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Gendered Juvenile Justice

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Overview

Although the juvenile justice system continues to be dominated by boys, the number of girls entering the system is steadily increasing. Girls are the fastest growing population in the juvenile system. Historically, research only focused on male delinquency; however, recent research has started to explore the reasons why girls engage in delinquent behavior. The pathways to delinquency differ for girls, and since the inception of the juvenile court, the juvenile justice system has treated boys and girls differently. The juvenile court’s response to female delinquency was often based on gender stereotypes and expectations of moral conduct. Recently, it is suggested that girls require gender-specific prevention programs to address their distinct pathways and unique needs.

Populations Generally Studied/Sources of Data

Gender is the strongest predictor of crime and delinquency. Males unequivocally are involved in a majority of crime, and the male crime rate universally exceeds that...

Keywords

  • Gender Bias
  • Juvenile Justice System
  • Juvenile Court
  • School Connectedness
  • Arrest Rate

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Correspondence to Alison S. Burke .

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Burke, A.S. (2016). Gendered Juvenile Justice. In: Levesque, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_272-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_272-2

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