Utilizing the Life History Calendar to Examine Criminal Legal Involvement Trajectories Among Transgender Women

Background and Purpose:

Transgender women in the United States experience disproportionately high rates of involvement in the criminal legal system. Criminal legal system involvement is associated with adverse behavioral health outcomes. This study uses survey data from a mixed methods study to examine the prevalence of criminal legal system involvement and contextual risk factors including victimization and housing instability among transgender women across the life course.

Methods:

Data come from a National Institutes of Health-funded mixed methods study using the LHC to examine transgender women’s trajectories of interpersonal violence, mental health, and help-seeking (N = 103, ages 18-35). We collaborated with local organizations and community leaders to iteratively develop and adapt the LHC to ensure that it was relevant and appropriate to the experiences of transgender women, including assessing for identity development milestones and transgender-specific victimization experiences. The adapted LHC was then used in interviews with a sample of 103 transgender women recruited through purposive sampling via community organizations. As part of this study, participants completed a survey capturing criminal legal involvement (e.g., arrests), socio-demographic characteristics, and risk and protective factors (e.g., sex work, homelessness). Descriptive statistics examined the prevalence of criminal legal involvement. Binary logistic regressions explored associations between criminal legal involvement and risk factors including housing instability, victimization, and educational outcomes.

Results:

Almost one-quarter (24%) of the sample reported at least one arrest, with arrests ranging from 0 to 4 (M̄=1.78). Arrest prevalence was examined across demographic characteristics, with significant differences observed only by sexual orientation (p < 0.05). Independent binary logistic regression results indicated significantly increased odds of criminal legal system involvement for those who reported high school drop-out (OR=24.667, 95% CI[2.792, 217.940], p=.004), homelessness (OR=3.250, 95% CI[1.254, 8.422], p=.015), intimate partner violence (OR=1.037, 95% CI[1.001, 1.073], p=.043), and exchange sex (OR=3.545, 95% CI[1.363,9.224], p=.009).

Conclusions and Implications:

To our knowledge, this study is among the first to systematically tailor and utilize the LHC method with transgender women to examine trajectories of victimization and involvement with the criminal legal system. The results of this study provide insight into the individual and systemic contexts that contribute to criminal legal system involvement among transgender women. Findings contribute to a growing body of literature highlighting the necessity for advances in policy to provide multi-level supports to transgender women across childhood and adulthood, particularly in areas of education, housing, violence prevention and victim services.