Female Gang Delinquency: A Search for "Acceptably Deviant Behavior" (From Modern Gang Reader, P 78-82, 1995, Malcolm W. Klein, Cheryl L. Maxson, et al., eds. - See NCJ-173280)

• NCJ Number: 173286
• Author(s): W J Swart
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: Roxbury Publishing Co.
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper explores forms of female gang delinquency through an analysis of ambiguous deviance norms that operate within the gang structure, with emphasis on the difficulties that female gang members experience in balancing the gang's expectations with expectations of their behavior as females.

Abstract

Female gang members are caught within competing behavioral norms and must fine tune their deviant behavior to make it acceptable to their unique position as females within a delinquent gang. The resulting behavior is a typical form of female juvenile delinquency that is deviant enough for gang membership but not so deviant as to be regarded as a contradiction to female character expectations. Female gang members still may experience sanctions for not behaving in gender-appropriate ways, as demonstrated by gang members' attitudes about appropriate female conduct related to sexual activity, drug use, violence, and motherhood. Figure and 9 references