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Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 6: Women, Gender, and Offending
1
Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (1 of 19)
Macro and micro theories.
Female lawbreakers viewed as abnormal.
Views on female criminality’s nature.
Importance of historical viewpoints.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality
Macro and micro theories of crime:
Macro theories explore large-scale social explanations, like poverty and community disorganization.
Micro theories focus on individual differences between law-abiding and law-violating behaviors.
Female lawbreakers viewed as abnormal: They have been historically viewed as worse than male lawbreakers, not only for breaking the law but also for stepping outside of prescribed gender roles of femininity and passivity.
Views on female criminality’s nature:
Theories have ranged from describing them as aggressive and violent to passive, helpless, and in need of protection.
Theories on the etiology of female offending have reflected both perspectives.
Importance of historical viewpoints: They provide a foundation for a greater understanding of female offending.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (2 of 19)
Historical Theories on Female Criminality
Theory of Lombroso and Ferrero.
Findings about female offenders.
Criticism of the theory.
Sheldon and Glueck’s study.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Historical Theories on Female Criminality
Theory of Lombroso and Ferrero:
Idea of Cesare Lombroso and William Ferrero was that criminals are biological throwbacks to a primitive breed of man and can be recognized by various atavistic degenerative physical characteristics.
To test this, they measured body parts and noted physical differences of incarcerated women in a prison.
Lombroso and Ferrero’s findings about female offenders:
Unique features like occipital irregularities, narrow foreheads, prominent cheekbones, virile type of face.
Fewer degenerative characteristics than male offenders; explained as women being biologically more primitive and less evolved.
Evil tendencies more numerous and varied than men’s.
More like men in mental and physical qualities, and more likely to experience suppressed maternal instincts and ladylike qualities.
Less sensitive to pain, less compassionate, generally jealous, and full of revenge (worst characteristics of female gender plus criminal tendencies of the male).
Criticism of the theory:
Small sample size and lack of heterogeneity of sample demographics.
Failed to control for additional environmental and structural variables that might explain criminal behavior regardless of gender.
No scientific basis for key assumptions: The authors claim that female offender was more ruthless and less merciful was more because she violated sex- and gender-role expectations than because of her actual behaviors.
Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck’s study:
They sought to distinguish female from male offenders; but also became one of the first studies on recidivism among this population.
They looked at a variety of different factors to explain criminality, like the role of the family on delinquency.
They drew from a multidisciplinary perspective, and they were influenced by disciplines like biology, sociology, psychology, and anthropology.
3
Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (3 of 19)
Historical Theories on Female Criminality
Otto Pollak’s views.
Masked criminality of women.
Flaws of early theories.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Historical Theories on Female Criminality
Otto Pollak’s views:
Criminal data sources failed to reflect true extent of female crime.
Majority of the crimes are petty, so many victims (especially males) do not report them.
Many police officers exercise discretion and may issue only informal warnings.
Women were more likely to be acquitted than male counterparts.
Even when reported, women benefit from preferential treatment by criminal justice systems.
Masked criminality of women:
Pollak suggested that women gain power by deceiving men through sexual playacting, faked sexual responses, and menstruation. This allows female criminality to go undetected.
Traditional roles of homemaker, caretaker, and domestic worker give women an avenue to engage in crimes against vulnerable populations.
Flaws of early theories:
Placed a heavy reliance on stereotypes about female offender as manipulative, cunning, and masculine.
These identities limited the analysis to a narrow perception of the world.
4
Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (4 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Focused on male criminality.
Social bond theory.
Attachment.
Commitment.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Focused on male criminality:
Majority of theories in mid- and late 20th century gave little consideration for women’s lives.
These theories excluded women, as they represented such a small proportion of the offending population.
Theorists made gross gendered stereotypes about women and girls.
Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory:
Allegedly gender-neutral but failed to consider lives of girls and women.
Unique in that it looked for explanations why people might desist from criminal behavior.
Focused on four bonds that prevent acting on potential criminological impulses or desires.
Attachment:
Bond with family, friends, and social institutions (government, education, and religion).
People may not want to disappoint people in their lives.
Commitment:
Investment in the normative values of society.
Embodies the spirit of rational choice perspectives.
Example: Fear of jeopardizing one’s future which may involve getting a college degree.
5
Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (5 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Involvement.
Belief.
Families as strongest inhibitor.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Involvement:
Level at which one might participate in conventional activities like studying or playing sports.
Youth who are more involved in these activities are less likely to engage in delinquent activities.
Belief:
General acceptance of rules of society.
Less a person believes he should obey the rules, the more likely he is to violate them.
Families as strongest inhibitor of delinquency:
Girls are more emotionally attached to their parents, a bond which protects them from delinquency.
Increased focus of parents on daughters: When girls engage in delinquent behavior, they can experience higher levels of shaming by parents.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (6 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Turkish youth and delinquency.
Attachment to school.
Focus on self-control.
Self-control and early intervention.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Turkish youth and delinquency:
Research by Ozbay and Ozcan indicate that social bonds have a stronger effect on female students.
Family is an important institution in Turkish culture.
Girls are highly attached to the family unit due to differential socialization between the sexes.
Attachment to school and teachers is a stronger influence in preventing delinquency for boys.
Attachment to school:
Among American students, attachment to school can serve as a protective factor for both boys and girls.
Girls less attached to school are more likely to engage in nonviolent acts of delinquency.
Educational bonds help explain why girls are less likely to engage in alcohol and marijuana use than boys.
Focus on self-control:
Hirschi’s general theory (with Michael Gottfredson) is considered a micro-level theory.
To them, self-control is the single explanative factor for delinquent and criminal behavior.
Individuals with high levels of social control remain law abiding; those with low social control are more likely to engage in deviant and criminal activities.
Self-control and early intervention:
According to Gottfredson and Hirschi posit, the development of self-control is rooted in the family.
The more involved parents are more likely to be aware of challenges to development of children’s self-control. This leads to action and correcting these issues at a young age.
Early intervention efforts are the only effective tool to deter individuals from crime. Variables like gender, race, and class are irrelevant.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (7 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Self-control and gender.
Differential association theory.
Theory’s application for female offenders.
Strain theory.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Self-control and gender:
Using constructs like impulsivity, risk taking, and aggression as indicators of self-control, researchers found that general theory can explain delinquency of boys but not girls.
Misconduct in girls is more likely to be explained by variables like age and presence of psychiatric disorder.
Low self-control did predict offending behaviors for Latino girls for violent offenses, but not property offenses.
Effects of self-control on offending characteristics for girls are often eliminated when variables like opportunity or social learning theory are introduced.
Any gender differences in self-control tend to disappear over time.
Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory:
It suggests that criminality is a learned behavior that results from peer associations.
People that youth spend time with influence knowledge, practices, and judgments on delinquent behavior. More the exposure to delinquent attitudes and behaviors, greater the influence.
Discussions of gender were absent in this theory.
Theory’s application for female offenders:
Research has provided mixed results in the application of differential association theory for female offenders.
Further, race and ethnicity impact effects of peer relationship for girls’ delinquency.
Silverman and Caldwell find that peer attitudes have the greatest effect on youth behavior for Hispanic girls; strength of peer relationship is a key factor.
Time plays the biggest role for White girls. As proportion of time spent with peer group increases, the greater their influence on violent delinquent behavior.
Daigle et al. and Lowe, May, and Elrod found that peer influences lead to increase in delinquency for boys but not girls; effect is stronger for delinquency of boys than girls.
Strain theory:
Traditional theories by Merton and Cohen focused on structural limitations of success.
Robert Agnew’s theory looks at individualized psychological sources as correlates of criminal behavior, highlighting 3 sources of strain: failure in achieving positive goals, loss of positive influences, arrival of negative influences.
Broidy and Agnew argue that general strain theory can be used to explain gender differences in crime.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (8 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Gender differences in sources of strain.
Differences in responses to strain.
Negative emotions and delinquency.
Negative life events and conflict.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Gender differences in sources of strain: Girls are more likely to experience strain from violence in the home, which leads to acts like running away and substance abuse.
Differences in responses to strain: Strain can manifest as anger for boys and girls but exhibited in different ways.
Girls are more likely to internalize anger, leading to self-destructive behaviors and depression.
Boys tend to exhibit anger in physical and emotional outbursts.
Negative emotions and delinquency:
Negative emotions are a stronger factor in explaining female delinquency.
Latina youth who experience polyvictimization are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Their delinquency is a way to express their anger from their trauma.
Negative life events and conflict:
Boys experience higher levels of traditional strain (aspirations for higher educational success).
Girls are more likely to have negative life events and higher levels of conflict with parents. These are the factors that increase involvement in delinquency.
Some point to educational success as the vehicle for bringing out these issues; others identify specific experiences with strain (such as history of physical abuse) as an indirect cause of daily substance abuse.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (9 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Relationship strain.
Peer relationships and strain.
Drug use, gender, and strain.
No gender differences for severe crimes.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Relationship strain:
Major source of strain among female delinquents.
Strain within family can manifest in behaviors like running away, substance abuse, poor relationship choices.
Poor relationship choices can be their own source of strain, particularly when girls become involved with system-involved or older males.
Peer relationships and strain:
Peer relationships can perpetuate strain, particularly in the cases of frenemies.
Garcia and Lane find that girls may engage in delinquent acts out of anger toward other female peers or status offenses in an effort to avoid being bullied.
Drug use, gender, and strain:
In drug use, gender impacts strain, particularly likelihood to recidivate.
Youth in single parent homes more likely to relapse than youth in two-parent household.
This behavior is more common for boys than girls.
No gender differences for severe crimes:
Gender may explain differences in strain for offenses like property crime and cyberbullying.
However, there are no gender differences in strain for severe criminality, like gang fights, robbery, assault.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (10 of 19)
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Traditional theories and gender.
Impact of other issues on gender.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender
Traditional theories and gender:
Conclusions are mixed.
Some of these theories can help understand female crime.
Others are more suited to explaining male criminality.
Impact of other issues on gender:
It is important to consider how issues of intersectionality can impact the findings.
Future research must consider how race, ethnicity, and sexuality can influence gender issues within classical theories of offending.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (11 of 19)
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
Works of Adler and Simon.
