NCJ Number
212087
Date Published
2005
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study examined trends in juvenile girls' offending patterns, contacts with the juvenile justice system, and their case dispositions in Queensland, Australia.
Abstract
One of the objectives of Queensland's Juvenile Justice Act 1992 was to shift the focus of the juvenile justice system away from the welfare philosophy of the previous juvenile justice legislation (the Children's Services Act 1965) toward a more justice-based approach that focuses on criminal behavior instead of status offenses such as running away from home, promiscuous sexual behavior, and loss of parental control. It was believed that such a policy shift would reduce the number of girls coming into contact with the juvenile justice system, since girls were often the target for the enforcement of status offenses. This expected decline in the appearance of girls in juvenile courts did not occur, however. Young women composed 17 percent of all finalized court appearances for offending during 1995-96 compared to 10 percent in 1986-87. Further, self-report studies indicate that girls disclose committing some crimes with equal frequency to boys, particularly drug offenses; and boys are only two to three times more likely than girls to commit more serious crime. Self-report studies further indicate that boys are much more likely than girls to be apprehended for their offenses, suggesting that official statistics significantly underestimate the offending of girls compared with that of boys. Overall, girls tend to commit less serious offenses than boys, so their dispositions tend to be less harsh; when detention is involved, girls serve shorter periods. There is a clear pattern of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal juveniles in the juvenile justice system, including girls. Aboriginal girls have a higher rate of court appearances for personal violence and a lower rate of court appearance for theft and break-and-enter offenses than non-Indigenous girls. 15 figures and 6 notes