NCJ Number
93435
Date Published
1981
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article addresses two issues: the extent to which male and female delinquency differ from each other in standard measurements, and the extent to which a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' regarding female delinquency may explain the differences between self-reported and arrest descriptions of male/female delinquency differences.
Abstract
The data in these analyses come from an industrial community in the Northeast. A total of 562 males and 557 females in high school filled out questionnaires regarding illegal behavior and interactions with police. A vast majority of both male and female students admitted to at least one form of illegal behavior in the past year. The ratio of male to female averaged 1.7 across all forms of delinquent behavior. This indicates a substantial amount of delinquent behavior among females. Two offenses accounted for a majority of both male and female behaviors: getting drunk and using marijuana. Both of these behaviors show a low ratio of male to female delinquency. As the seriousness of the offense increases, the differences between male and female participation also increase. For violent crimes or crimes in which property was destroyed, males participated at a rate 10 to 20 times that of females. The data make clear that although any delinquent activity has a very low probability of resulting in arrest, this probability is more than doubled if the individual is male. The transition process which leads from delinquency to arrest will tend to amplify the apparent differences between males and females. The tendency of males to commit activities which are more serious and have a higher probability of arrest will result in the appearance of greater male-female differences in delinquency. Tables and nine references are included.