Young Women in the Prison System: #SayHerName

Catalog description

Rates of detention amongst girls in the US continue to increase even as overall rates of incarceration amongst youth have steadily declined in the last decade. Yet, because girls represent a proportionally smaller population within the juvenile justice system fewer resources are allocated to address the underlying causes of incarceration and recidivism amongst young women ages 12-19. This course investigates the causes and consequences of incarceration amongst girls, women, trans, and queer populations. How is gender expression criminalized and punished? What must we understand about the policing of gender and sexuality in order to meet the needs of incarcerated girls and women? What role does trauma play in the experiences of youth remitted to the juvenile justice system? What is the role of the arts in empowering incarcerated youth? What are the promising trends in community based alternatives to incarceration? Exploring these and other questions enables students to better understand the role of the Prison Industrial Complex in defining and policing gender and sexuality. This course will include film screenings, guest lectures by prominent artists, and leaders in the movement to end the incarceration of women, girls, and trans people within the prison system and readings by Monique Morris, Kimberle Crenshaw, Beth Ritchie, Joey Mogul, and Eric Stanley.