Criticisms of Adler and Simon’s works.
Role of women’s emancipation.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
Works of Adler and Simon:
Freda Adler and Rita Simon highlighted how liberation of women led to increased participation in criminal activities.
Adler’s suggestion: Women’s rates of violent crime would increase. They would be more likely to offend as they became less enamored with traditional gender roles.
Simon’s suggestion: Women would commit a greater proportion of property crimes. Their involvement in crime would increase due to changes to options outside the home (education and occupational).
Criticisms of Adler and Simon’s works:
Crime statistics from 1960 to 1975 indicate that female and male rates for violent crimes skyrocketed.
Low reference point for female crimes creates a large percentage increase, which can be misinterpreted and overexaggerated.
Overreliance on effects of liberation movement: Increased opportunities for crime did not mean that women were more compelled to engage in crime.
Changing policies in policing and processing female offenders may reflect an increase of women in the system due to changes in response by criminal justice system to crimes involving women.
Role of women’s emancipation:
Changing social position of women would have had some effect on crime.
Women’s involvement in crime may have impacted role of men in criminal behavior.
The more patriarchial a society, the wider the gender gap in offending.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (12 of 19)
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
Power control theory.
Hagan’s focus on two-parent structure.
Life course theory.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
John Hagan’s power control theory:
It assesses how patriarchy can influence gender-role socialization and how this impacts rates of delinquency.
Women and girls are socialized in different ways from men and boys. Under patriarchal family structure, boys are encouraged to be more aggressive, ambitious, and outgoing and have increased freedom.
These power differences lead girls to have lower rates of crime because of reduced opportunities.
Families structured in a more egalitarian manner will socialize their children in a similar fashion regardless of sex, This leads to fewer gender differences in delinquency.
Hagan’s focus on two-parent structure:
Aside from patriarchal structure, children may reside in divorced, separated, and noncohabitating homes.
Single fathers tend to exert similar levels of parental control as in two-parent patriarchal families, while single mothers exert lower levels.
In families with higher parental control, girls are more likely to refrain from deviant behaviors viewed as risky.
Single parent may be less likely to exert parental control due to reduced supervision opportunities. So, this family structure may present an indirect effect on youth delinquency.
Robert Sampson and John Laub’s life course theory:
Life events can provide insight as to why one might engage in crime.
Adolescence is a crucial time in development of youthful (ultimately adult) offending behaviors.
Ties to conventional adult activities can be a protective factor in adulthood, even if individual engaged in delinquent acts during adolescence.
This theory allows for a gender-neutral review of how developmental milestones can explain criminal behavior.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (13 of 19)
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
Gender and life course theory.
Significant life events.
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6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.
Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors
Gender and life course theory:
Thompson and Petrovic suggested that social bonds like marriage, education, employment, and children can impact men and women differently.
While Sampson and Laub suggested that marriage inhibits criminal behavior in men, Thompson and Petrovic reported that not marriage alone but strength of the marriage might reduce substance abuse for women.
Estrada and Nilsson noted that female offenders are more likely to come from childhoods traumatized by poverty.
Women who engage in chronic offending into adulthood are less likely to have consistent employment histories and be involved in healthy romantic relationships.
These instabilities may lead women toward lifestyles that encourage criminal behavior.
Significant life events:
Life course theory needs to expand its understanding of what is a “significant life event.”
Belknap and Holsinger point to effects of early childhood abuse traumas, mental health concerns, and sexual identity as significant life events for understanding criminality.
Significant life events can help explain how women exit from criminality.
For first-time mothers, likelihood of remaining in a gang decreases by 93% and rate of offending decreases by 47%; only true for first time motherhood.
While fatherhood did not significantly reduce gang membership and offending for males, there are decreases when fathers reside with their children.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (14 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Builds on gender roles and socialization.
Key themes in the development.
Influence of feminist thought.
Feminist pathways approach.
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6.2. Assess how feminist criminology and feminist pathways theory can help provide a holistic approach to understanding female offending.
Feminist Criminology
Builds on gender roles and socialization: Feminist criminology begins with background of female offenders to assess who she is, where she comes from, and why she engages in crime.
Key themes in the development:
Feminist criminology began with the awareness that women were invisible in conventional studies and as a reaction against established male chauvinism in the discipline.
Theoretical criminology constructed by men, about men could not explain female patterns of crime. Existing theories are inconsistent with female realities.
So, there is a need for specific explanations of female patterns of crime.
Influence of feminist thought:
Feminist discussions about crime are not limited to women’s issues and incorporate conversations on masculinity and patriarchy.
Given the historical distortions and the casual assumptions about women’s lives in relationship to their criminal behaviors, incorporating feminist perspectives can provide a richer understanding about both the nature of female offending and the role of how experiences with victimization of women shape this process.
Feminist criminology is not a single identity but an opportunity to consider multiple influences when understanding issues of gender and crime.
Feminist pathways approach:
Seeks to show how life events (and traumas) affect the likelihood to engage in crime, but begins with a feminist foundation.
Identified a cycle of violence for female offenders that begins with victimization and results in involvement in offending behavior.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (15 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Role of victimization.
Homeless women and exotic dancers.
Multiple pathways to crime.
First theme and two pathways.
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6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.
Feminist Criminology
Role of victimization:
Female offenders report substantially high occurrences of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse throughout their lifetimes.
While it does not fit all female offenders, these risks must be recognized to understand female offending.
This link has largely been ignored by theorists and those responsible for responding to female victimization and offenses.
Homeless women and exotic dancers:
Wesely’s research on homeless women and exotic dancers incorporates feminist pathways perspective.
The levels of childhood abuse and victimization were located within a nexus of powerlessness, gender-specific sexualization and exploitation, economic vulnerability and destitution, and social alienation and exclusion.
These women grew up believing that violence was normal, which influenced their decision-making throughout life.
They learned sexuality is a tool to manipulate and control, so they chose to engage in sex work at a young age to escape abuse from parents and family members. This placed them at risk for further violence.
These lived experiences contributed to a downward spiral where women were preoccupied with daily survival, beaten down, depressed, unsuccessful at making choices or having opportunities that improved conditions.
Multiple pathways to crime:
An approach on feminist pathways formulated by Brennan, Breitenbach, Dieterich, Salisbury, von Voorhis.
Their work identifies 8 pathways within 4 unique themes.
First theme and two pathways:
Women with lower experiences of victimization and abuse but major criminality revolves around addiction.
First pathway contains women who are younger and parents of minor children.
Second pathway involves women who are older and do not have children.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (16 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Second theme and two pathways.
Similarities of third and fourth themes.
Third theme and two pathways.
Fourth theme and two pathways.
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6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.
Feminist Criminology
Second theme and two pathways:
Highlights role of victimization and abuse. Many of these women also experience emotional and physical abuse by a significant other.
First pathway: Younger single mothers who may have depression. Offenses involve drugs and dual arrests from intimate partner violence.
Second pathway: Women who engage in higher rates of crime and have greater issues with drugs and mental health. They are older and not involved in parenting.
Similarities of third and fourth themes:
Involve women who have been highly marginalized throughout their lives.
They typically lived in high-crime areas with high rates of poverty.
They suffered in school and often lack adequate vocational skills to provide sustenance.
Third theme and two pathways:
Lower rates of victimization and fewer mental health issues than in fourth theme. Many of these women were involved in acts of drug trafficking.
First pathway: Women who tend to be younger and single parents.
Second pathway: Women have higher rates of crime and noncompliance with criminal justice system and are less dependent on significant other. They tend to be older and nonparenting.
Fourth theme and two pathways:
Antisocial and aggressive women with limited abilities to develop stable environment and often homeless.
First pathway: Women are distinguished primarily by their mental health status.
Second pathway: Women who are considered actively psychotic, are at risk for suicide, and have a significant history with violence and aggression.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (17 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Evidence for link to victimization.
History of abuse and delinquency.
Attempts to escape abuse.
Pathway as a blurred boundary.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.
Feminist Criminology
Evidence for link to victimization:
Feminist pathways approach may best explain how women get stuck in a cycle of victimization and offending.
Research provides evidence for the link between victimization and offending; incarcerated girls are more likely to be abused than male counterparts.
In California, 92% of delinquent girls reported facing at least one form of abuse.
History of abuse and delinquency:
Research points to women committing offenses like running away and school failure rather than violent acts.
Effects of sexual assault are also related mental health traumas, like posttraumatic stress disorder and a negative self-identity.
Young girls with history of early childhood abuse often turn to illicit substances to cope.
Attempts to escape abuse:
In many cases, young girls who ran away from abusive homes were forced to return by public agencies.
Many who refused to remain in abusive situations were incarcerated and labeled “out of parental control.”
In attempt to escape, girls often fell into crimes of survival like prostitution, where they faced violence and included behaviors like robbery, assault, and rape.
Early offenses led to major part of adolescence behind bars. As adults, they were convicted for criminal offenses, including serious felonies.
Pathway as a blurred boundary:
Gilfus’s work characterizes the pathway to delinquency as one of “blurred boundaries.”
This is because categories of victim and offender are not separate and distinct. Girls keep moving between them as their victimization does not stop once they become offenders.
In addition to victimization experienced as a result of survival strategies, many continued to be victimized by the system through its failure to provide adequate services.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (18 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Race, class, and sexuality.
Black feminist criminology.
Victimization and general behavior.
Developing the right theoretical structure.
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6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.
Feminist Criminology
Race, class, and sexuality:
Feminist criminologists study how these issues impact criminality and the system’s response.
Women of color experience multiple marginalized identities, which impacts their trajectories of offending.
Black feminist criminology:
Identifies 4 themes that alter experiences for Black women in criminal justice system.
First, many Black women experience structural oppression in society.
Second, Black community and culture features unique characteristics due to their racialized experiences.
Third, Black families differ in their intimate and familial relations.
Fourth, the Black woman is seen as an individual, unique in her own right.
Victimization and general behavior:
In addition to high correlation with the propensity to engage in criminal behaviors, a history of abuse can dictate the types of behaviors in which young girls engage.
Often, these behaviors are methods of surviving abuse, but only their criminal nature brings these girls to the attention of the criminal justice system.
