followed to reduce the hardship that these girls could be trapped in. And that place starts with a strong encouraging base. There should be a light shown on this topic. We should stop turning a blind eye to this issue, and focus on finding ways where we can help our fellow community members.
