Latina and African‐American Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Needs, Problems, and Solutions

Abstract

This review focuses on Latina and African‐American girls in the juvenile justice system with a special emphasis on their mental health, substance abuse, and treatment needs. Like many young women in the juvenile justice system, Latina and African‐American girls often have histories of neglect, abuse, and trauma, which contribute to later mental health and substance abuse issues. Despite these histories, juvenile justice professionals sometimes rely on stereotypes rooted in cultural deficit thinking to explain Latina and African‐American girls' delinquency. Relying on gendered, racialized, and classed stereotypes and assumptions can result in decisions that negatively impact Latina and African‐American girls' access to mental health, substance abuse, and other types of treatment. Policy and practice implications for better addressing the needs of Latina and African‐American girls are discussed.

Latinx Youth in First Contact with the Justice System: Trauma and Associated Behavioral Health Needs

“…Very few studies have examined Latinx females and their involvement with the JJS. Lopez and Nuño 18 have written on how Latinx females in the justice system represent a large and heterogeneous population, and because of this, drawing parallels across studies is challenging. Of the few studies that have examined justice involved females by ethnicity and race, Latinx females have shown more severe rates of self-reported physical abuse along with subsequent PTSD.…”

Assessing Traumatic Experiences of Justice-Involved Latinx Youth A Systematic Review

“…Gender differences of justice-involved youth has been a research focus (Lopez & Nuño, 2016). Latinx girls involved in the justice system are on the rise as one fourth of all Latinx arrests are female (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2016).…”

“…Latinx girls involved in the justice system are on the rise as one fourth of all Latinx arrests are female (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2016). However, there has been limited research on justice-involved Latinx females (Lopez & Nuño, 2016). Many justice-involved girls have trauma histories with resulting unmet behavioral health needs (Belenko et al, 2004).…”

“…earlier onset of drug use and more polysubstance use (Racz et al, 2015) than for White and Black males. Justice-involved Latinx females have been shown to have more severe psychiatric symptoms than their White and Black counterparts (Lopez & Nuño, 2016) and heavier substance use than their Black and White counterparts (Abram et al, 2015).…”

“…The existence of gender differences among justice-involved youth is well understood (Lopez & Nuño, 2016). Latinx males and females have been documented to differ in terms of their arrest rates, offense types, psychiatric symptoms, and substance use (Lopez & Nuño, 2016).…”