Majority of incarcerated women meet official criteria for PTSD; hence, it is important to pay attention to impact of trauma, on both mental health as well as in reducing criminality.
Developing the right theoretical structure: The success of feminist perspective depends on a structure that not only has to address questions about crime and delinquency but also issues such as sex-role expectations and patriarchal structures within society.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (19 of 19)
Feminist Criminology
Policy implications for justice system.
Expanding discussions in future.
Linking research and activism.
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6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.
Feminist Criminology
Policy implications for justice system:
Traditionally male-centered approaches involve ignorance about causes of girls’ delinquency and threaten the appropriateness of systemic intervention with and treatment responses for girls.
Inclusion of feminist criminology has important policy implications in the 21st century.
Expanding discussions in future:
Feminist criminology should also discuss intersections between gender, race, and class.
Example: Increases in number of women incarcerated due to war on drugs represent a war on women in general with specific and detrimental effects for women of color.
Linking research and activism: Feminist scholars need to pursue opportunities to link their research and activism, particularly given recent trends in crime control policies that have consequences for lives of women, their families and communities.
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Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 8: Female Offenders and their Crimes
1
Introduction (1 of 2)
Nature of women’s crimes.
Gender gap.
Male and female crime participation.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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Introduction
Nature of women’s crimes:
Nonviolent or victimless, such as drug abuse and sexually based offenses.
While female crimes of violence are highly sensationalized by media, these are rare occurrences.
Gender gap: the differences in male and female offending for different types of offenses.
Male and female crime participation:
Proportion of violent crime cases is far greater for males than females.
While women are a larger proportion of property crimes, these are still dominated by male offenders.
The narrowest margin is for larceny-theft cases, where men are 60.5% and women are 39.5% of arrests.
2
Introduction (2 of 2)
Arrest trends from 2011 to 2020.
Impact of percentages.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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Introduction
Arrest trends from 2011 to 2020:
Demonstrate an overall decrease for violent and property crimes for both genders.
14.1% increase in men’s arrests for arson between 2016 and 2020, yet a decrease between 2011 and 2020.
Decrease in robbery and aggravated assault cases, but increase in homicide crimes.
Impact of percentages:
Percentage changes for female offenders seem high because base numbers are much lower than for male offenders.
Women remain a small proportion of the total number of arrests.
3
Women and Drugs (1 of 4)
Historical view.
War on drugs.
Pathways to drug use.
Age and home environment.
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8.2. Evaluate the impact of addiction and the war on drugs on women.
Women and Drugs
Historical view:
Women were not identified as typical addict or drug abuser.
In many cases, use of prescription and illegal substances (particularly by White women) was normalized, often as a response to the pressures of gender-role expectations.
Examples can be found in advertisements for antianxiety medications to calm the frenzied housewife.
In modern era, drug use was promoted as desirable (for White women) with image of the heroin chic fashionista of the 1990s, personified by Kate Moss.
War on drugs:
It has had a significant impact on women with illicit drug addictions.
In last few decades, incarceration rates grew 108%, but raw numbers grew eightfold.
These can be attributed almost exclusively to female drug offender (or to the rise in other offenses because of drug use).
In 2012, female drug offenders account for 25% of state prison population compared to 9% in 2008.
Pathways to drug use:
Research identifies similar pathways, regardless of race, ethnicity, or drug of choice.
Substance use becomes a method of coping with their lives.
Primary pathways include exposure to alcohol and drugs at a young age, early childhood victimization and trauma, mental health challenges, and economic challenges.
Age and home environment:
Some women begin to use drugs at an early age. They are often exposed to drug use within home environment.
Family can provide increased availability of drugs and an accepting environment.
Substance abuse can become part of family culture.
Lack of parental supervision may also lead to substance use.
Early experimentation can also lead to a longer term of addiction.
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Women and Drugs (2 of 4)
Victimization and trauma.
Mental health issues.
Romantic relationship.
Limited abilities for self-sustaining life.
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8.2. Evaluate the impact of addiction and the war on drugs on women.
Women and Drugs
Victimization and trauma:
Women who experience violence and abuse during formative years are more likely to abuse substances.
48% to 90% of addicted women have endured physical or sexual victimization during childhood.
Left untreated, drugs become a way to escape from the pain of childhood abuse and trauma.
Mental health issues:
72% of men and women with severe mental disorders have co-occurring substance abuse problem.
Women have higher rates of mental illness than men.
In absence of treatment, many choose to self-medicate, which can lead to addiction.
Romantic relationship:
Women may engage in substance abuse as part of a romantic relationship.
This may become addiction and continue even once the relationship ends.
Limited abilities for self-sustaining life:
Addiction limits the abilities for many women to develop a self-sustaining life.
It places women at risk for homelessness, violence, and incarceration in effort to fund drug use.
There may be collateral consequences, particularly for her minor children.
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Women and Drugs (3 of 4)
Substance abuse and pregnancy.
Drug use as criminal justice issue.
Sentencing structures for offenders.
Women as users and dealers.
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8.2. Evaluate the impact of addiction and the war on drugs on women.
Women and Drugs
Substance abuse and pregnancy:
Lack of prenatal care can place child at risk for health and developmental issues.
Pregnancy may encourage some women to seek treatment and try to change their lives.
Relapse, incarceration, and time in a treatment facility may separate mothers from their children.
Addiction may make women emotionally unavailable for their children.
Over time, intergenerational pattern emerges, and daughters turn to the same addictions.
Drug use as criminal justice issue:
As addicted women shifted toward criminal activity to support drug habit, perception that drug addiction is dangerous spread.
Shift of addiction from a public health issue to a criminal justice issue fueled the fear.
Heightened frenzy over the dangerousness of drugs has fueled the war on drugs.
Sentencing structures for offenders:
The introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing was a major change in the processing of drug offenders.
With elimination of judicial discretion, judges were unable to assess the role of women in these offenses. They now received long sentences instead of probation and other community supervisions.
This led to dramatic increase in female incarceration rates for drug-related offenses.
Women as users and dealers:
Most cases involve women as users.
Even when involved in sales, they rarely participate in mid- or high-level management.
Women dealers at higher levels are often characterized by justice officials as either more like their male counterparts or worse for violating gender norms.
Women who enter drug trade through relationship with an intimate partner are viewed by courts as less culpable and “under the influence” of criminal men.
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Women and Drugs (4 of 4)
Changes in federal sentencing laws.
Call for return to war on drugs.
War on women.
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8.2. Evaluate the impact of addiction and the war on drugs on women.
Women and Drugs
Changes in federal sentencing laws:
These have reduced disparities in sentencing and have created a new system where courts are overloaded with drug possession and distribution cases, and growth of prison economy has reached epic proportions.
Efforts appear to have done little to stem use and sale of drugs.
Call for return to war on drugs:
Attorney General Jefferson Sessions has instructed federal prosecutors to pursue harsh punishments for drug-related crimes, even low-level offenses.
To justify this, he has cited perceived increase in crime rates over the past year.
Overall crime rates other than drug-related have changed little in the last 40 years.
War on women:
These policies have led to increase in incarceration rates of women.
Some scholars suggest that the war on drugs has in effect become a war on women.
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Property Crime (1 of 2)
Illegal acquisition of property.
Crime rates and gender participation.
Role of addiction.
Economic survival.
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8.1. Explain the role of women in violent and property offenses.
Property Crime
Property crime:
Refers to illegal acquisition of money, goods, or valuables, but without use of force or fear to obtain property.
Uniform Crime Report includes arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) includes only burglary, motor vehicle theft, and theft (larceny).
National Incident Based Reporting System includes arson, bribery, burglary, vandalism, embezzlement, blackmail, fraud, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, stolen property offenses, bad checks.
Crime rates and gender participation:
Rate of property crime victimization (property crime per 1,000 households) is roughly one-third the 1993 rate.
Females are more likely to be involved in property offenses compared to other crimes.
Males commit the overwhelming majority of such crimes. Men committed 62% of property crimes in 2010.
Role of addiction:
Drugs are the most common factor among females who engage in property crimes.
52% of property offenders engage in crime to get money so that they can buy drugs, compared to 15% of violent offenders.
Economic survival:
Only 40% of incarcerated women were employed prior to their arrest.
Welfare reform during 1990s led to small reduction of female involvement in serious property crimes.
Addiction can play a role for some offenders. Addicts unable to hold employment might turn to crime to support household.
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Property Crime (2 of 2)
Shoplifting as a pink-collar crime.
Gendered engagement in crime.
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8.1. Explain the role of women in violent and property offenses.
Property Crime
Shoplifting as a pink-collar crime:
Shoplifting may be undertaken to support other areas of criminality or as a primary occupation.
These women view themselves as professionals, and their ability to shoplift is a skill.
Shoplifter develops a list of clients who will purchase their goods.
Her attire is based on type of stores so that she can blend in with legitimate shoppers and go undetected by security.
Gendered engagement in crime:
Women engage in robbery as solo offenders.
They typically do not engage in overt acts of violence and select other women as their victims.
They may use their femininity to draw in victims as part of a larger mixed-gender group.
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Prostitution (1 of 8)
Selling or trading sex.
Criminal act.
Arrest trends.
Trade for commodities.
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8.3. Identify how prostitution and sex work is gendered.
Prostitution
Prostitution:
Involves the act of selling or trading sex for money.
Forms include escort services, massage parlors, or work in brothels, bars, and truck stops.
Street-level prostitution is one of the most visible forms.
Criminal act:
In some cases, prostitution is legalized and regulated by administrative rules.
In others, it has been decriminalized, which means no criminal penalties for those who engage in the act.
In some cases, it is legal to sell sex, but illegal to purchase it or to run a brothel.
Most of the U.S. operates under prohibition of prostitution.
Arrest trends:
National Incident Based Reporting System says that there were 7,543 arrests in 2019.
57.7% of offenders were female.
Most of these are workers of the trade and not traffickers or customers.
Trade for commodities:
In addition to money, women in street-level prostitution also trade sex for drugs or food, clothing, and shelter.
Women in this arena experience high levels of risk for violence and victimization.
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Prostitution (2 of 8)
Common risk factors.
