NCJ Number
73242
Date Published
1980
Length
214 pages
Annotation
Traditional views of female criminal behavior, statistics on girls' involvement in delinquency, and a new theory explaining criminal activities of girls are explored.
Abstract
Most theories about the criminal behavior of women are based on notions of the female biological constitution, psychological makeup, and position in the family. Thus, girls are viewed as being weak, in need of protection and supervision, and unlikely to become involved in criminal activities. Criminal behavior in women is, according to this view, an aberration. Even theories which diverge from these views in interpreting female criminal involvement tend to dwell on particularly feminine behavioral characteristics, such as the inclination to loneliness and depression. This traditional interpretation must be discarded, and it must be recognized that girls are victims of the individuals who impose legal and moral norms on them. Statistics from police, courts, and protection institutions in Montreal suggest that the extent of crime does indeed differ by sex and that girls are less likely than boys to become involved in criminal offenses. Thefts make up two-thirds of the offenses by adolescent males and only half of the offenses of females. Crime rates are growing faster for girls than for boys, but crimes by girls tend to be acquisitive rather than violent. While girls are less likely than boys to be delinquent, girls are more likely to be institutionalized, indicating a bias of the court and thus of the social reaction to the psycho-social context of girls. Analysis of factors contributing to the delinquency of adolescents indicates that the most important areas for explaining delinquence are juveniles' attachment to friends, pressure on adolescents to conform to socially acceptable behavior, and individual adolescent personalities. Thus, criminal delinquency of adolescents is largely attributable to social maladjustment; lack of supervision; unjust, repressive discipline; and inadequate personal involvement. The most important factors determining girls' statutory delinquence are, in order of decreasing importance, inadequate supervision, overt aggressivity, poor family atmosphere, deficient family rules, social maladjustment, and lack of attachment to friends. While statutory delinquency is thus the consequence of a lack of regulatory forces within the family, criminal delinquency of girls appears to result from underdevelopment of the personality. On the whole, the family appears to be of more importance in explaining delinquency than are other institutions such as the school. Notes, tables, graphs, and a bibliography are supplied.