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Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth Incarcerated in Delinquent Facilities

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Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice

Abstract

The incarcerated population of both youth and adults has long been characterized as disproportionately male, of color, and poor, compared to their numbers in the community (non-incarcerated individuals). When sexual minority status (SMS) or sexual identity has been addressed, it has typically been to sensationalize, demonize, and pathologize incarcerated SMS youth and adults. Our research is the only existing study, of which we are aware, that documents the representation of SMS youth among incarcerated youth. In this state-wide study of 404 girls and boys incarcerated in Ohio, we found it significant that SMS incarcerated youth tended to want more treatment/counseling than their non-SMS counterparts, particularly sexual and physical abuse counseling. There were far fewer differences in these youth based on SMS in terms of their desires for programs that were not treatment/counseling, and in all of these cases, the non-SMS youth wanted the programs more than the SMS youth. The findings stress the need to acknowledge incarcerated youths’ needs that may be accentuated by SMS.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Belknap and Holsinger (2006); Gaarder and Belknap (2002); McDaniels-Wilson and Belknap (2008).

  2. 2.

    The “we” in the history and method used in the study refers to the first two authors (Joanne Belknap and Kristi Holsinger). Since designing the study, and collecting and entering the data, we began to work with the third author (Jani Little).

  3. 3.

    When Chi square analysis combined “received and/or desired” versus “has not had and does not want” (making “Independent Living Program” a dichotomous variable, as was done for the multivariable analyses in Table 11.4), SMS no longer significantly distinguished the differences for having or desiring an independent living program (58.5 % of SMS youth and 67.8 % of non-SMS youth had or desired independent living, Χ 2 = 1.76, p = .12).

  4. 4.

    As stated in footnote 3, the relationship between SMS and “Independent Living” disappeared when taking account for the fact that all 37 youth who received this program were non-SMS. Thus, as expected, SMS was not related to “Independent Living” received or desired in the logistic regression analysis conducted for Table 11.4.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to all of the incarcerated youth who took the time and energy to complete our survey, and we are particularly grateful to the lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth for having the courage to claim this identity, even in this anonymous survey that was distributed in the late 1990s, a time when there was even more homophobia in delinquent institutions. We also thank the Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) in Columbus, OH for partial funding of this study, although the findings may not reflect OCJS’s beliefs. Clearly any shortcomings in this chapter are the authors’ and not OCJS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, University of Colorado, 327 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0327, USA

    Joanne Belknap

  2. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of Missouri–Kansas City, 5215 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO, 64110-2499, USA

    Kristi Holsinger

  3. Computer and Research Services Director Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, 483 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0483, USA

    Jani S. Little

Authors
  1. Joanne Belknap
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  3. Jani S. Little
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Correspondence to Joanne Belknap .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA

    Dana Peterson

  2. School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Vanessa R. Panfil

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Belknap, J., Holsinger, K., Little, J.S. (2014). Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth Incarcerated in Delinquent Facilities. In: Peterson, D., Panfil, V. (eds) Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9188-0_11

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