Early childhood sexual victimization.
Running away from home.
Normalization in some families.
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8.3. Identify how prostitution and sex work is gendered.
Prostitution
Common risk factors:
History of abuse is one of the most common factors.
Drug addiction almost always paves the way to prostitution.
Poverty: Many women choose to enter street prostitution and brothel work out of financial need.
Street prostitution: an illegal form of prostitution that takes place in public places.
Early childhood sexual victimization:
There is a strong correlation between experience of incest and prostitution.
87% of participants in a recovery program experienced abuse in early childhood, often by family member.
They learned about sexuality as a commodity, and a way to feel powerful about their lives.
Running away from home:
Girls often run away to escape abuse. Once on the streets, they are at risk for even more violence.
Many turn to prostitution to survive.
Prostitution is also a way to regain some agency and control of their sexuality.
Normalization in some families:
For some adolescent girls, the decision to enter prostitution is normalized.
Prostitution is practiced within the family/community and viewed as an economic opportunity.
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Prostitution (3 of 8)
High levels of violence.
Reporting violence.
Impact of witnessing peer violence.
Dealing with risky situations.
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8.3. Identify how prostitution and sex work is gendered.
Prostitution
High levels of violence:
Women in prostitution witness and experience violence daily on the streets.
More than 90% are brutally victimized. They are robbed, raped, and assaulted by customers and pimps or even an intimate partner.
The greater their poverty, the more likely they are to experience violence.
Time in the profession also increases risks of violence.
Reporting violence:
Many do not report out of fear of arrest, coupled with a belief that police will do little.
Women often return to the streets immediately following victimization; this temporary intervention is viewed as a delay in work rather than an opportunity for an exit strategy.
Many characterize their experience as normal and going along with their lifestyle.
Impact of witnessing peer violence:
Often leads to mental health issues.
Drug use becomes a way to cope.
Dealing with risky situations:
As pressure to make money increases, women may enter increasingly risky situations with customers.
Women rely on their intuition to avoid potentially violent situations.
Many will not leave a designated area and generally refuse to get into a car with a client.
Others carry a weapon.
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Prostitution (4 of 8)
Feelings about a violent incident.
Role of drug addiction.
Long-term physical health risks.
Mental health concerns.
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8.3. Identify how prostitution and sex work is gendered.
Prostitution
Feelings about a violent incident:
Some women feel thrill and power when they are able to survive.
Some are surprised when they reflect on the level of violence later.
Some may dissociate themselves and believe that the experience was not as traumatic.
Role of drug addiction:
About 70% of women in prostitution have issues with drug addiction.
Some begin use prior to their entry in prostitution and then resort to prostitution to fund drug habits.
Others may begin use later in effort to self-medicate against the fear, stress, and low self-esteem.
As time on the streets increases, so does substance abuse. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.
For some addicts, taking a prostitution charge (misdemeanor) is better than a drugs charge (felony).
Long-term physical health risks:
Women engaged in street-based sex work are at risk for issues related to HIV, hepatitis, and other chronic health concerns, including dental, vision, neurological, respiratory, and gynecological problems.
They face challenges in finding contraception and physical health screenings.
Death rate of women in prostitution is 40 times higher than the death rate of overall population.
Mental health concerns:
Cases of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are directly related to levels of violence experienced. Two-thirds of prostituted women experience symptoms.
Sufferers unable to accurately assess levels of threat, are at increased risk for victimization.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): may develop after a person experiences a traumatic life event. PTSD can include flashbacks, avoidance of emotional contexts, and recurrent nightmares and may inhibit normal daily functioning abilities.
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Prostitution (5 of 8)
Focus on heteronormative model.
Experience of LGBTQ youth.
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8.3. Identify how prostitution and sex work is gendered.
Prostitution
Focus on heteronormative model:
Research on street prostitution focuses on a heteronormative model of prostitution, with women engaging in the selling of sex and men are the consumers.
While research on LGBTQ+ experiences is limited, 25 to 35% of male sex workers identify as gay or trans.
Experience of LGBTQ youth:
Decision to engage in survival sex often follows rejection due to sexual or gender identity, and restricted access to targeted medical care and social welfare.
These youth are seven times more likely to trade sex for housing than heterosexual youth and most are homeless when they first enter the sex trade.
Transgender street sex workers face higher rates of violence from clients due to transphobia and community tolerance.
Only a few centers or mental health workers provide the unique support and services they need.
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Prostitution (6 of 8)
The Legalization Debate
Legal prostitution in Nevada.
Safety mechanism in Nevada’s brothels.
Legalization of brothels in Netherlands.
Initiatives taken by Dutch government.
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8.4. Summarize the different arguments for the legalization and decriminalization of sex work.
The Legalization Debate
Legal prostitution in Nevada:
Limited to counties with a population under 400,000, excluding high-traffic areas.
Laws focus on minimization of risk and reduction of violence.
Zoning laws regulate where brothels can exist and carry hefty licensing fees.
There are mandatory weekly screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
Safety mechanism in Nevada’s brothels:
Audio monitoring and call buttons in rooms.
Limited services outside of the brothel environment.
Women in brothel settings feel safe and rarely experience acts of violence.
Legalization of brothels in Netherlands in 2000:
Practice of prostitution was already common.
The state created opportunity for brothel owners to own a legal business.
Through licensing, authorities could mandate public health and safety screenings for sex workers.
Labor laws regarding working conditions for prostitutes were put into effect.
The state also created a tax base in which revenue could be generated.
Initiatives taken by Dutch government:
Dutch government aimed to create safe working conditions for women in prostitution and a system of monitoring of the sex trade.
It also aimed to regulate associated illegal activities like street crimes, exploitation of juveniles, or trafficking of women.
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Prostitution (7 of 8)
The Legalization Debate
Reaction to zoned area for prostitution.
No guarantee to following laws.
Criminalization of demand.
More sanctions for seller in U.S.
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8.4. Summarize the different arguments for the legalization and decriminalization of sex work.
The Legalization Debate
Reaction to zoned area for prostitution:
Some argued that it would improve safety, provide increased services, and reduce presence of street prostitution in other areas.
Others questioned whether crime would increase in these areas.
Some expressed objections to having such zones near residential areas.
No guarantee to following laws:
Many brothels fail to register their businesses and pay little attention to the regulatory rules.
Illegal sexual practices have continued to flourish; the Netherlands is a leading destination for pedophiles and child pornographers.
During COVID-19 pandemic, some Dutch sex workers continued to work illegally for income.
Not all qualified for support or the funds were inadequate.
Even once other industries reopened, brothels remained closed.
Criminalization of demand:
In Sweden, purchasing of sex from women is a criminal act; The belief is that criminalizing the male demand may significantly decrease the supply of women who engage in these acts.
In the passing of these laws, Sweden’s parliament indicated that it is not reasonable to punish seller of sex as they are the ones exploited.
Demand is an important characteristic in selling of sex, but larger issues like economics, globalization, poverty, and inequality contribute to a system of sexual exploitation.
More sanctions for seller in U.S.:
Women are more likely to face sanctions for selling sex, than men who seek to purchase it.
Criminalization impacts help seeking behaviors, as sex workers may fear legal repercussions.
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Prostitution (8 of 8)
The Legalization Debate
Challenges faced by women.
Failure of public health systems.
Limited ability to leave prostitution.
Requirements to exit streets.
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8.4. Summarize the different arguments for the legalization and decriminalization of sex work.
The Legalization Debate
Challenges faced by women:
Despite legalization of the brothel environment, prostitution remains a significant way in which women are brutalized and harmed.
Social stigma of women does not decrease because of the legalization.
Restriction of brothels to specific regions isolates women from mainstream society and magnifies stigma.
Women continue to experience victim blaming when they are victimized.
Failure of public health systems:
System fails to meet some of the most critical needs, because efforts are limited to physical health.
Little to no attention is paid to mental health needs.
Limited ability to leave prostitution:
Multiple needs (housing, employment, and drug treatment) stops the women from leaving prostitution.
Few programs provide adequate levels of services for women during this transition.
Affordable safe housing is the greatest immediate need for women in transition. Homelessness puts them at risk for relapse.
Requirements to exit streets:
Women exiting the streets indicate a variety of therapeutic needs, including life skills, addiction recovery programming, and mental health services.
An exit strategy needs to acknowledge barriers to success and continuing struggles that women will experience.
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Women and Violence (1 of 5)
Girls and Gangs
Estimates of numbers.
Earlier reasons for entering gangs.
Distinguished by sexuality.
Expanding role in modern research.
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8.5. Examine how gender roles are established in gang culture.
Girls and Gangs
Estimates of numbers:
Surveys of 1990s estimated that between 8% and 11% of gang members were female.
Not all jurisdictions include girls in their counts, which can skew data.
The National Youth Gang Center suggests that these rates have remained consistent.
Self-report studies reflect a higher percentage: 38% of self-identified gang members between ages 13 and 15 were female.
Recent self-report data indicate that girls represent between 31% and 45% of gang members.
Earlier reasons for entering gangs: Classic studies suggested girls entered gangs as a result of a brother or boyfriend’s affiliation.
Distinguished by sexuality: This sexualization manifested in several ways:
As a girlfriend to a male gang member.
As one who engages in sex with male gang members.
As one who uses her sexuality to avoid detection by rival gang members and law enforcement.
Expanding role in modern research:
Female gangs are increasing their membership ranks as well as expanding their function as an independent entity separate from the male gang.
Girls in the gang are no longer the sexual toy of the male gang, but active participants in crimes of drugs and violence.
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Women and Violence (2 of 5)
Girls and Gangs
Modern reasons of entering gangs.
Gang membership as family affair.
Desire to belong.
Relationship among life situation factors.
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8.5. Examine how gender roles are established in gang culture.
Girls and Gangs
Modern reasons of entering gangs:
Poverty: Girls in gangs come from poor families in economically depressed areas.
Social disorganization in their neighborhoods.
Limited opportunities for positive, prosocial activities.
Increased pressure to join a gang.
Limited achievements in the classroom: Educational experience has little to do with books or teachers.
Parents never married, and presence of intimate partner abuse within the home.
Family member who was involved in the criminal justice system.
