Outside/Inside: The Violation of American Girls at Home, on the Streets, and in the Juvenile Justice System

• NCJ Number: 174397
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 44 Issue: Dated: Pages: issue (October 1998)-589
• Author(s): L Acoca
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 29 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Jessie Ball duPont Religious, Charitable and Educational Fund; California Wellness Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The major premise of this article is that the abuses that a majority of girl offenders have experienced in their homes, in their schools, or on the streets are often mirrored and compounded by injuries they later receive within the juvenile justice system; a corollary theme is that this abuse continuum threatens not only the health and developmental potential of girl offenders and their children, but also poses a more general risk to public safety.

Abstract

The quantitative and qualitative data used to characterize the abuse histories of girl offenders and to describe their treatment within the juvenile justice system is primarily drawn from a study conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. This study involved girl offenders in four diverse California counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, Alameda, and Marin (Acoca and Dedel 1998). One of the objectives of the project was to create a comprehensive profile of girl offenders that would include standard juvenile justice system information, service and program needs, and a defined array of risk factors and strengths. Ultimately, 956 case files from geographically diverse sectors of each county from multiple points within the system were reviewed. Additionally, researchers conducted 193 structured interviews with girls in detention facilities and in community settings. This report analyzes the data and discusses the results of the study. It documents emotional abuse, physical and sexual abuse; the percentage who used four or more drug types by number of emotional abuse types and sexual abuse types; school failure by number of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse types; and gang membership by number of sexual and physical abuse types. Another section of this report discusses the emotional abuse of girls in detention, the physical and sexual abuse of girls in the juvenile justice system, and environmental conditions. The concluding section of this report reviews the conditions for girls housed in adult women's correctional facilities. Policy and research recommendations are offered for immediate remedies for the prevention of the abuse of girls in and at risk of entering the U.S. juvenile justice system. Program recommendations are offered as well. 9 figures and 22 references