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.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Abrams, L. S., & Curran, L. (2000). Wayward girls and virtuous women: Social workers and female juvenile delinquency in the progressive Era. Affilia, 15(1), 49–64.
Acoca, L., & Dedel, K. (1998). No place to hide: Understanding and meeting the needs of girls in the California juvenile justice system. San Francisco: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Bishop, D. M., & Frazier, C. E. (1992). Gender bias in juvenile justice processing: Implications of the JJDP Act. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82(4), 1162–1186.
Boritch, H. (1992). Gender and criminal court outcomes: An historical analysis. Criminology, 30(3), 293–325.
Carr, N. T., Hudson, K., Hanks, R. S., & Hunt, A. N. (2008). Gender effects along the juvenile justice system. Feminist Criminology, 3(1), 25–43.
Cauffman, E. (2008). Understanding the female offender. Juvenile Justice, 18(2), 119.
Chesney-Lind, M. & Eliason, M. (2006). From invisible to incorrigible: The demonization of marginalized women and girls. Crime, Media, Culture. 2(1), 29–47.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1973). Judicial enforcement of the female sex role. Issues in Criminology, 8, 51–71.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1974). Juvenile delinquency: The sexualization of female crime. Psychology Today, 7, 43–46.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1977). Paternalism and the female status offender. Crime & Delinquency, 23, 121–130.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1989). Girls’ crime and women’s place: Toward a feminist model of female delinquency. Crime & Delinquency, 35(1), 5–29.
Chesney-Lind, M. (2006). Patriarchy, crime and justice: Feminist criminology in an era of backlash. Feminist Criminology, 1, 6–26.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Belknap, J. (2004). Trends in delinquent girls’ aggression and violent behavior: A review of the evidence. In M. Putallaz & K. L. Bierman (Eds.), Aggression, antisocial behavior, and violence among girls: A developmental perspective (pp. 203–222). New York: Guilford.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Irwin, K. (2006). Still “the best place to conquer girls”: Gender and juvenile justice. In A. Merlo & J. Pollock (Eds.), Women, law, and social control (2nd ed., pp. 271–291). Boston: Pearson.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Pasko, L. J. (2004). The female offender: Girls, women, and crime. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Shelden, R. G. (1998). Girls, delinquency, and juvenile justice. Belmont: West/Wadsworth.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Shelden, R. G. (2004). Girls, delinquency, and juvenile justice (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.
Cox, P. (2003). Gender, justice and welfare. Bad girls, 1900–1950. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dannefer, D., & Schutt, R. K. (1982). Race and juvenile justice processing. The American Journal of Sociology, 87(5), 1113.
Gaarder, E., & Belknap, J. (2002). Tenuous boarders: Girls transferred to adult court. Criminology, 40(3), 481.
Gelsthrope, L., & Worrallfar, A. (2009). Looking for trouble: A recent history of girls, young women, and youth justice. Youth Justice, 9(3), 209–223.
Hagan, F. (1990). Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
Hawkins, S. R., Graham, P. W., Williams, J., & Zahn, M. A. (2009). Resilient girls – Factors that protect against delinquency. Girls study group: Understanding and responding to girls’ delinquency. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/220124.pdf.
Johnson, D. R., & Scheuble, L. K. (1991). Gender bias in the disposition of juvenile court referrals: The effects of time and location. Criminology, 29, 677–699.
Knupfer, A. M. (2001). Reform and resistance: Gender, delinquency, and America’s first juvenile court. New York: Routledge.
Leiber, M. J., & Mack, K. Y. (2003). The individual and joint effects of race, gender, and family status on juvenile justice decision-making. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(1), 34–70.
Lennings, C. J., Kenny, D. T., Howard, J., Arcuri, A., & Mackacy, L. (2007). The relationship between substance abuse and delinquency in female adolescents in Australia. Australian Academic, 14(1), 100–110.
Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In S. D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (Risk, disorder, and adaptation 2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 739–795). Hoboken: Wiley.
MacDonald, J., & Chesney-Lind, M. (2001). Gender bias and juvenile justice revisited: A multiyear analysis. Crime and Delinquency, 47(2), 172–195.
Makarios, M. D. (2007). Race, abuse, and female criminal violence. Feminist Criminology, 2(2), 100–116.
Mallicoat, S. L. (2007). Gendered justice: Attributional differences between males and females in the juvenile courts. Feminist Criminology, 2(1), 4–30.
Maxfield, M. G., & Widom, C. S. (1996). The cycle of violence: Revisited six years later. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 150, 390–395.
Odem, M. (1995). Delinquent daughters: Protecting and policing adolescent female sexuality in the United States, 1885–1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Odem, M., & Schlossman, S. (1991). Guardians of virtue: The juvenile court and female delinquency in early 20th century Los Angeles. Crime & Delinquency, 37, 186–203.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (1998). Juvenile female offender: A status of the states report. Washington, DC.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention (2016). OJJDP statistical briefing book. Retrieved January 28, 2016. http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05230&text=yes
Poe-Yamagata, E., & Butts, J. A. (1996). Female offenders in the criminal justice system. Pittsburgh: National Center for Juvenile Justice.
Puzzanchera, C. (2009). Juvenile offenders and victims: A national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Rosenberg, C. M., & Paine, H. J. (1973). Female juvenile delinquency: A nineteenth-century follow-up. Crime and Delinquency, 19(1), 72–78.
Ruffolo, M. C., Sarri, R., & Good-kind, S. (2004). Study of delinquent, diverted, and high-risk adolescent girls: Implications for mental health intervention. Social Work Research, 28(4), 237–245.
Schaffner, L. (2006). Girls in trouble with the law. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Sharp, C., & Simon, J. (2004). Girls in the juvenile justice system: The need for more gender-responsive services. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Shelden, R. G. (1981). Sex discrimination in the juvenile justice system: Memphis Tennessee, 1900–1917. In M. Q. Warren (Ed.), Comparing male and female offenders. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (1999). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile offenders and victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Staples, W. G. (1984). Toward a structural perspective on gender bias in the juvenile court. Sociological Perspective, 27(3), 349–367.
Tanenhaus, D. S. (2004). Juvenile justice in the making. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tielmann, K., & Landry, P. (1981). Gender bias in juvenile justice. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 18, 47–80.
Tracy, P. E., Kempf-Leonard, K., & Ambroseke-James, S. (2009). Gender differences in delinquency and juvenile justice processing: Evidence from national data. Crime and Delinquency, 55, 171–215.
Watson and Elderman (2012). Georgetown center on poverty, inequality, and public policy. Retrieved from http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/centers-institutes/poverty-inequality/upload/jds_v1r4_web_singles.pdf.
Widom, C. S. (1992). The cycle of violence (NCJ Report 136607). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
Zahn, M. (2008). The delinquent girl. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Zahn, M. A., Brumbaugh, S., Steffensmeier, D., Feld, B. C., Morash, M., Chesney-Lind, M., Miller, J., Payne, A. A., Gottfredson, D. C., & Kruttschnitt, C. (2008). Violence by teenage girls: Trends and context. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Delinquency and Prevention.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_272-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32132-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social Sciences