Minnow’s incarceration in the Missoula County Juvenile Detention Center places her within the broader context of the United States juvenile justice system, a system that has long struggled to balance punishment, rehabilitation, and public safety. Originally designed to emphasize reform over incarceration, the juvenile system has increasingly adopted punitive practices similar to the adult system, particularly in the late-20th and early-21st centuries. As a result, many facilities function less as centers for rehabilitation and more as institutions of confinement, where young people must navigate rigid rules, limited resources, and often unsafe environments.

One flaw with juvenile detention centers that is highlighted by the novel is the reality of mixed-offender facilities, where youths with varying charges and sentences are housed together due to budgetary constraints and overcrowding. Upon her arrival, a guard warns Minnow, “Ours is the only mixed-offender facility in the state […] There’re girls here who’ve killed, who would kill again” (23). This practice is common in many states, where, according to data from organizations like The Sentencing Project, a lack of resources prevents the separation of youth based on the severity of their offenses. This environment forces inmates to navigate dangerous social hierarchies, as Minnow must do with her cellmate Angel, a convicted murderer, and other violent offenders. Angel confirms the system’s grim reality, stating that “these jails are so overcrowded, they’d put a murderer in with a shoplifter just to save money” (26). This context is crucial for understanding Minnow’s post-cult experience; rather than finding a sanctuary, she enters another oppressive system where survival depends on adapting to a new set of unwritten rules and constant threats.

Another critical issue within the juvenile justice system is racial disparity. Black youth in the United States are incarcerated at significantly higher rates than their white peers—often more than “six times more likely”—reflecting broader patterns of inequality in policing, sentencing, and access to resources (Anderson, Meg. “Racial Disparities in Youth Incarceration.” NPR. 24 April 2025). These disparities are not explained solely by differences in behavior but are shaped by systemic biases and structural inequalities. Understanding this context complicates the idea that incarceration is simply a response to individual wrongdoing; instead, it reveals how social and institutional factors influence who is most likely to be detained.

For Minnow, the novel highlights the limitations of a system that often fails to meet the needs of vulnerable youth. Rather than offering a clear path to recovery, juvenile detention can become another environment in which power, control, and survival dominate daily life.