Poster #30 - Detention as Trauma: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Girls’ Experiences in Detention

• In Event: Poster Session 03

Abstract

Upwards of 80% of youth involved in the juvenile legal system have been exposed to some type of traumatic event in their lifetime (Abram et al., 2004; Dierkhising et al., 2015; Simkins & Katz 2002). Girls, in particular, experience high rates of traumatic experiences including physical and sexual violence (Acoca, 1998; Joshi & Billick, 2017; Morash, 2016). Youth who have been traumatized may act out as a response to these experiences and come into contact with the juvenile legal system, including detention (Bloom, 2002; Saar et al., 2015). While youth are detained, they may be exposed to even more trauma, despite efforts by the system to mitigate these issues by engaging in trauma-informed practices (Garcia & Lane, 2013; Reed et al., 2021). Unfortunately, there is little research examining the practices juvenile detention facilities use that may reduce or exacerbate trauma despite the high rates of exposure to violence and experiences of abuse, especially among system-involved girls. Drawing on feminist pathways theory, ecological systems theory, and trauma theory, the current study examines how detention facilities respond to youth by contextualizing trauma-informed practices through the sociohistorical goals of rehabilitation and punishment in the juvenile legal system.
Girls detained in a Midwestern juvenile detention facility (N=24) were interviewed to understand girls’ experiences and needs while in detention and upon return to their communities. The current analysis utilized these interviews to interrogate the role of detention in system-involved girls’ trauma. Two themes were developed as a result of this analysis: “Detention as Disruption” and “Detention as Dependence.” The first theme addressed the forced removal of girls from their families and communities, placing them in detention where they experienced mental health symptoms, fights, and difficult transition periods. Although forced removal from their homes is clearly at odds with trauma-informed care principles, courts could rationalize these practices citing the need to keep girls safe from disruptive home environments. As posited by feminist pathways theory, girls in this sample were often brought into the system via low-level offenses that were related to their experiences of trauma (e.g., running away, substance use, domestic charges with family and romantic partners). The removal of girls from their homes broke apart their ecological systems, which can not only be disorienting but also traumatizing. Detention then became the new, very small, traumatizing microsystem for girls (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The second theme highlighted the lack of autonomy and systematic silencing of girls in detention. Girls thus experienced a forced dependence on the detention facility, whereby all decisions from clothing and visitation, to program participation and post-detention placements are made for them. These practices contradict the goals of trauma-informed care, and instead further perpetuate harm to detained girls. Supporting autonomy and listening to the voices of girls are key principles of trauma-informed care. However, correctional practices effectively silence girls’ voices and remove nearly all of their decision-making power. Findings from this study call into question the ability for detention facilities to implement trauma-informed care.

Group Authors

Nicole C. McKenna, Ph.D.
Valerie R. Anderson, Ph.D.
Symone Pate, M.S.

Author

• Nicole Cheri McKenna, Rutgers Univeristy
  Presenting Author