Female delinquency Flashcards
1986:
-Female accounted for 22% of
all delinquency arrests
- The female proportion of youth
arrests…
-Increased from 23% in 1996 to
29% in 2009
- From 2009-2015…
-Female proportion of youth arrests remained stable at 29%
These statistics suggest…
-A need for greater attention on gender differences
Why study female delinquency?
-1. More female delinquency, proportion of female arrests remained relatively stable
-2. Females are often victims, important to understand how and why this occurs
-3. Female youth often have unique pathways to delinquency/system involvement
-4. Male offending is often related to gender issues (ex: having a difficult time with changing social roles)
Why don’t females show up as much in
crime statistics?
-They don’t commit as many offenses
-The justice system may treat them differently
Although females break the law less
often than males it is still a problem
-The pattern is different across age, type, & seriousness
Female offenses: 1
-1. Running away
-Girls arrested more for this
-May be running toward something
-May be running away from abuse
Female offenses: 2
-2. “Prostitution”/sex trafficking
-Girls are lured into prostitution often between the ages of 11-14
-Risk factors: bad family situation, low IQ, poor school achievement, general abuse & neglect
-Law enforcement responses: study found police treated 60% of juveniles of juveniles involved in sex trafficking as victims and 40% as offenders, this is problematic
Female offenses: 3
-3. Shoplifting
-Social pressures to wear fashionable clothing or follow trends
-Often a group activity
-Some even treat it as a job
-Accessible and has little risk of physical injury
Female offenses: 4
-4. Fighting
-Aggression can come in many
forms, including:
-Relational aggression
-Which can lead to
bullying/fighting
-Fighting is a common female
gang activity
Difference in homicides:
-Difference in homicides:
-Females’ victims: more likely to be
children, other females, family
members
-Girls more likely to use knives,
personal weapons, asphyxiation
Gender and the JJS
-Research suggests that girls may be
treated differently by the JJS for a
structural reason:
-Fewer alternatives for
processing & sentencing for females,
which may impact decision making
-There is a lack of female facilities,
which may be reflective of society’s
aversion to locking up girls
-Generally, there may be a willingness
to find alternatives for girls
Chivalry hypothesis
-Girls are treated leniently because:
-They are viewed as weaker, helpless, less threatening
-JJS actors may consider them as accessories or indirect victims, rather than perpetrators of crime
-Some research has found that girls have received lighter sentences, but overall the findings are mixed
-Approach may appear beneficial on the surface but….
-There is the issue of the system being
paternalistic
-It blurs the lines between “protecting” the juvenile and “controlling” the juvenile
“Evil-woman hypothesis”
-This suggests that serious female
offenders are viewed as being outside
transnational gender roles
-Since they are deviating from these
traditional expectations of being
“weak” or “in need of assistance”, they
are treated more harshly by the system
Points of discretion
-Law enforcement
-Girls more likely questioned about sexual activities
-Victims of sexual offenses
-Sexual exploitation by officers
-Predisposition Court Decisions
-In the past, more likely to be released to parents
-Now, more cases formally processed
-Disposition
-In the past, more likely to receive probation
-Now, more harsh punishments
Pierce & Jones (2022)
-Research questions:
-How does accumulation, timing, and duration of adverse
childhood experiences (ACEs) influence youth delinquency?
-How do these patterns may vary by gender?
-Findings:
-As the number of early ACEs experienced incrementally
increases, the likelihood of youth reporting delinquent
behavior also increases
-ACEs were significantly related to delinquency for
girls, but not boys
-Implications:
-Prevention and intervention should screen for ACEs
-Prevention programs need to consider gender-specific responses to ACEs and gender-specific intervention
strategies
Most girls enter the juvenile justice system for ___
and, typically, ___
-A nonviolent offense
-The system response aligns with the nature of the offense
___ of nonviolent delinquency cases involving females were ___
-Three-fourths
-Either dismissed or received informal sanctions, (e.g., probation,
referral for service)
