Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice

The new edition of Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice combines cutting-edge research and expanded coverage of girls’ delinquency, including coverage of girls in gangs and the sexual trafficking of girls, to provide students with an accessible, up-to-date, and globally oriented textbook.

• Including global perspectives and coverage of cutting-edge research, this is the only textbook to deal exclusively with girls and crime
• Offers expanded coverage of girls in gangs and emerging literature on the sexual trafficking of girls
• Pulls together and analyzes all existing literature on the subject of female delinquency
• Brings to light new research on a wide range of issues, including the conditions of confinement for girls incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons, Latina girls, and gender responsive programming
• Explores the moral panic around "violent," "bad," and "mean" girls

Meda Chesney-Lind is Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Nationally recognized for her work on women and crime, her books include: The Female Offender: Girls, Women, & Crime, Third Edition (with Lisa Pasko, 2013), Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice, Third Edition (2003), The Female Offender: Girls, Women and Crime, Female Gangs in America (1997), Invisible Punishment (2002), Girls, Women and Crime (2004), and Beyond Bad Girls: Gender Violence and Hype (2008). 

1 Introduction: Why a Book on Girls and Juvenile Justice? 1

2 The Extent of Female Delinquency 9

Recent Trends: National Arrest Data 9

Self-Report Surveys 19

Delinquent Careers 22

Racial Differences 24

Summary 29

Notes 30

References 30

3 The Nature of Female Delinquency 34

Girls and Shoplift ing 34

Status Offenses 37

Runaways 42

Prostitution among Girls 44

International Prostitution 47

Girls and Violence 48

Relabeling Status Off enses 54

Aggression and Gender 55

Girls and Robbery 58

Summary 60

Note 61

References 62

4 Girls and Gangs 72

Trends in Girl Gang Membership 74

Criminal Activities of Girls in Gangs 75

Types of Female Gangs 78

Moving Beyond the Stereotypes: The Social Context of Girl Gangs 80

Class and race 80

Drug use 83

Reasons for joining the gang 85

Relationship with males and male gangs 90

Family-related issues 93

School and work 99

Summary 101

Notes 102

References 102

5 Theories of Crime and Female Delinquency 107

Early Theories of Female Delinquency 108

Sociological Theories of (Male) Delinquency: Do They Apply to Girls? 115

Social disorganization/social ecology theory 115

Strain Th eory 118

Cultural Deviance Theories 122

Cohen’s “culture of the gang” 122

Miller’s “lower-class culture” 123

Differential Association 124

Control Theory 124

Labeling Theory 126

Critical/Marxist Perspectives 128

A Concluding Note 130

Towards a Th eory of Female Delinquency 131

The Women’s Movement and Female Crime 135

Feminist Criminology 138

Summary 139

Notes 141

References 141

6 Girls’ Lives and Girls’ Delinquency 146

Growing Up Female 146

Welcome to “Girlworld”: “Oh, Look at Me I’m So Pretty” 149

Girls, Parents, and Peers 153

Girls, Peers, and Pathways into Delinquency 157

Girls and the Sexual Double Standard 158

Girls’ Victimization and Girls’ Crime 160

Girls’ victimization and female delinquency 162

Contemporary Th inking about Adolescence, Gender, and Crime 165

Sisters are doing it for themselves 167

Street liberation perspectives 167

Contemporary Perspectives of Girls’ Delinquency and Violence 168

Patriarchy and gendered inequalities 169

Beyond victimization: violent girls as “one of the guys” 170

Girls’ code of the streets: considering race, class, and gender 172

Context matters in girls’ delinquency 173

Summary 176

Note 177

References 178

7 Girls and the Juvenile Justice System: A Historical Overview 183

The Doctrine of Parens Patriae: Roots of a Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 184

Ex Parte Crouse: Challenging Parens Patriae 187

People v. Turner: Over-Ruling Crouse 188

The Child-Saving Movement and the Juvenile Court 189

“The Best Place to Conquer Girls” 195

The Juvenile Court and the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 196

Deinstitutionalization and Judicial Paternalism: Challenges to the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 200

Unpopular Reform? 201

Recent Trends: Finally a Focus on Girls, the Republican Backlash, and Congressional Gridlock 204

Summary 208

Notes 209

References 210

8 The Contemporary Juvenile Justice System and Girls, Part I: Police and Juvenile Court Processing 215

An Overview of the System and Process 215

Th e Rights of Juveniles: A Review of Key Cases 216

Implications of Supreme Court Rulings for Girls 219

Getting into the System 221

Girls on the Streets 222

Girls at the Station House 225

Delinquents in Court 228

Gender and Delinquency Referrals 229

Comparing Girls and Boys in Court 232

Girls, Race, and the New Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 235

Summary 237

Notes 238

References 238

9 The Contemporary Juvenile Justice System and Girls, Part II: Girls in Institutions 243

Youths in Institutions: A National Overview 244

Number of girls in institutions 244

Private facilities: a problematic option for juvenile justice 247

Demographic Characteristics of Youths in Institutions 250

Status off enses and bootstrapping, a continuing problem 250

Girls in detention 251

Girls’ experiences in detention 253

Gender and training schools – girls’ victimization continues 259

Girls, race, and institutionalization 263

Summary 266

Notes 267

References 268

10 In Their Own Words: Voices of Youths at Risk 273

With assistance from Vera Lopez and Julia Foley Introduction 273

Relationship Power, Control, and Dating Violence Among Latina Girls 275

Boys’ control strategies 276

Girls’ counterstrategies 278

The “Risky” Lives of Girl Delinquents: Bottcher’s California Study 281

Summary 284

Note 285

References 285

11 Programs for Girls in Trouble 286

Interconnected Troubles 286

Trauma 287

Destructive and distraught families 287

Dangerous neighborhoods and unsafe schools 288

Substance abuse 289

Health issues 290

Academic achievement 290

Specific Types of Counseling and Education 292

The Detention Diversion Advocacy Project (DDAP) 292

Gender differences 294

Gaps in Services for Girls 296

Explaining the lack of services for girls 297

The fit of assessed needs, expressed needs, and program descriptions 299

Someone to talk to 300

Improving relationships with peers 301

Sex, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting, and relationships with intimate partners 301

Empowerment 303

Multiple needs and wraparound services 304

Assessed Needs, Expressed Needs, and Contemporary Program Evaluations 304

The Ideal Program 306

Instead of Incarceration: What Could Be Done to Meet the Needs of Girls? 308

Are Gender-Specific Programs Necessary? 310

Programming as if Girls Mattered: Getting Past Girls Watching Boys Play Sports 311

Lack of validated gender-specific programs: programming and the “forgotten few” 311

Honolulu Girls Court: Overview of a Promising Best Practice 312

Policy Implications and Future Directions 314

Summary 315

Notes 317

References 318

12 Conclusions 324

Index 331

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