According to the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy, “The set of challenges that girls often face as they enter the juvenile justice system include trauma, violence, neglect, mental and physical problems, family conflict, pregnancy, residential and academic instability, and school failure.” And as “Girls, Interrupted” underscores, schools often fail to support girls both in the juvenile justice system and after their release. But educators can build their capacity to support at-risk girls with gender-responsive strategies. Consult the list of resources below to expand your own capacity to effectively and equitably serve at-risk girls.
Essential Questions
- What factors contribute to girls’ entry and reentry into the juvenile justice system?
- What strategies can educators use to help prevent girls’ entry and re-entry into the juvenile justice system?
Procedure
This list of resources can help build your awareness of the issues facing girls in the juvenile justice system. Reference them for your own professional development, share them with your colleagues or create a reading group or task force to build in-school expertise around these issues. Note that each resource includes a “Try Tomorrow” idea that can help you make your practice more gender responsive right away.
Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected
African American Policy Forum, Center for Intersectionality and Policy Studies, 2015
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw with Priscilla Ocen and Jyoti Nanda
Summary: This study, based on data collected in Boston and New York City during the 2011–12 school year, analyzes over-disciplining, suspension and expulsion from school and placement in the juvenile justice system among black girls. Disaggregated data reveal inequality of treatment in terms of both race and gender.
The study also presents interviews with at-risk young women and other stakeholders, which describe frustration with ineffective schools, harassment by school safety officers and fellow students, limited options for getting help and unequally applied disciplinary policies.
Try Tomorrow: The “What Girls Know” section (pages 26–40) of Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected serves as an excellent jumping-off point for discussions with your students.
Study: Black Girls Are Being Pushed Out of School
National Public Radio: CodeSwitch, 2015
Karen Grigsby Bates
Summary: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, author of Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected (described above), explains the implications of the study. And importantly, she notes, “The first and most important thing we can all do is to recognize that there is a problem. All too often, girls are ignored because their challenges aren’t thought to be as serious as those faced by boys.”
Try Tomorrow: Examine the statistics for suspension and expulsion in your school district, disaggregated by race and gender. Which groups are most at risk? What can be changed to better support these students?
PACE Embracing the Needs of Girls, Looks to Expand Beyond Florida
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 2014
Stell Simonton
Summary: A 2008 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation describes the PACE Center for Girls as “the most effective program in the nation for keeping adolescent girls out of the juvenile justice system.” This article, published six years later, describes PACE’s methods and an ongoing assessment of the program’s effectiveness.
Try Tomorrow: Make a list of five things educators can do to meet the needs of at-risk girls. Start each item with a verb, for example, “Recognize that the ways in which trauma manifests in girls typically differs from how trauma manifests in boys.”
Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity
National Women’s Law Center and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 2014
Summary: This report states, ““We urge educators, school leaders, community leaders and members … to take action to advance the success of African American girls, complementing the important ongoing work to improve educational outcomes for boys and men of color.” To help implement the message expressed in this statement, Unlocking Opportunity offers an assessment on how various stakeholders—including educators—can take steps to address racial and economic inequities that systematically disadvantage and harm African-African girls and build more equitable educational opportunities for them.
Try Tomorrow: Drawing from the research and recommendations in Unlocking Opportunity, come up with a list of five action-based steps you can take to build equitable educational opportunities for African-American girls in your school and district.
Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls: Lessons From the States
Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy, October 2012
Liz Watson and Peter Edelman
Summary: Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls: Lessons from the States includes a brief history of efforts to reform the juvenile justice system for girls and three case studies—Connecticut, Florida, and Stanislaus County, California. It succinctly summarizes the problem: “Girls make up a growing percentage of the juvenile justice population, and a significant body of research and practice shows that their needs are not being met by a juvenile justice system that was designed for boys.”
Try Tomorrow: Choose one of the case studies found on pages 7–23. Then, compare the reform efforts in that jurisdiction with what’s currently being done in your county or state.
Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
American Bar Association, Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division magazine, April/May 2008
Paula Schaefer
Summary: This article provides a straightforward overview of the needs of girls in the juvenile justice system and best practices to support them. Of particular relevance to educators is the list of recommendations under the “Girls First” section. These include listening to girls without questioning their authenticity, actively demonstrating that you care and acknowledging their strengths and skills.
Try Tomorrow: If you had an opportunity to speak to a judge or lawyer about the issues raised in “Girls in the Juvenile Justice System,” what would you want to tell them? What information or advice would you want to glean from your conversation?
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