Girls’ Experiences of Relational Loss in the Child Welfare and Juvenile Legal Systems

• In Event: Collateral Damage - The Impact of Incarceration in the Lives of Women

Abstract

Youth and young adults involved with the United States child welfare system (CWS) enter the juvenile legal system (JLS) at rates higher than their peers, and girls of color are more likely than their white boy and girl counterparts to crossover from the CWS to the JLS. As part of a larger study, this research draws on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to investigate the system trajectories and emotional and relational consequences of dual-involvement for Black and Latina girls and young women (N=10). Findings suggest participants order their trajectories through the lens of family. Participants’ trajectories are marked by missing or losing familial relationships prior to or because of system-involvement; constructing relationships within institutional contexts to fill relational gaps; and projecting an ideal of family as a motivating factor for reentry goals and actions. The findings contribute to existing literature on relational and ambiguous loss associated with system-involvement by demonstrating how girls and young women experience relational loss within institutional contexts. The findings also underscore the need for services that are responsive to the pervasive nature of loss and grief in systems, and for policies that maintain relational permanence in both the CWS and JLS, including de-carceration efforts that prevent youth-family separation.

Author

• Noor Toraif, University of Pennsylvania