For many, the term juvenile delinquent likely conjures up images of groups of young men standing on street corners, wearing baggy clothes, and boasting defiant attitudes. However, some may be surprised to learn that the face of the juvenile delinquent is swiftly changing. While boys are responsible for the majority of juvenile crime overall, the number of juvenile females involved with the justice system has been steadily increasing over the past three decades (Gross 84). Of greatest concern is the context of the crimes being committed by juvenile girls, as arrest rates have increased most in the area of violent offenses. In response to this emerging trend, juvenile justice professionals are increasingly advocating for gender specific intervention and rehabilitation models to deter further delinquency involvement. This effort is rooted in investigating the risk factors for criminal behavior among adolescent females, and the compound effect multiple risk factors may illicit.
Between 1991 and 2000, arrest rates for girls increased more than arrests for boys, and by 2004 girls accounted for 30 percent of all juveniles taken into custody. Researchers have yet to establish if this trend is representative of a quantifiable increase in female juvenile crime, or if social attitudes and law enforcement response to girl’s delinquency have influenced the increase (Zahn, “Causes” 1-3). Juvenile crime overall has been declining since reaching its peak in the late 1990’s, yet the rates of girls have not experienced the same rate of decline when compared to boys.
The context of the crimes being committed by adolescent girls has been most dramatically impacted in the areas of both aggravated and simple assault. While boys still r...
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Peterman, Dan. Personal Interview. 19 March 2012.
Zahn, Margaret et al. “Girls Study Group: Causes and Correlates of Girls’ Delinquency.” National Criminal Justice Reference Service. US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. April 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. .
Zahn, Margaret et al. “Girls Study Group: Violence By Teenage Girls: Trends and Context.” National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. May 2008.Web. 29 Mar. 2012. .
Zavlek, Shelley, and Rebecca Maniglia. "Developing Correctional Facilities for Female Juvenile Offenders: Design and Programming Considerations." Corrections Today 69.4 (August 2007): 58-63. ProQuest Criminal Justice Periodicals Index. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.
Savage, J. (2011). Gendered pathways from strain to delinquency. Criminology and Justice Policy Dissertation……(Savage, 2011)
Juvenile delinquency may evolve around many different factors before it becomes a problem for society to solve. Gender and family structure can be a large and underlining cause of why children enter the criminal justice system. By examining the gender and family makeup, one could better understand how to treat a troubled individual.
Jenson, Jeffrey and Howard, Matthew. "Youth Crime, Public Policy, and Practice in the Juvenile Justice System: Recent Trends and Needed Reforms." Social Work 43 (1998): 324-32
Juveniles get involved in delinquency for many reason; a lot of the time it depends on their home lives. Females tend to lean towards substance abuse and sexual crimes more than violent crimes. What tends to make females go toward getting into delinquent behavior is how the parents treated them as they were growing up. In Davis article “At- Risk Girls and Delinquency”; when a family is trying to get control over their daughter sometimes it can have a negative effect and cause that daughter to act out or even run away (Davis, pg. 297). When a female starts getting involved in delinquency a lot of the time the risk factors are different then their counter- partners. Girls are at greater risk to get victimized than boys are since females are
Arya Neelum , Ryan Liz , Sandoval Jessica, Kudma Julie . “Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America: A Campaign for Youth Justice Report” The Campaign for Youth Justice Nov.2007 ebscohost. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
C2.) Goodkind recommended to take action at multiple levels would be a better fit for programs for young women in the juvenile justice system. She believes programs should implement change at the individual, social network, community, and institutional levels. Doing so would put focus on the person-in-environment framework. Transforming these girls would be ineffective without taking inconsideration the increase of options and opportunities available to them. Goodkind also voiced support for the parents of these girls also; especially those with low-incomes. Due to the structural and institutional barriers and constraints; many of these girls’ parents are “not there”, because of several issues: financial difficulties, affordable child care, limited and effective affordable substance abuse treatment programs, inadequate schools, and racial discrimination.
Since 1970, there has been an increasing and alarming rise 138 percent of violent crimes committed by women. Still, while the equivalent percentage compared to male violence is small 15 percent to 85 percent the fact that the numbers have elevated so drastically points to something changing in society.
Females are increasingly becoming more active in the juvenile justice system and this is said to be happening at alarming rates. It is important to learn more about why and how girls commit crimes so that we may also attempt intervention in an effective manner to prevent potential offenders and rehabilitate the girls who have already committed offenses. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has produced a report that includes a review of how these girls are getting into these situations, how states are dealing with this population of offenders, the national efforts that have taken place to attempt to address the needs of the adolescent female offender including training for individuals who work with these females and a female-based continuum of care model that’s use is recommended in the development of any female program development. This population of offenders requires not special treatment but different treatment than the typical juvenile offender which has been up until recently mostly all male.
While girls have historically made up a small percentage of the juvenile justice population, offending by girls is on the rise. Girls are the fastest growing segment of despite the overall drop in juvenile crime. Over the past two decades we have witnessed an exponential rise in the number of girls in detention facilities, jails and prisons; likewise, arrest rates for girls in almost all offense categories have outstripped that of boys over this same time per...
Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.
Statistical evidence has shown that women do in fact receive lesser and longer sentences when they are convicted of the similar crimes as men, such as drug related crimes (Coughenour, 1995). Criminologists provide different theories that explain the...
Delinquency in and of itself has been observed, studied, sifted, put into one form of statistical data or another and published for years. The question of “should girls’ delinquency be studied separately from boys’ delinquency?” can only be answered with an answer of yes. Data from every aspect of delinquency should be studied whether it be age, race, type of crime, along with gender. Without viewing all aspects of delinquency in regards to gender, any conclusions found would be biased, possibly leading to the enforcement of inappropriate laws and or treatments.
In 2011, a total of 61,423 youths in the United States were considered juvenile and of that statistic 14% were females (Child Trends, 2013, p.1). The topic of Female Delinquency is important to discuss these days because it wasn’t until recent years that researchers even looked at females and the reasons behind their crime rates. Society normally looks upon males as being the normal criminal; however, with recent studies, females can be just as delinquent as males. Most people look at females as being feminine and not participating in criminal behavior, which is why not until recent years we have stepped out of this incorrect view and saw that not all females are the same. Therefore, we need to understand these female delinquents and gain
Risk Assessment is a process that is needed in the juvenile system since it is a great tool that will help analyze the life of a female offender. There are a number of factors that need...
Bridges, K. M. Banham . "Factors Contributing to Juvenile Delinquency." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 17.4 (1927): 531-76. scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.