A new study led by researchers at the University of Oregon has identified adolescence as the ideal time period to intervene and support young women who have been heavily involved in the juvenile justice system. According to the study, women’s involvement in the United States justice system is outpacing men’s involvement.
Over the course of nearly three decades, faculty members at the University of Oregon College of Education and Prevention Science Institute followed a sample of women from their teens to their mid-30s. At the start of the study, the women participants were in their mid-teens and heavily involved in the juvenile justice system. Upon analyzing these women’s records, the study found nearly 75 percent continued to be involved in the justice system, and one-third had been incarcerated. Despite the prevalence of a connection to the justice system, the results found these women last interacted with the justice system at an average age of 22 years old.
Due to the average young age that the study’s participants stopped their involvement the justice system, the authors suggest intervention during adolescence is crucial to mitigating incarceration rates among women. Additionally, the authors believe future research is needed into why women tend to become disconnected from the justice system in their early 20s. They hypothesize that entering a long-term adult relationship, becoming a parent, and the justice system’s response to women as they age could contribute to this phenomenon.