Confronting the Women’s Incarceration Crisis: Prevention and Intervention

This is part of the “Confronting the Women’s Incarceration Crisis” series, where we examine what is driving more women into the system and explore ways to reverse the trend. Read the introduction and view other posts here.

Women often experience multiple systemic failures long before facing arrest. Controlling and coercive relationships, intimate partner violence, childhood trauma, and economic instability—compounded by a lack of access to services—can lead to trauma-driven behaviors that result in criminal charges. Although many of these failures are preventable, current systems usually intervene only after a woman has entered the justice system rather than preventing it in the first place.

This post highlights why prevention matters, explores prevention and early intervention strategies, and references potential solutions to keep women out of the system.

Why Prevention Matters

Efforts to prevent crime often focus on protecting women from violence rather than preventing them from becoming criminals themselves. This gap is not surprising, given that approximately 41 percent of women experience intimate partner violence and most justice-involved women are trauma survivors. Still, the lack of targeted prevention and early interventions for girls at risk of delinquency is alarming. It also raises an important question: Could addressing trauma earlier help curb the rising rates of arrest and incarceration among women?

Women face multiple overlapping risks that lead to criminal behavior. Proactive intervention in girls’ delinquency helps reduce future justice involvement and incarceration costs. Many women in the system follow patterns that begin with trauma or instability in adolescence, suggesting that tailored support during those years could make a lasting difference.

While prevention can be a powerful tool, it is one of the hardest to measure. Success is often determined by what does not happen, making it difficult to evaluate what works. Prevention also demands long-term commitment and sustained investment. Even with these challenges, preventing justice-system involvement helps individuals avoid lifelong consequences and reduces broader harm to families and communities.

Unique Challenges

Women commit substantially less crime than men do, and the gap widens for serious and violent crimes. Although research on female criminal behavior is limited, clear patterns emerge. Women’s violent actions are generally less serious and more impulsive, occurring in private settings and involving people they know. Women in the system show higher rates of substance use and mental health disorders compared to the general public, and many are survivors of violence, which may contribute to their elevated rate of behavioral health issues.

Studies consistently show that more than two-thirds of women in the system have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence. Many have also experienced childhood trauma. Female crime may arise from efforts to cope with or escape these circumstances, such as running away, using substances, or acting under pressure from an abusive partner. A California study found that 23 percent of women incarcerated for homicide were imprisoned for crimes directly tied to their experience of intimate partner violence. Preventing trauma, ensuring safe exits from abusive situations, and building resilience can reduce the likelihood of justice system involvement for women.

Unique economic and caregiving pressures may also play a role. Women are more likely than men to be single, primary caregivers and to live in poverty. Failure to address these gender-specific pressures makes prevention efforts less effective and risks pushing women deeper into the system.

Commonsense Solutions

Trauma-informed and gender-responsive interventions can help prevent women’s introduction to the criminal justice system.

• Positive Youth Development Programs
  Girls from unstable or abusive home environments are at heightened risk of entering the juvenile justice system, often for nonviolent, survival-driven behaviors, such as truancy or running away. Programs that focus on building resilience, fostering healthy relationships, and providing mentorship have been shown to reduce recidivism and promote positive development.

• Female-Specific Youth Delinquency Programs
  Girls are more likely than boys to enter the justice system for low-level, nonviolent offenses. Research indicates that early system contact—particularly when tied to trauma or instability—can result in higher risk for continued legal involvement. Without effective, gender-responsive interventions, behaviors like substance use or survival-driven offenses can escalate into chronic adult criminalization.

• Intimate Partner Violence Intervention
  Less than 10 percent of violent crime survivors get help, and most never report the crime at all. Early access to services like counseling, shelter, and support programs can prevent criminalization of survivors who act in self-defense or are coerced into unlawful behavior. Investing in these supports helps address root causes before they escalate.

• Services for Women’s Basic Needs
  Women and girls comprise 58 percent of individuals in families experiencing homelessness. Homelessness among women is also rising, with a 12 percent increase since 2022. Poverty and housing instability are closely tied to justice system involvement, as economic hardship often leads to poverty-related offenses like theft or prostitution. Expanding access to stable housing, child care support, and income support programs can reduce women’s justice involvement by addressing economic instability.

Prevention in Practice

Traditional juvenile justice models often fail to account for the high rates of trauma, abuse, and coercion that shape girls’ pathways into the system. Alternative approaches seek to address girls’ unique needs through supportive, developmentally appropriate services. A standout example is the Hawai‛i Girls Court, which provides gender-responsive services to address the underlying causes of delinquency among girls including family dysfunction, substance abuse, and mental health needs. Findings indicate that the program reduces recidivism and risky behaviors while supporting the growth of positive, healthy relationships. In 2022, Hawaii managed to reduce the number of girls in detention to zero.

Conclusion

Earlier, more thoughtful interventions are required to reduce women’s system involvement. While prevention often goes unnoticed, its impact is significant: It keeps families intact, strengthens communities, and avoids the high costs of late-stage intervention. Waiting until harm has already been done leaves fewer options and does even greater damage.