Empowerment: The Resilience of Women in Various Crisis Situations

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

The objectives of the criminal justice system and the experiences of female "clients" notwithstanding - whether as survivors or offenders/perpetrators - once women reach out to or enter the system they often go from being a victim of justice to a victim of injustice. Cruel and unusual punishment is not supposed to exist today; however, one would never know by observing the treatment of women in crisis by bureaucratic structures in most domains of social life (e.g., universities, domestic violence agencies, prisons, and governments). Women's resiliency to their life challenges is not a scarce commodity in which some have it and some do not. Women fight back and resist all the time. There are many roads to surviving, persevering, and thriving if we are prepared to listen and learn from individuals' experiences with suffering and healing. But, there is also a need to establish linkages and coordination between programs and agencies, joint planning, shared resource allocation, and continuity for women clients to move toward empowerment and control of their lives. This session will explore the link between women's issues and criminal justice issues being a part of the same struggle.

Sub Unit

• Area IV. Criminal Justice Policy and Practice / 36. Challenging Oppressive Justice Policies

Individual Presentations

• Why They Don’t Say Anything: Secondary Victimization of Sexual Assault Victims on College and University Campuses - Rashona Sharpless, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Does My Client Have To Die?: How "The System" Puts Survivors of Domestic Violence In Harm's Way - Zora L. Kolkey, Marriage and Family Therapist

• Living Beyond Trauma: Women’s Stories of Resilience and Growth - Zieva D. Konvisser, Fielding Graduate University

• Empowering Women Prisoners To Move Beyond The “Doing Time” Experience - Barbara H. Zaitzow, Appalachian State University

Chair

• Barbara H. Zaitzow, Appalachian State University