Creating the Trauma‐to‐Prison Pipeline: How the U.S. Justice System Criminalizes Structural and Interpersonal Trauma Experienced by Girls of Color

The staggering number of girls in the juvenile justice system who have experienced abuse is described as the sexual‐abuse‐to‐prison pipeline. However, this pipeline does not capture the entire picture, nor does it fully explain the unjustifiable disproportionality of girls of color and girls from low‐income communities in the system. This article builds on the foundation of the sexual‐abuse‐to‐prison pipeline to develop the trauma‐to‐prison pipeline, describing how the juvenile justice system criminalizes girls because of their experiences of multiple and intersecting forms of trauma, including trauma resulting from the structural forces of racism and poverty.