In the American prison system, transgender people are marginalized to an even higher degree than cisgender prisoners and transgender civilians. In addition to societal marginalization, transgender individuals also face employment discrimination, often resorting to the underground economy for income. While not a career of last resort, transgender people often engage in illicit sex work, which in turn leads to a greater number of negative police encounters, and considerable arrest rates. In evaluating the severity of the problem, I evaluated data and qualitative studies from the California prison system, overall justice statistics, as well as studies focused solely on the transgender community, including one comparative study that evaluated transgender people raised in Christian households.

It was determined that placing transgender inmates in gender-appropriate prison settings would allow for more positive outlooks. With the proper safeguards in place, prison would become safer for all inmates, not just transgender prisoners. In taking such action, there is a significant probability of reduced recidivism. Additionally, with extra training for peace officers in interacting with transgender individuals, there would be a road to repairing the relationship between the transgender community and the police.

Keywords: transgender, prison, criminal justice, sex work, police

Téa Erickson would like to thank their faculty sponsor Kenya Brumfield-Young for their support of this project.