NCJ Number
148603
Journal
Youth and Society Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: (June 1994) Pages: 468-489
Date Published
1994
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Data from 85 females arrested, incarcerated, or both for violent street crimes in New York City in 1990 formed the basis of an analysis of when and how adolescent females become involved in violent street crime.
Abstract
Results suggested that an adequate understanding of female criminality must consider the impact of neighborhood, peer, and addiction factors that affect both male and female participation in criminal violence. In addition, it appears that different configurations of these factors contribute to the initiation of violent offending depending on that age of onset. Early initiation into violent crime was accompanied by participation in a wide variety of other offending behaviors and deviant lifestyles. In contrast, females who experienced a later onset of violent offending did so within the context of a criminal career that, up to the point of drug abuse, was more specialized and focused on typically nonviolent, gender-congruent activities such as prostitution and shoplifting. Tables, appended table, note, and 94 references (Author abstract modified)