NCJ Number
202655
Journal
Women & Criminal Justice Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: 2003 Pages: 35-51
Date Published
2003
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether the processing of juvenile female status offenders varied by the level of sex crimes in a Midwestern city.
Abstract
The article elaborates on feminist theory using Emerson’s idea of holistic approaches to explain the processing of juvenile female status offenders. Many criminological theories and criminal justice research has focused on the characteristics of citizens as pivotal to their likelihood of arrest. Feminist theories focus on gender as a characteristic that has the potential to affect how the criminal justice system processes individuals. It was hypothesized that the processing of juvenile female status offenders varied with the level of sex crimes in a community. In order to test this hypothesis, the authors plotted monthly reports of sex crime and status offense arrests for male and female juveniles between January 1989 and August 1999 in a Midwestern community. The authors examined whether a peak in sex crimes corresponded to a peak in juvenile female status offense arrests. Results of statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in juvenile female status arrests following one of two periods of heightened sex crimes, but no corresponding increase in juvenile male status arrests. The authors recommend that future studies focus on multiple jurisdictions. Tables, notes, references