Resilience of Women Under the Criminal Justice System
Resilience of Women Under the Criminal Justice System

Summary/Abstract: In the last 25 years, the number of women caught in the criminal justice system has skyrocketed; many have been swept up in the "war on drugs" and subject to increasingly punitive sentencing policies for non-violent offenders. In this article, the authors discuss resilience defined as protective factors for women in criminal justice system (e.g., personality characteristics, biological characteristics, social and cultural factors, and community characteristics); as a process of adaptation (e.g., self‐enhancement, positive cognitive appraisals, coping styles, and spirituality), including an iterative perspective on resilience as a cascade of protective processes; and as positive outcomes (e.g., lack of symptoms) following exposure to adverse events, in this case, women and girls caught in the criminal justice system. Many of these women struggle with substance abuse, mental illness, and histories of physical and sexual abuse. Few get the services they need. The toll on women, girls, and their families is devastating. Within each of these definitional frameworks, authors consider general conceptual issues pertaining to resilience.

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