Exploration of Family and School Factors Among Young Women of Color to Reduce Disproportionality in the Juvenile Justice System

Background: In 2019, Justice-Involved Young Women (JIYW) accounted for 31% of all juvenile crime (OJJDP, 2020).Although there has been increased attention given to study justice-involved young women, a specific focus on Black and Hispanic young women is lacking despite their overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system nationally (Kerig, 2018). This need is further illustrated given increases in youth arrests and commitment to juvenile institutions among Black and Hispanic youth, as the overall trends among white youth decreases (Rovner, 2016; Stevens & Morash, 2015; OJJDP,2019). The pathways of offending for young women; maltreatment, caregiver transitions, sexual abuse, running away from home, older male peers, and early pubertal timing (Baglivio et al., 2013;Leve et al., 2015).These effects are exacerbated for Black young women due to the individual-and community-level influence of race-related historical trauma and their intersectional identities(Morris, 2016). Lately, there is an increased interest in gender- responsive research, including identifying risk and protective factors, and indicators of health and well-being among diverse groups of young women, that can positively interrupt their pathways to offending (Ehrmann et al.,2019; Kalu et al., 2020; Logan-Greene et al., 2018; Quinn et al., 2020; Walker et al., 2015). This study seeks to explore and gain an empirical understanding of the family and school risk factors associated with criminal risk among JIYW, with a comparison between Hispanic and Black young women.

Methods: Cross-sectional data (n=365) were collected from a sample of young women adjudicated by a probation department over two years from 2017 to 2019. This data was collected through the Positive Achievement Change Tool, 126- item self- report risk assessment tool used to assess the criminal and social risk and protective factors. Seven measures of family and school factors were selected based on prior literature. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted for this study.

Results: After controlling for age, this model (Family incarceration history, Running away from home, School suspension or expulsion, Abuse, Neglect and Special education need) emerged as significant predictors of criminal risk (p= <.001). However, only Family incarceration (β = .159, p < .05), and Special education needs (learning, behavioral or ADHD/ADD) (β = .163, p < .05) were predictive of higher levels of criminal risk for Black young women. Only Running away from home (β = .216, p < .05) was predictive for Hispanic young women.

Conclusions and implications: There are significant implications for the social work practice including assessment, prevention, policy and practice. The assessment, prevention and intervention with young women should be gender and culturally responsive in addressing family and school factors that impact diverse young women. Additionally, it is critical to use racial and social justice-oriented lenses and recognize racial differences between risk factors, which could prompt the development of additional support systems to support the health and well-bring of young women of color. This is the first step towards addressing disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system and achieving racial justice in the long run.