Traditionally, delinquent girls were considered an anomaly, a rare phenomenon attracting little scholarly notice. Today, more than one in four youth offenders is female, and researchers and practitioners alike are quickly turning their attention and resources to address this challenging situation. Delinquent Girls: Contexts, Relationships, and Adaptation synthesizes what is known about girls involved in delinquent behavior and their experiences at different points in the juvenile justice system. This breakthrough volume adds to the understanding of this population by offering empirical analysis not only of how these behaviors develop but also about what is being done to intervene. Employing multiple theoretical models, qualitative and quantitative data sources, law enforcement records, and insights across disciplines, leading scholars review causes and correlates; the roles of family and peers; psychological and legal issues; policy changes resulting in more arrests of young women; and evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies. Each chapter covers its subject in depth, providing theory, findings, and future directions. Important topics addressed include: Narrowing the gender gap – trends in girls’ delinquency. Girls at the intersection of juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare. Trauma exposure, mental health issues, and girls’ delinquency. Beyond the stereotypes: girls in gangs. Intervention programs for at-risk and court-involved girls. Implications for practice and policy. With its broad scope and solution-oriented focus, Delinquent Girls: Contexts, Relationships, and Adaptation is a must-have volume for researchers, professionals, graduate students, and social policy experts in clinical child and school psychology, social work, juvenile justice, criminology, developmental psychology, and sociology.

Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescentsâ€"trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistanceâ€"the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with ageâ€"and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. Intervention within the juvenile justice system. Role of the police. Processing and detention of youth offenders. Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

photographs by Richard Ross of juveniles in detention, commitment and treatment across the US.

For over a century, as women have fought for and won greater freedoms, concern over an epidemic of female criminality, especially among young women, has followed. Fear of this crime wave—despite a persistent lack of evidence of its existence—has played a decisive role in the development of the youth justice systems in the United States and Canada. Justice for Girls? is a comprehensive comparative study of the way these countries have responded to the hysteria over “girl crime” and how it has affected the treatment of both girls and boys. Tackling a century of historical evidence and crime statistics, Jane B. Sprott and Anthony N. Doob carefully trace the evolution of approaches to the treatment of young offenders. Seeking to keep youths out of adult courts, both countries have built their systems around rehabilitation. But, as Sprott and Doob reveal, the myth of the “girl crime wave” led to a punitive system where young people are dragged into court for minor offenses and girls are punished far more severely than boys. Thorough, timely, and persuasive, Justice for Girls? will be vital to anyone working with troubled youths.

Juvenile justice policies have historically been built on a foundation of myths and misconceptions. Fear of young, drug-addled superpredators, concerns about immigrants and gangs, claims of gender biases, and race hostilities have influenced the public′s views and, consequently, the evolution of juvenile justice. These myths have repeatedly confused the process of rational policy development for the juvenile justice system. Juvenile Justice: Redeeming Our Children debunks myths about juvenile justice in order to achieve an ideal system that would protect vulnerable children and help build safer communities. Author Barry Krisberg assembles broad and up-to-date research, statistical data, and theories on the U.S. juvenile justice system to encourage effective responses to youth crime. This text gives a historical context to the ongoing quest for the juvenile justice ideal and examines how the current system of laws, policies, and practices came into place.Juvenile Justice reviews the best research-based knowledge on what works and what does not work in the current system. The book also examines failed juvenile justice policies and applies high standards of scientific evidence to seek new resolutions. This text helps students embrace the value of redemptive justice and serves as a springboard for the current generation to implement sounder social policies. Juvenile Justice is an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying juvenile justice in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology. The book is also an excellent supplemental text for juvenile delinquency courses. About the AuthorBarry Krisberg, PhD has been President of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) since 1983. Dr. Krisberg received both his master′s degree in Criminology and his doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaii and has held previous faculty positions at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Krisberg was appointed by the legislature to serve on the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Inmate Population Management. He has several books and articles to his credit, is known nationally for his research and expertise on juvenile justice issues, and is called upon as a resource for professionals and the media.

'The Female Offender' challenges the long-standing tradition of male-dominated criminology theory and research which has taken little or no account of gender differences.

What characterizes women′s and girls′ pathways to crime? Girls, Women, and Crime: Selected Readings, Second Edition is a compilation of journal articles on the female offender written by leading researchers in the fields of criminology and women′s studies. The contributors reveal the complex worlds females in the criminal justice system must often negotiate—worlds that are frequently riddled with violence, victimization, discrimination, and economic marginalization. This in-depth collection leaves readers with a greater understanding of the complexities and nuances of the realtionship between girls and women and crime.