Intersectional Criminalization: How Chicanas Experience and Navigate Criminalization through Interpersonal Relationships with Latino Men and Boys

Abstract

Recent work has begun to investigate how criminalization is mediated through interpersonal relationships. While this research emphasizes the importance of gender dynamics and cross-gender intimate relations for boys and men of color, little is known about how gendered and sexualized relationships matter for criminalized women and girls of color. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap and asks: How do system-involved Chicanas’ relationships with men and boys shape their experiences of criminalization over the life course? How do they navigate criminalization through men and boys? While previous research suggests that young men of color may avoid criminalization through their relationships with young women of color, life-history interviews with formerly incarcerated and system-impacted Chicanas reveal that relationships with Latino men and boys exacerbated their experiences of criminalization. Utilizing an intersectional criminalization framework, I argue that racialized, gendered, and heteronormative assumptions about Latinas’ interpersonal relationships condition criminalization over the life course. Chicanas employed two strategies to navigate criminalization through men and boys, both of which came at a cost to their wellbeing.