Roundtable: Bringing Latinas to the Forefront: Latina Girls, Women, and the Justice System

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

In this Roundtable, we will discuss four papers from the 2017 special issue of Feminist Criminology on system-involved Latinas. The papers consider the experiences of Latinas as victims, as offenders, and as targets for deportation. The first two papers focus on Latinas’ help seeking behaviors--as shaped by structural, institutional, and cultural factors-- within the context of intimate partner violence and the criminal justice system. The titles of these papers are “Protection Order Use Among Immigrant Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence” by Jill Messing, Sujey Vega, and Alesha Durfee and “No Way Out: Severely Abused Latina Women, Patriarchal Terrorism, and Self-Help Homicide” by Shannon Harper. The next two papers highlight Latinas’ experiences within the juvenile and criminal justice systems and critically examine how punitive social control policies and practices criminalize Latinas’ survival strategies. The titles of these papers are “Gender on the Run: Wanted Latinas in a California Barrio” by Jerry Flores, Ariana Ochoa Camacho, and Xuan Santos and “‘Humane’ Immigration Enforcement and Latina Immigrants in the Detention Complex" by Andrea Gomez, Cecilia Menjivar, and William Staples. We will also discuss how criminologists can better inform the development of more humane policies and practices affecting system-involved Latinas.

Sub Unit

• Area XIII: Roundtable Sessions

Division of Special Interest

• Divisions of Special Interest / Division on Women & Crime

Discussants

• Vera Lopez, Arizona State University

• Lisa Pasko, University of Denver

• Alesha Durfee, Arizona State University

• Shannon Harper, University of Illinois--Chicago

• Jerry Flores, University of Washington

• Andrea Gomez Cervantes, University of Kansas