Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding Women’s Pathways to Criminal Justice System Involvement There are four overarching theoretical frameworks that are helpful in understanding women’s involvement in the criminal justice system and creating a foundation for gender-responsive programming to address their distinct needs. Pathways Theory: Research on women’s pathways to the criminal justice system posits that women’s offending is based on survival of abuse and poverty, and on substance abuse. Key issues driving behavior that leads to the criminal justice system are histories of personal abuse, mental illness tied to early life experiences, substance abuse and addiction, economic and social marginality, homelessness, and relationships.19 Development or Relational-Cultural Theories: These theories posit that the primary motivation for women is development of a strong sense of connection with others, and that women’s sense of self and self-worth arises from such connections and relationships. Women in the justice system often have childhood experiences that reflect disconnection and violation, rather than healthy relationships and connections. Women’s criminal behavior is often associated with people who are personally important to them.20 Trauma Theory: Trauma theory focuses on the impact of violence in the lives of women and understanding trauma response. Women’s trauma—often from physical and sexual abuse— overwhelms coping mechanisms. Serious traumatic experiences often play a role in women’s mental and physical health. Trauma, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders often co-occur and need to be treated together because the problems associated with each can result in poor psychosocial functioning, health problems, medication noncompliance, relapse, homelessness, and suicidal behavior.21 Addiction Theory: Addiction theory recognizes that substance use is impacted by a variety of personal and environmental factors—physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. In recognizing that addiction does not happen in isolation, addiction theory concludes that a holistic health model of treatment and a behavioral health recovery management model for treating disease are most effective.These two models together allow clinicians to treat addiction as the primary problem while also addressing the complexity of issues that women bring to treatment, including genetic predispositions, histories of abuse, health consequences, shame, and/or isolation.22
Women InJustice: Gender and the Pathway to Jail in New York City
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