Vulnerability: Not joining a gang makes them more vulnerable than joining one.
Gang membership as family affair:
For some girls, membership in a gang is a family affair, with parents, siblings, and extended family members involved in the gang lifestyle. For these girls, gang affiliation comes at an early age.
Childhood and preteen years: Limited acts of delinquency and drug experimentation.
Junior high: Several risk factors, including risky sexual behavior, school failures, and truancy.
Teenagers: Committed to the gang and criminal activity. Later adolescent years (ages 15–18) represent the most intense years of gang activity.
Desire to belong:
Many abused girls run away from home. Gangs provide a refuge.
Gang might provide a sense of family that was lacking.
Relationship among life situation factors: Relation between factors like neighborhood exposure to gangs, family involvement in the lifestyle, and family problems illustrates the trajectory of girls into the gang lifestyle.
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Women and Violence (3 of 5)
Girls and Gangs
Lifestyle, structure, and characteristics.
Initiation processes.
Impact of initiation on girls’ status.
Crime participation by girl gangs.
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8.5. Examine how gender roles are established in gang culture.
Girls and Gangs
Lifestyle, structure, and characteristics:
Some girls hang out with gangs in search of a social life, but do not consider themselves as members.
Structure of the gang ranges from mixed-gender gang to functioning as an independent unit.
In mixed-gender gangs, girls’ role ranged from being an affiliate of male gang unit to having separate but equal relationship.
Initiation processes:
Jumped in, blessed in (gaining access via family).
Walking the line: Girls were subjected to assault by their fellow gang members.
Being “sexed” in or pulling a train: an experience that involved having sex with multiple individuals, often the male gang members. In some cases, girls were prostituted by the gang.
Impact of initiation on girls’ status:
Those sexed in experienced lower levels of respect by fellow members and were subjected to continued victimization.
Initiation created a hierarchy within the ranks. Those viewed as tough were jumped in, whereas being sexed in sealed an identity as promiscuous.
In some cases, girls were only excluded from being sexed in if they identified as gay or bisexual.
Crime participation by girl gangs:
They engage in more crime than non gang-affiliated girls, but participate at rates similar to male gang members.
Criminal offenses include violent crime, selling drugs, property crimes, and economic crimes like prostitution, burglary, robbery, or theft.
Not all their crimes were violent. In some cases, girls acted to draw in rival gang members.
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Women and Violence (4 of 5)
Girls and Gangs
Victimization for independent gangs.
Connection to a male gang.
Ways to exit gang lifestyle.
Choices for those remaining in gangs.
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8.5. Examine how gender roles are established in gang culture.
Girls and Gangs
Victimization for independent gangs:
Girls who are independent of a male gang hierarchy tend to experience high levels of violence as a result of selling drugs and interactions on the streets with other girls.
These girls are aware of potential risks and take precautions, like having a weapon, staying off the streets at night, and traveling in groups.
Connection to a male gang:
This can serve as a protective factor but can also place girls at risk of rape and sexual assault.
These girls tend to experience higher levels of violence on the streets compared to girls in independent cliques.
These organizations tend to be patriarchal and it is rare to see a woman in a leadership position.
These girls are at higher risk of victimization due to exposure to assaults and drive-by shootings involving male gang members.
Ways to exit gang lifestyle:
Exit coincides with end of adolescence.
They may withdraw as a result of pregnancy and need to care for young children.
The exit may also be facilitated by an entry into legitimate employment or advanced education.
Some may be removed from gangs as a result of incarceration; programming within prison that targets the unique needs of gang-affiliated girls could provide an exit strategy.
While some may choose to be “jumped out,” most will simply diminish involvement over time rather than be perceived as betraying or deliberately going against their peers.
Choices for those remaining in gangs:
They may continue as active members and expand their criminal résumé.
Their relationships with male gang members may continue, which allows them to continue their affiliation in either a direct or indirect role.
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Women and Violence (5 of 5)
Gender and Violent Crime
Women’s participation.
Sensationalized in pop culture.
Increase in public fascination.
Opinion over evidence.
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8.1. Explain the role of women in violent and property offenses.
Gender and Violent Crime
Women’s participation:
Females make up a small proportion of violent offenders.
Their participation in homicide accounts for less than half of the arrests of men and offending rates have declined.
Women are more likely to kill someone known to them than a stranger. They generally kill their spouses, significant others, or their children.
Sensationalized in pop culture:
Portrayal in movies like Fatal Attraction and Chicago produced much of the fascination about female violent crime.
Cases from 1920s where women were acquitted for killing their husbands or lovers were sensationalized in local newspapers.
Even popular song lyrics draw attention (and justify) violent actions of women.
Media fascination shows in trials of Pamela Smart and Casey Anthony.
Increase in public fascination:
Televised trials: The intimate accessibility allows the public to feel part of the trial experience with a personal investment in its outcome.
There are multiple sources to satisfy desires for dramatized portrayals of crime and justice.
Many sources of information dominate the public perceptions of crime, like Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.
Opinion over evidence:
Despite the lack of direct evidence, press portrayals may cause public to assume the woman’s guilt.
In trials like Jodi Arias, there was no shortage of “legal experts” waiting to give their opinion on the events of the day, the evidence presented, or the demeanor of the defendant.
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Mothers Who Kill Their Children (1 of 4)
Filicide.
Viewed as inherently evil
Neonaticide.
Infanticide.
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8.6. Discuss the role of mental illness in cases of filicide.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
Filicide: the homicide of children older than one year of age by their parent.
Mothers who kill their children are often viewed as inherently evil:
She violates the gender normative expectations that society instills for women and mothers.
Andrea Yates is one of the most identifiable cases in the 21st century. Her case illustrates several factors common to such incidents like history of mental health issues.
Neonaticide: an act of homicide of an infant during the first 24 hours after the birth of the child.
Infanticide an act in which a parent kills his or her child within the first year.
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Mothers Who Kill Their Children (2 of 4)
Altruistic reason for infanticide.
Themes common to altruistic filicide.
Acute psychosis.
Killing of unwanted infant.
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8.6. Discuss the role of mental illness in cases of filicide.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
Altruistic reason for infanticide:
Mother believes that it is in the best interests of the child to be dead.
She believes (real or imagined) that the child is suffering and that the child’s pain should end.
Themes common to altruistic filicide:
Societal pressure for women to be good mothers: For Yates, this was influenced by her religious fundamentalism and exacerbated by her history of mental illness.
Pressure of bearing the sole responsibility to care for the children: Yates expressed feeling overwhelmed and lacked any support from outside of the family.
Acute psychosis:
The second category infanticide is the killing of a child by an acutely psychotic woman.
These cases are closely linked to postpartum psychosis where mother suffers from severe mental illness and may be unaware of her action or unable to appreciate its wrongfulness.
In Finland, 51% of mothers who killed their children suffered from psychosis and psychotic depression.
Killing of unwanted infant:
The third category involves killing of an unwanted infant.
These women tend to be unmarried, under 25, and generally wish to conceal their pregnancy from friends.
Some may acknowledge pregnancy, but be in denial and not prepared for birth. Others fail to acknowledge.
They typically give birth without medical intervention and without any form of prenatal care.
Children are typically killed by strangulation, drowning, or suffocation.
In Hong Kong, women in this category were typically treated with leniency and given community sentences in lieu of incarceration.
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Mothers Who Kill Their Children (3 of 4)
Accidental death following abuse.
Act of revenge against another.
Justice from postpartum syndromes.
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8.6. Discuss the role of mental illness in cases of filicide.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
Accidental death following abuse:
The fourth category involves the “accidental” death of a child following incidents of significant child abuse and maltreatment.
Death follows incidents of significant child abuse and maltreatment.
Often, death occurs after a long period of abuse.
Act of revenge against another:
The fifth category represents involves death of a child as an act of ultimate revenge against another.
Death of a child is used as a vengeful act, usually against the spouse and father of the child.
Justice from postpartum syndromes:
The presence of a psychological disorder makes it easier for society to understand that a mother could hurt her child.
Evidence of psychosis may be used to determine whether defendant is legally competent to participate in criminal proceedings.
Information about postpartum syndromes can be used as evidence to exclude culpability of the woman during a trial proceeding.
In some states, this evidence forms basis of a verdict of “not guilty by reason of insanity.”
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Mothers Who Kill Their Children (4 of 4)
Empathy from insanity defense.
Guilty but mentally ill.
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8.6. Discuss the role of mental illness in cases of filicide.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
Empathy from insanity defense:
The insanity defense enables female violence to coexist comfortably with traditional notions of femininity.
It also promotes empathy toward violent women, whose aberrance becomes a result of external factors rather than conscious choice.
Guilty but mentally ill:
Defendant is found guilty of the crime, but the court may mitigate criminal sentence to acknowledge her mental health status.
For many offenders, this can allow them to serve a portion of their sentence in a treatment hospital or related facility.
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Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition
Chapter 7: Girls, Gender, and Juvenile Delinquency
1
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard (1 of 5)
Development of term juvenile delinquent.
Doctrine of parens patriae.
Development of juvenile court.
New York House of Refuge.
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7.1. Discuss the rise of the juvenile court.
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard
Development of term juvenile delinquent:
It reflected the idea that youth were “malleable” and could be shaped into law-abiding citizens.
A key factor in this process was the doctrine of parens patriae.
Doctrine of parens patriae:
Parens patriae: originated in the English Chancery Courts; this practice gives the state custody of children in cases where the child has no parents or the parents are deemed unfit care providers.
It became government’s justification for regulating adolescents and their behaviors in the best interests of the child.
Development of juvenile court:
Before this, cases of youth offending were handled on an informal basis.
Dramatic population growth and industrialization made it difficult for families and communities to control wayward youth.
Parens patriae led to a separate system to oversee rehabilitation of youth deemed out of control.
New York House of Refuge:
One of the first reformatories, designed to keep youth offenders separate from adult population.
Juveniles were committed to institutions for long periods of time, often until their 21st birthday.
Practices here were based less on controlling criminal behaviors and more on preventing future pauperism, which reformers believed led to delinquency.
Reformers chose to respond to what they viewed as the “peculiar weaknesses” of the children’s moral natures and “weak and criminal” parents.
