Girls, trauma, and justice in Jamaica: a Caribbean feminist criminological analysis
This study on female delinquents in Jamaica critically examines how trauma, structural instability, and institutional neglect contribute to girls’ involvement in the justice system. Grounded in feminist criminology and Caribbean feminist thought, it reframes girl delinquency as a survival response t...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal of ethnicity in criminal justice
Year: 2025, Volume: 23, Issue: 4, Pages: 409-436 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | This study on female delinquents in Jamaica critically examines how trauma, structural instability, and institutional neglect contribute to girls’ involvement in the justice system. Grounded in feminist criminology and Caribbean feminist thought, it reframes girl delinquency as a survival response to entrenched emotional neglect, abuse, and marginalization. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with five formerly incarcerated girls and ten juvenile justice practitioners and analyzed thematically. The findings revealed recurring patterns that underscored systemic failures, including structural breakdown and unmet emotional needs, punitive institutional climates and emotional neglect in custody, the victim–offender continuum, the criminalization of emotion and remorse, intergenerational deficits and emotional absence, institutional neglect and disempowerment, gendered hostility within custodial settings, the criminalization of survival and distress, compounding trauma through systemic rejection, and limited pathways toward trauma-informed and gender-responsive interventions. Collectively, these themes demonstrate that rather than rehabilitating, system contact often magnifies harm by criminalizing trauma, neglecting emotional recovery, and reinforcing cycles of victimization. The findings underscore the urgent need for culturally grounded, trauma-informed, and gender-responsive approaches that prioritize prevention, emotional care, and community-based alternatives to incarceration in Jamaica. |
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| ISSN: | 1537-7946 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/15377938.2025.2558726 |
