NCJ Number
218948
Journal
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: 2007 Pages: 56-76
Date Published
2007
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined gender differences in the meanings attached to violence among young people in residential child welfare institutions (reform schools) in Finland.
Abstract
Results indicated that within groups of other boys or men, boys were visibly and strongly violent actors, with the essential meaning of their violence linked to instrumentality. This suggests that boy’s violence is seen as regulating social relationships and hierarchies and is seen as having a problem-solving function. Talk of victimization or the possibility for vulnerability among the boys was rare. The girls’ conversations of violence related to their position as victims or observers of violence, or having the role of calming violent boys. Despite this position as mainly on the periphery of violence, girls were also expected to be able to physically defend themselves when necessary. The findings are significantly compatible with cultural conventions of the positions of gender and violence in Finnish society. Participants were 38 youthful offenders between the ages of 12 and 17 years who were recruited from 2 reform schools in Finland. Participants completed 15 focus group interviews that were organized around 3 main themes: (1) the violence of boys as members of collectives; (2) vulnerable females; and (3) negotiable violence related to heterosexual relationships. Data were analyzed for emerging themes. Footnotes, references