NCJ Number
156167
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 59-84
Date Published
1995
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study expands the exploration of gender-based differences in offending by including an analysis of the context.
Abstract
Data from the National Youth Survey is used to examine the offending patterns of 1,543 youths for offenses including status offenses, vandalism, property theft, and violent offenses. The mean for each item is calculated and t-tests are run to establish whether significant gender differences exist. In addition, the chi- square is used to test for significance across the prevalence and context of a given offense. The results suggest that girls offend in fewer settings and in a different manner than boys. The more serious the offense, the greater the contextual differences by gender. Although there were few gender differences for status and property offenses, there were several for serious violent offenses. The findings are important for theory development and for understanding juvenile justice case processing. 4 tables, 1 note, and 57 references