Female delinquency : growth and response

Abstract

There has been an overall increase of 16 percent in violent offenses committed by female juvenile delinquents between 1980 and 2003 (Synder and Sickmund, 2006). In addition there has been a 522 percent increase in weapons violations. While the crime rate of juvenile males has been decreasing, the female crime rate has been on a steady increase. Due to this increase of female juvenile delinquency, gender-specific programming has become an issue. This thesis focuses on the rise in violent delinquent offenses committed by female juvenile delinquents, as well as the programming currently being offered. The data were collected from a detention facility in northeastern Ohio. Three data sets were used: surveys, interviews with delinquent girls, and case file reviews. Based on the data analysis, the most common form of violent crime being committed by female juvenile delinquents is assault (30%). Domestic violence is the next highest report crime (23%) being committed by female juvenile delinquents. Practically no programming existed for female juvenile delinquents 10 years ago. Today, more programming is being provided, such as counseling and mentoring, however no gender-specific programming exists. Therefore, it is necessary to perform more research on female juvenile delinquency so that gender-specific programming may be created, implemented, and assessed so that the delinquency rate for violent offenses being committed by female juveniles begin to decline.