Table 1.

Categories, Themes, and Illustrations From Interviews

Category	Themes	Illustrative quotations or characterizations
Juvenile justice contact	Negative or no impact	“It was pointless to me.”
	Positive impact	“It bettered me.… Different environment helped me a lot.”
	Role models	“We need more female mentors.”
Maltreatment and victimization	Child maltreatment	“I had got child molested, and my mom … always said I was lying …”
	Lack of family support	“[M]y mother was pretty much non-existent.”
	Intimate partner violence	“Disclosure of rape and physical violence perpetrated by male partners.
	Emotional abuse/neglect	“[My mother] would just call [my sister and me] whores…”
Neighborhood risk	Prevalent violence/substance abuse	‘”Every day people getting shot.… It was horrible.”
		“Growing up in the city, you were privy to things.”
Interaction with other systems	Child welfare system	History of foster care, characterized as a negative experience.
	Income maintenance system	“If the welfare system would have offered a lot more help it would have been a lot easier.”
Support	Family support	Continuum from very supportive to not at all supportive.
	Teacher support	Willing to devote time and energy to participants.
	Support from services	Committed to meeting both physical and emotional needs.
Accomplishments and goals	Employment and education	“I want to open my own business.”
	Motherhood	“My children are my biggest accomplishment.”
	Giving back	“I really have a heart for people that’s struggling.”
Relationships with men	Incarcerated male partners	“I definitely don’t want him to bring me back down.”
	Supportive relationships	“He’s just talking and we communicating.”
	No current relationships	“[I am] too independent” for a serious relationship.
Children	Teaching by negative example	“I try to encourage my kids to … not follow in my footsteps.”
	Impetus to change behavior	“My daughter … deserves better than that … the chain has to be broken.”
	Separations from children	Five women had children living with relatives or placed outside the home.
Adult outcomes	Mental health status	“[I experienced a] nervous breakdown.”
	Substance abuse	Related to criminal activity, service use, and relationships with males.
	Arrest	“I always think … could [this situation cause] me to go back to prison?”
	Disappearing	“I was just missing in action for six months.”