NCJ Number
147512
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1994) Pages: 250- 261
Date Published
1994
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Culturally derived standards of attractiveness were used to determine the treatment women receive in various aspects of their lives, including handling by the criminal justice system, using information from the records of 159 women who, as juveniles, were committed to the California Youth Authority during the 1960's.
Abstract
The 159 women were 51 percent white, 30 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic, and 10 percent Asian or American Indian. Two-thirds had been committed for juvenile status offenses. Female case workers did intake evaluations on 46 cases, whereas males were responsible for 113 of them. Results indicated that male intake personnel often commented on the physical attributes of the female wards. This was most likely to occur when the ward had at least one charge of immorality on her record. More recent files, from California in 1990 and Hawaii in 1989, were also examined. In these files, notations on physical attractiveness of females were least likely to occur when the wards had been committed to the institution for serious violations. However, findings suggested that in some States, such as Hawaii, the detention and incarceration of females for juvenile status offenses persists and that the concerns raised in this research are not simply of historical interest. Figure, table, notes, and 35 references (Author abstract modified)