Overview of Delinquent Girls: How Theory and Practice Have Failed and the Need for Innovative Changes (From Female Offenders: Critical Perspectives and Effective Interventions, P 31-64, 1998, Ruth T. Zaplin, ed., -- See NCJ-204080)

• NCJ Number: 204081
• Author(s): Joanne Belknap; Kristi Holsinger
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Aspen Publishers, Inc.
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter addresses the misrepresentation of female offenders by the research community and the criminal justice system and offers a composite sketch of the typical female offender.

Abstract

Despite recent research that has focused on girls’ and women’s pathways to offending and the connection between their victimization and their eventual offending behavior, scant attention has been paid to these topics. The research literature and public policy have remained more acutely focused on the offending behavior of boys and men. In an effort to unravel the etiology and treatment of female offenders, the authors present the traditional, or “pre-feminist,” theories on criminality that focused on the offending behavior of boys and men. Feminist perspectives on female offending are also reviewed, including the many studies that have found links between female victimization and later offending behavior. This research is instructive about the way the criminal justice system has historically responded to female offenders. Next, the authors present a representation of female delinquents that specifically addresses the link between victimization and female offending. A realistic representation of female offenders is necessary because public policy has either ignored their existence or has misrepresented them. Following this composite sketch of the female offender, an overview is presented of the current systematic processing, treatment, and punishment of female offenders. Three hypotheses regarding the impact gender has on the processing of offenders are presented and include the equal treatment hypothesis, the chivalry hypothesis, and the evil woman hypothesis. The chapter concludes with recommendations for changing the way in which society responds to female offenders. Recommendations include preventive measures that focus on the connection between childhood maltreatment and later offending behavior and also focus on addressing the gendered response to female offenders in terms of closing the gaps created by gender discrimination. References