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The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard (2 of 5)
Discrimination in reform institutions.
Child-saving movement.
First juvenile court in Chicago.
Age-of-consent campaign.
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7.1. Discuss the rise of the juvenile court.
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard
Discrimination in reform institutions:
Parens patriae was used to discriminate against children of the poor as these youth had not necessarily committed a criminal offense.
They were more likely to be described as from an unfit home or displaying incorrigible behaviors.
Access to structure and schooling was reserved for white children, while young Black girls were sent to adult institutions which were more punitive.
After a decade of advocacy, the House of Refuge began to accept Black girls, but reform involved training young girls of color to serve in domestic roles for elite class.
Black girls were typically institutionalized for longer periods than their white counterparts.
Child-saving movement:
Progressive era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the movement.
The movement comprised middle- and upper-class white citizens guided by conscience and morality, saw themselves as altruists and humanitarians rescuing the less fortunate.
First juvenile court in Chicago:
Created due to efforts of child-savers movement.
Jurisdiction presided over 3 youth populations: (1) children who committed adult criminal offenses, (2) children who committed status offenses, (3) children abused or neglected by their parents.
Age-of-consent campaign:
Designed to protect young women from men who preyed on the innocence of girls by raising the age of sexual consent to 16 or 18 in all states by 1920.
Parens patriae significantly affected the treatment of girls who were identified as delinquent.
These practices denied young women an avenue for healthy sexual expression and identity.
The laws that resulted from this movement punished displays of sexuality by placing young women in detention centers or reformatories for moral violations with intent to incarcerate them throughout adolescence.
They held women to a high standard of sexual purity, while sexual nature of men was dismissed as normal and pardonable behavior.
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The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard (3 of 5)
Policies based on white ideals.
Emphasis on sexual purity.
Sexual exploitation of white women.
Role of Black women clubs.
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7.1. Discuss the rise of the juvenile court.
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard
Policies based on white ideals:
The reformers developed their policies based on a white, middle-class ideal of purity and modesty.
Anyone who did not conform to these ideals was viewed as out of control and in need of intervention by the juvenile court.
Emphasis on sexual purity:
Campaigners viewed delinquent acts of young women as inherently more dangerous than acts of their men counterparts.
The emphasis was on sexual purity as the pathway toward healthy adulthood and stability for the future.
Juvenile reformatory became a place to shift focus away from sexual desire and train young girls for marriage.
Sexual exploitation of white women:
This exclusive focus by moral reformers on the sexual exploitation of white, working-class women led to the racist implication that only the virtues of white women needed to be saved.
Reformers in the Black were unsupportive of the campaign to impose criminal sanctions on offenders for sexual crimes, because they were concerned that such laws would unfairly target men of color.
Role of Black women clubs:
Developed and funded institutions specifically for youth of color.
Instead of sending girls of color to adult institutions for minor crimes, schools like Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls were established.
Intent was to create an environment focused on leadership, education, and responsibility to benefit young Black girls, in contrast to the cycle of trauma and violence in traditional institutions.
4
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard (4 of 5)
Reformatory for moral offenses.
Net widening.
Control of girls’ sexuality.
Blaming victims of sexual assault.
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7.1. Discuss the rise of the juvenile court.
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard
Reformatory for moral offenses: The increased focus on the use of the reformatory for moral offenses allowed for the practice of net widening to occur, and more offenders were placed under the supervision of the juvenile courts.
Net widening:
It refers to the practice whereby programs such as diversion were developed to inhibit the introduction of youth into the juvenile justice system.
However, these programs expanded the reach of the juvenile court and increased the number of youth under the general reach of the system, both informally and formally.
Control of girls’ sexuality:
Extended to all girls involved in juvenile court, regardless of offense.
Between 1929 and 1964, girls arrested for status offenses were forced to have gynecological exams to determine whether they had had sexual intercourse and contracted any diseases.
These girls were more likely to be sent to juvenile detention than men counterparts and spent 3 times as long in detention.
In the early 20th century, any woman suspected to have a STI was arrested, examined, and quarantined.
Blaming victims of sexual assault:
Young women were often blamed for “tempting” defendants into immoral behavior in cases where they were victims of forcible sexual assault.
Like in consensual sex cases, the girl was labeled as delinquent in sexual victimization cases.
5
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard (5 of 5)
Double victimization of women.
Sexual double standard.
Differential treatment of men, women.
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7.1. Discuss the rise of the juvenile court.
The Rise of the Juvenile Court and the Sexual Double Standard
Double victimization of women:
First by the assault and second by the system.
During court hearings, woman’s sexual history was used to discredit her.
No similar information requested about a man as it would unfairly prejudice the jury.
Any nonmarital sexual experience, even rape, resulted in girls treated as offenders.
Young Black girls who acted out in self-defense saw their abusers walk free, while the system failed to see how abuse was a factor in her behavior, regardless of age.
Sexual double standard:
Court system became a mechanism to control women sexuality.
Men enjoy a sense of sexual freedom denied to girls.
In the case of men, the only concern raised by court is centered on abusive and predatory behaviors, particularly toward younger children.
Differential treatment of men, women:
Court officials think about sexuality in different ways for men and women.
For boys, no reference regarding noncriminalized sexual behaviors.
For girls, levels of sexual activity engaged in are used as grounds for identifying them as out of control and in need of juvenile court services.
6
The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency (1 of 4)
Increase in arrest of girls.
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
Juvenile delinquency.
UCR data on juvenile offenders.
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7.2. Describe the nature and extent of female delinquency.
The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency
Increase in arrest of girls:
Number of arrests involving girls and volume of cases has increased at a dramatic rate.
However, boys’ offending continues to dominate system.
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR):
It reflects the arrest data from across the nation.
This resource also includes information on juvenile offenders.
Arrest data used to assess number of crimes reported involving youth offenders, most serious charge within these arrests, and disposition by police.
Juveniles are often involved in acts that are not serious and nonviolent in nature.
Practices of crime reporting and how data are compiled can have a significant effect on understanding juvenile delinquency.
Despite flaws, UCR remains the best resource for arrest rates.
Juvenile delinquency: the repeated committing of crimes by young children and adolescents.
UCR data on juvenile offenders:
In 1980, girls represented 20% of juvenile arrests.
By 2003, it increased to 27%.
Today, it is 29%.
From 1980 to 2003, juvenile women proportion of violent crime index offenses increased from 10% to 18%, while property offenses increased from 19% to 32%.
Majority of increase occurred during late 1980s to early 1990s with rise of “tough on crime” philosophies.
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The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency (2 of 4)
Percentages vs. actual numbers.
Self-reported studies.
Scaling up factor.
Impact of race, sexual identity.
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7.2. Describe the nature and extent of female delinquency.
7.3. Explain the “double standard” for girls in the juvenile justice system.
The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency
Percentages vs. actual numbers:
Data (2011 to 2020) showing percentages of men and women involved in crimes shows a higher and more dramatic percentage increase for women delinquency.
Comparing actual numbers, increase in number is higher for men.
Example, increase in 9 cases of juvenile homicide for women but 71 for men during this period.
Self-reported studies:
While official statistics provide one picture on delinquency, self reported data provides a different view.
Delinquent behavior was more prevalent than what was portrayed by official statistics, and that the demographic differences in offending were much narrower.
Self reported studies on juvenile delinquency highlight that the rates of delinquent acts are much greater than arrest rates.
Scaling up factor:
The relationship between the number of official arrests to the number of self-reported acts of crime.
For every conviction, boys commit 22 acts and girls commit 5 acts of delinquency.
The younger they are, the less likely they were charged.
Cases of theft less likely to be detected than acts of violence.
Impact of race, sexual identity:
African American girls are 3 times more likely to be formally charged than white women.
Native American girls are more likely to be detained for public order offenses and status offenses than white girls.
LGBTQ youth are overrepresented.
39.4% of all girls in juvenile justice facilities identify as LGBTQ+, compared to 3.2% of boys.
Over 85% of LGBTQ+ youth are also youth of color.
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The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency (3 of 4)
Increased attention on women delinquency.
Impact of formal processing.
Gender differences in detention.
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7.2. Describe the nature and extent of female delinquency.
7.3. Explain the “double standard” for girls in the juvenile justice system.
The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency
Increased attention on women delinquency:
Has affected the handling of these cases by juvenile courts.
Since early 1990s, girls have represented a growing proportion of cases in these courts.
Youth of color also continue to represent a disproportionate number in court even though the percentage of arrests has decreased significantly in recent years.
However, trends may be stabilizing as proportion of girls in juvenile court has stabilized since 2005.
Impact of formal processing:
Formal processing: a petition is filed requesting a court hearing, which can initiate the designation of being labeled as a delinquent.
Increase in arrests and formal processing of juvenile cases has disproportionately impacted girls through practice of up charging by prosecutors and decrease in tolerance for girls who “act out.”
Boys benefit from a greater acceptance of these “unacceptable” behaviors.
Girls who are denied release generally spend significantly greater amounts of time in detention compared to boys.
Girls of color were disproportionately affected by shift to formal processing.
Black and Hispanic/Latino girls are more likely to receive detention.
White girls are more likely to be referred to a residential treatment facility.
Gender differences in detention:
Girls are subjected to longer periods of supervision, which appears to increase delinquency due to excessive and aggressive monitoring techniques.
Number of residential placements or sentences to formal probation terms had also increased for girls.
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The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency (4 of 4)
Juvenile girl cases are stable.
Trends in detention and processing.
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7.2. Describe the nature and extent of female delinquency.
7.3. Explain the “double standard” for girls in the juvenile justice system.
The Nature and Extent of Female Delinquency
Juvenile girl cases are stable:
Girls accounted for 28% of overall juvenile caseload in 2005 and 2014.
Some offense categories saw small increases by gender, others remained same or saw decreases.
Proportion of girls in crimes against persons and drugs cases increased but decreased for property crimes and public order offenses.
These patterns were also reflected in delinquency cases for boys.
Trends in detention and processing:
In 2009, 22% of boys and 15% of girls were detained compared to 24% and 17% in 2014.
