A Comparative Study of the Vulnerability and Adjustment of Incarcerated Adolescent Boys and Girls

Abstract

The present Canadian study explored the experiences of 50 incarcerated adolescent girls and 50 incarcerated adolescent boys. Boys and girls appear to have pre-existing areas of vulnerability that may be gender specific. For both boys and girls, being incarcerated appears to have been impacted by various forms of loss, stress, and trauma, though this seemingly occurs in different ways and settings. Though both groups have high rates of psychosocial adjustment difficulties to being incarcerated (in the form of self-reported anxiety, depression, withdrawal), girls appear to have higher levels of adjustment problems, and their pre-existing vulnerabilities appear to be a stronger predictor. For boys, prison stresses appear to be a stronger predictor of adjustment to incarceration.