On the Outside Looking In: Rural Girls, Trauma, and Involvement in the Criminal Justice System

ABSTRACT

Complex trauma histories represent a common characteristic among incarcerated girls. Their childhoods include dysfunctional homes, emotional abuse, sexual and/or physical abuse, and witnessing of violence. Such conditions represent coercive sexual environments (CSEs), a socio-spatial phenomenon that supports continued abuse of girls. CSE studies emerge from urban studies; none has addressed such passages in rural areas. The current study takes place in a primarily rural state, exploring structural and cultural markers of CSEs in rural communities. In-depth interviews with de-identified incarcerated girls and women, as well as with community stakeholders, provide insight into these patterns in non-urban areas. Results confirm three pathways to prison based on resources, culture, and outsider status, all of which propel at-risk rural girls into an abuse-to-prison pipeline.

KEYWORDS:

• Trauma
• abuse-to-prison pipeline
• juvenile girls
• rural

Disclosure of Interest

Authors April Terry and L. Susan Williams declare that they have no conflicts to report.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.