Likelihood of processing formally increased slightly for both boys and girls.
However, proportion of cases adjudicated delinquent saw a decrease over past 5 years for both.
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The “Violent” Girl (1 of 2)
Media portrayals of bad girls.
Arrest data reflects police response.
Family-based violence.
Court enforces parental authority.
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7.4. Critique the concept of the “violent girl.”
The “Violent” Girl
Media portrayals of bad girls:
Over past two decades, media reports have alluded to the rise of the violent juvenile offender.
Portrayal of “bad girls” is linked to data that reflected increase in arrests for violent crimes involving girls.
Leads to the question of whether girls are really becoming more violent.
Arrest data reflects police response:
Self-report studies indicate that levels of violence have actually decreased for both boys and girls.
Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Between 1991 and 2001, acts of violence by girls decreased by 30.5% and by boys decreased by 14.1%.
Family-based violence:
Women juvenile cases have an overrepresentation of incidents of family-based violence.
In some cases, girls may be acting out due to trauma of abuse.
The rise in these cases reflects a shift in the way in which families and officials respond to these cases.
In others, parents may turn to the system to help enforce their own authority.
Police used to treat these interventions as social service rather than criminal matters.
But now these are handled as formal acts of delinquency.
Court enforces parental authority:
Many parents believe that juvenile justice system will give child access to resources like therapy.
Formal processing places girls under supervision of probation.
Subsequent power struggles between parent and child may become grounds for a technical violation of probation.
Court becomes a new and powerful method for enforcing parental authority.
Parents can hold a high level of power in court in disposition of their child’s case.
If a parent agrees that a child can come home, the court may be more likely to return the youth home.
If parent does not want physical custody, a judge may decide to institutionalize the youth.
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The “Violent” Girl (2 of 2)
Response to school-based violence.
History of violence.
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7.4. Critique the concept of the “violent girl.”
The “Violent” Girl
Response to school-based violence:
Earlier, outbursts and minor assaults were handled within school’s administration using punishments.
Due to zero-tolerance policies, these cases are now dealt with by local police agencies.
As girls are more likely to engage in acts of violence against family members or peers (than boys who likely target acquaintances or strangers), such policies may unfairly target girls.
History of violence:
Girls that engage in violence often have a history of violence in their own lives.
Many girls who act out may simply be reacting to social and personal conditions of their lives.
Girls who engage in violence come from impoverished home environments.
In some cases, there is a history of parental drug abuse.
Many experience sexual abuse and are exposed to violent acts, like intimate partner abuse.
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Technical Violations: The New Status Offense (1 of 2)
Status offenses.
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974.
Presence of girls in system.
Race and gender impact adjudication.
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7.5. Analyze the effect of gender and technical violations on case processing.
Technical Violations: The New Status Offense
Status offenses:
Status offenses: noncriminal behaviors such as running away, immorality, truancy, and indecent conduct that allowed youth to come under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
Acts that are illegal only if committed by juveniles.
Examples: Underage drinking, running away from home, truancy, and curfew violations.
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974:
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974: It provides funding for state and local governments to help decrease the number of juvenile delinquents and to help provide community and rehabilitative programs to offenders.
It called for such decriminalization in any state that received federal funds.
Prior to its enactment, young women were more likely to be incarcerated for status offenses compared to men counterparts.
Ended institutionalization of sexually wayward girls, but no funds made available to provide resources to address the needs of girls.
Reflects courts’ attempt to distinguish between categories of delinquency and status offenses.
Presence of girls in system:
As status offense charges were frequently used to incarcerate girls, decriminalization was expected to decrease presence of girls in juvenile justice system.
Decline did not last long.
Youth still appear before juvenile court for status offense cases, even if they are not ultimately incarcerated.
Race and gender impact adjudication:
White girls least likely to be adjudicated delinquent.
Native American boys most likely to be adjudicated, followed by girls of color.
Many status offenses are result of social, structural, and interpersonal traumas, but are used to justify juvenile court supervision.
Girls of color are disproportionately impacted.
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Technical Violations: The New Status Offense (2 of 2)
Bootstrapping.
Reauthorization of JJDP Act (1992).
Status offenses as minor acts.
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7.5. Analyze the effect of gender and technical violations on case processing.
Technical Violations: The New Status Offense
Bootstrapping:
Bootstrapping: modern-day practice of institutionalizing girls for status offenses.
Practice of institutionalizing girls for status offenses continues today.
Girl on probation or parole for a criminal offense is prosecuted formally for probation violation on committing a status offense.
Reauthorization of JJDP Act (1992):
Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act: acknowledged the need to provide gender-specific services to address the unique needs of women offenders.
It attempted to make bootstrapping more difficult for courts.
Practice continues in an inequitable fashion against girls.
Status offenses as minor acts:
Acts that were once treated as status offenses are now processed as minor acts of delinquency due to the expansion of the discretionary powers available to schools, police, and juvenile justice officials.
Has allowed justice officials to recommit girls to these residential facilities.
Commitment to state institution or detention center for status offenses is prohibited by JJDP Act 1974.
System has found a new method to incarcerate young girls deemed out of control.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (1 of 11)
Failure to address unique causes.
Gender and race differences.
Risk factors for women delinquency.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Risk Factors for Female Delinquency
Failure to address unique causes:
Theoretical inattention to these issues has affected identification and delivery of services for women and girls.
Policy makers assume that since girls engage in nonviolent or nonserious nature of crime, their needs are insignificant.
Programs and facilities in justice system are ill equipped to deal with girls’ needs.
Gender and race differences:
Boys and girls can exhibit many of the same risk factors for delinquency.
The effects of these risk factors may resonate stronger for girls than for boys.
Research indicates that girls possess significantly higher risk factors, like personal victimization experiences toward delinquency than boys.
White girls tend to exhibit higher risk for categories like substance abuse, but youth of color, particularly African American, are overrepresented in juvenile court.
Risk factors for women delinquency:
Risk factors for women delinquency: include a poor family relationship, a history of abuse, poor school performance, negative peer relationships, and issues with substance abuse.
It is important to understand these risk factors to develop recommendations for best practices for adolescent delinquent and at-risk girls.
Factors are significantly interrelated as girls tend to have higher cumulative rates of adverse childhood experiences.
Impacts likelihood for delinquency and increases potential for reoffending throughout adolescence.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (2 of 11)
Family
Positive attachment as protective factor.
Impact of negative family issues.
Family fragmentation.
Family violence.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Family
Positive attachment as protective factor:
The influence of the family unit is one of the most commonly cited references in the study of delinquency.
The family represents the primary mechanism for the internalization and socialization of social norms and values.
A positive attachment to the family acts as a key tool in the prevention of delinquency.
Girls may have stronger attachments to the family than boys.
Families can be protective factor only when they exist in a positive, prosocial environment.
Girls benefit from positive communication, structure, and support in family environment.
Impact of negative family issues:
The family can also lead girls into delinquency at a young age.
Youth may turn to delinquency to enhance self-esteem or overcome feelings of rejection by their families.
Delinquent girls have lower bonds with family than nondelinquent girls.
These issues constitute a greater problem for girls than boys.
Family fragmentation:
Due to divorce, family criminality, and foster care placements.
Girls with blended families more likely to engage in high rates of delinquency and alcohol use, than girls that reside with both birth parents.
Girls who live with one parent are more likely to engage in frequent alcohol use.
Family violence: Families with high levels of conflict and poor communication skills, combined with parents who struggle with their own personal issues, place girls at risk for delinquency.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (3 of 11)
Family
Encourages relapse and recidivism.
Detachment from family.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Family
Encourages relapse and recidivism: Family factors can also serve to encourage relapse and recidivism because girls are more likely to be at risk for continuing behaviors in families where either the parent is involved in the justice system or uses drugs or alcohol.
Detachment from family:
Once in the juvenile justice system, detachment from family can increase.
Incarcerated girls are less likely than boys to receive support from parents.
This has two implications:
Girls are more likely to experience depression, and lack of support can affect mental health.
Many intervention programs rely on parental involvement. Success in the programs could be compromised if girls feel less supported.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (4 of 11)
Abuse
Impact of abuse in family.
More common for girls.
Impacts nature, extent of delinquency.
Experiences of childhood abuse.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Abuse
Impact of abuse in family:
Can be sexual, physical, and emotional.
Impact is intensified when it occurs within the family.
Detrimental to positive development of adolescent women.
Can result in behaviors like running away, trust issues, emotional maladjustment, future sexual risk behaviors (sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline).
More common for girls:
Belknap and Holsinger: 58.9% of girls and 18.5% of boys had been sexually abused by either family member or other individual in their life.
Other forms of maltreatment can have a significant effect on the development of girls.
Girls experience higher rates of physical abuse (62.9%) than boys (42.8%).
Impacts nature, extent of delinquency:
Experiences of abuse impact both the nature and extent of delinquency.
History of child sexual abuse is strongest predictor for violent and nonviolent acts for girls.
Girls with history of physical abuse are significantly more likely to assault their parents.
Abused girls may have lower bonds to protective factors, like parents and school that could serve to inhibit their involvement in general acts of delinquency.
Experiences of childhood abuse:
In attempt to escape from abusive situation, girls often fall into criminal behaviors for survival.
Childhood victimization increases risk that a youth will run away from home.
Together these increase likelihood of engaging in delinquent behaviors.
History of sexual abuse also affects future risk for victimization, because these girls are more likely to find themselves in a domestically violent relationship.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (5 of 11)
Peers
Strong influence in adolescence.
Influence on girls’ behavior.
Time spent with delinquent peers.
Effect of age.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Peers
Strong influence in adolescence:
During adolescence, peers play a key role in terms of support and attachment.
Impact is increased for youth who experience family dysfunction or do not have strong positive attachments to family.
Can strongly impact risk-taking behaviors.
Delinquent peers present greatest risk for youth delinquency.
Number of delinquent peers determines whether a youth engages in problem behaviors.
Influence on girls’ behavior:
Girls generally have at least one friend involved in delinquent behaviors.
More influenced by friends’ delinquent behavior, effects of peer pressure and desire for acceptance.
Reducing negative peer associations can significantly reduce likelihood of future delinquency.
Time spent with delinquent peers:
Youth involved in structured activities and have less unsupervised free time are less at risk.
Girls tend to spend less time (than boys) with delinquent peers and experience less peer pressure.
Negative peer relationships have a stronger effect for African American girls than boys, while boys’ delinquency is more likely to be limited by parental monitoring.
Budget constraints limit opportunities to provide supervised positive outlet for youth between school and home.
Effect of age: For girls, peer associations with older men adolescents impact their likelihood to engage in delinquent acts if the older man is involved in crime-related behaviors.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (6 of 11)
Peers
Negative family attachment.
Peer relationships as protective factor.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Peers
Negative family attachment:
Girls whose parents are less involved are more likely to engage in problem behaviors with delinquent peers.
Particularly true for girls in foster care system who are more likely to have negative peer relationships due to family disruption and dysfunction.
Peer relationships as protective factor:
Positive and supportive relationships can protect youth from delinquent behavior.
Interventions that focus on positive skill building and improving family relationships can be effective in reducing negative peer relationships.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (7 of 11)
School
Truancy: indicator of school failures.
Trauma risk for LGBTQ students.
Success and attachment.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
School
Truancy: indicator of school failures:
School failures have also been identified as an indicator of concern for youth at risk.
Failures include suspension, expulsion, or being held back.
Racism, sexual harassment, peer violence, and disinterested school personnel increased likelihood of dropping out for girls.
Trauma risk for LGBTQ students: The risk of school-based trauma is particularly high for LGBTQ students who experience higher rates of violence in school, which increases increases likelihood that they will fall victim to the school-to-prison pipeline.
Success and attachment:
For girls, success at school is tied to feelings of self-worth.
Greater the attachment to school environment and learning process and connection to teachers, the lesser the risk for delinquency.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (8 of 11)
School
Slashing prosocial extracurricular activities.
Resiliency.
Involvement of parents.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
School
Slashing prosocial extracurricular activities:
It has negatively affected girls.
Activities that involve creativity, build relationships, and enhance personal safety help build resiliency in young women and guard against delinquent behaviors.
Resiliency: also known as protective factors; these can enable women victims and women offenders to succeed.
Involvement of parents: Parent involvement in daughter’s school progress can help build resiliency.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (9 of 11)
Substance Abuse
Poses several risks.
Affects women delinquency.
Gendered experience.
Means of escaping violence.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Substance Abuse
Poses several risks:
Several risks have been identified for adolescent women involvement in alcohol and drug use: early experimentation and use; parental use of drugs and alcohol, histories of victimization, poor school and family attachments, numerous social opportunities for use, poor self-concept, difficulties in coping with life events, involvement with other problem behaviors.
Affects women delinquency:
Two factors:
Girls may run away to escape violence at home as a result of parental drug and alcohol use.
Engagement in substance abuse can also be facilitated by parents.
May use drugs as self-medication to escape from abuse histories.
May also be linked to self-medicating for issues like post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and other emotional and behavioral health challenges.
Gendered experience:
Research indicates that the use of, and volume of illicit substances can be a gendered experience.
Lifetime cannabis use is higher for girls than boys.
While boys tend to limit their use to marijuana, girls abuse a variety of substances, including methamphetamines, cocaine, acid, crack, and huffing chemicals.
Poly-drug use indicate significant addiction issues and alters decision-making abilities, influences criminal behaviors, and places them at risk for danger.
Girls tend to use substances at an earlier age than boys.
Increases risk for delinquency for girls, but absence of substance abuse serves as a protective factor.
Means of escaping violence:
Girls may use illicit substances as an escape from the violence that they have observed in their communities.
Trauma of observing violence is a precursor for offending.
From viewing murders in their neighborhood to, such events have a damaging impact on the development of youth.
In a study of 100 girls involved in juvenile justice system, 90% had witnessed violence.
Violence prevention programs in school and community-based programs could assist in healing these wounds.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (10 of 11)
Mental Health
Girls: higher emotional trauma.
Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Anxiety-related disorders.
System fails to recognize needs.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Mental Health
Girls: higher emotional trauma:
Girls in custody experience higher rates of emotional trauma than boys.
Types of trauma varies by gender: While boys are most likely to experience community-based violence, the exposure for girls is more interpersonal.
Post-traumatic stress disorder:
Trauma places youth them at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.
Girls are more likely to engage in self-injurious behaviors.
45% of girls in detention indicated that they had attempted suicide at some point.
Anxiety-related disorders:
Girls more likely to suffer from these, stemming from early childhood abuse and victimization.
In many cases, these co-occur with substance abuse and addiction, creating unique challenges for programming and treatment.
System fails to recognize needs:
Many detention facilities are ill equipped to deal with their mental health needs.
Places youth at risk for future harm and for increased involvement with the system.
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Risk Factors for Female Delinquency (11 of 11)
Polyvictimization
Varies by gender.
Reaction to trauma.
Need for adequate screening.
Consider unique and intersectional effects.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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7.6. Assess the contemporary risk factors associated with girls and delinquency.
Polyvictimization
Varies by gender:
Boys more likely to be exposed to violence in the community.
Girls more likely to experience physical and emotional trauma at home; sexual abuse by family members and peers, and interpersonal trauma.
Reaction to trauma:
Girls may react in ways that can hide the nature of the trauma and its effects.
Cumulative effects of such traumas often place girls at risk for becoming justice-involved, often for low-level offenses.
Need for adequate screening: Juvenile justice settings must adequately screen for trauma histories and post-traumatic stress.
Consider unique and intersectional effects:
Agencies need to consider how the effects of trauma manifest in unique ways for girls.
The system needs to consider multiple and cumulative effects of trauma on adolescent girls rather than specific effects of family, abuse, or exposure to violence.
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Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls (1 of 3)
Gender-specific programming.
Consider history of victimization.
Not one-size-fits-all-girls model.
Equip juvenile justice facilities.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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7.7. Gender-specific needs of young female offenders.
Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls
Gender-specific programming:
Must be able to address the wide variety of needs of the delinquent girl.
Efforts by Congress have been made to allocate the resources necessary for analyzing, planning, and implementing these services.
Need to be able to address a tangled web of interrelated needs rather than issues on an individual and isolated basis.
Consider history of victimization:
A history of victimization is the most significant issue facing at-risk and delinquent girls.
Belknap & Holsinger: 55.8% of girls believe that experiences with abuse throughout childhood had an effect on their offending behaviors.
Programs need to provide counseling services that focus on their trauma.
Placement services need to be expanded.
As many girls run away from home to escape an abusive environment, detention is not an appropriate place.
As early childhood victimization often leads to risky sexual behaviors, education should be offered as preventive measure for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Not one-size-fits-all-girls model:
For girls that have gender-sensitive risk factors, gender responsive programming helps prevent recidivism.
For girls that do not have an abuse history, such programs can actually lead to higher risks for recidivism.
Equip juvenile justice facilities:
Juvenile justice facilities are often ill equipped to deal with the physical and mental health needs of incarcerated women.
Emotional needs of teenagers, combined with increase in prevalence of mental health disorders of incarcerated women, makes this important.
Physical and mental health complaints need to be interpreted by staff and facilities as a need, not as a complaining or manipulating behavior.
Such interventions must be established on an ongoing basis versus limited to an episodic basis.
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Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls (2 of 3)
Consider backgrounds and cultures.
Programs that provide support.
Building on resiliency factors.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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7.7. Gender-specific needs of young female offenders.
Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls
Consider backgrounds and cultures:
This impacts not only their pathways to offending but also affects how they will respond to interventions.
Race and ethnicity impact pathways of girls to juvenile justice system:
White women experience higher levels of physical and sexual abuse and substance abuse compared to African American girls, the abuse of girls of color remains high.
Levels of abuse: 70% of Black girls and 90% of white girls indicate history of physical abuse; 46% of Black girls and 62% of white girls report sexual abuse.
Factors like lack of parental monitoring, antisocial attitudes, school commitment, and peer pressure can explain women delinquency in the Hmong community.
White girls are more likely to respond to abuse through internally harming behaviors, whereas girls of color are more likely to engage in outward displays of violence.
Programs that provide support:
The greatest long-term successes come from programs that provide support, not just for the individual girl but for her extended family as well.
Many family members resist being involved in programming, because they fail to accept responsibility for the role that they may have played in the development of their daughter’s delinquency.
This lack of involvement which raises significant concerns for the family environment of these girls.
Many girls express the desire to return to parents after release from custody despite experiencing violence at home and stating that parents contributed to their delinquency.
Gender-specific programming for adolescent women needs to focus on rebuilding family unit and developing positive role modeling.
Family counseling and substance abuse treatment models can positively affect troubled families.
Building on resiliency factors:
Recent research has shifted to include intelligence; brilliance; courage; creativity; tenacity; compassion; humor; insightfulness; social competence; problem-solving abilities; autonomy; potential with leadership; engagement in family, community, and religious activities; and a sense of purpose and belief in the future.
Typically develop within context of family, but support needs to come from somewhere else, since delinquent girls often come from families in crisis.
Participating in programs that are gender responsive and focus on building resiliency are not only effective in increasing coping skills for life challenges and improving abilities to develop long range goals.
Can help reduce engagement in at-risk behaviors and psychological distress.
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Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls (3 of 3)
Few effective changes implemented.
Factors affecting program delivery.
Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, 4e. © 2024 SAGE Publishing.
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7.7. Gender-specific needs of young female offenders.
Meeting the Unique Needs of Delinquent Girls
Few effective changes implemented:
Many states have embarked on data-heavy assessments reflecting the needs of girls, but few of these adventures have translated into effective programmatic changes.
Funding remains the most significant barrier.
Even when gender-specific programming options exist, the need for services can outweigh the available options, due to limited number of placements and long waiting lists.
Factors affecting program delivery:
Several individual and community factors also affect program delivery.
Lack of information or difficulties in accessing services.
Resistance by girls and their families, and distrust of service providers.
Racial, economic, cultural issues can affect whether communities will seek out assistance and the degree to which these services will reflect culturally relevant issues.
To develop effective and available programming, the system needs to place the allocation of resources as a priority in identifying and addressing the needs of girls in the juvenile justice system.
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