Female delinquency was considered
unimportant by early delinquency experts because girls rarely committed crime, and when
they did it was sexual in nature.
Interest in female delinquency has risen
because the female crime rate has been increasing, while the male rate is in decline.
There are distinct gender patterns in
development that may explain crime rate differences.
Girls are socialized to be less
aggressive than boys.
Girls read better and have better verbal
skills than boys.
Gender differences may have both
biological and social origins.
The female proportion of the delinquency
rate has grown at a faster pace than that of males during the past twenty-five years.
Though males still are arrested more
often than females, the intergender patterns of delinquency are remarkably similar.
Are Female Delinquents Born that Way?
Early Biological Explanations
Chivalry Hypothesis
Early Psychological Explanations
Contemporary Trait Views
Precocious Sexuality
Hormonal Effects
Premenstrual Syndrome
Aggression
Contemporary Psychological Views
Socialization Views
Socialization and Delinquency
Focus on Socialization
Broken Homes/Fallen Women
Contemporary Socialization Views
Focus on Preventing and Treating
Delinquency: Preventing Teen Pregnancy
Liberal Feminist Views
Support for Liberal Feminism
Liberal Feminism
Critical Feminists
Critiques of Liberal Feminism
Critical Feminist Views
Crime and Patriarchy
Power-Control Theory
Egalitarian Families
Checkpoints
There are a variety of views on why girls
become delinquent and why there are gender differences in the crime rate.
At one time it was believed that girls
were naturally less aggressive and female criminals were a biological aberration.
Some experts still believe that hormonal
differences can explain why males are more aggressive.
Some experts believe that males are more
aggressive because they have evolved that way to secure mates.
Under some circumstances females may act
more aggressively than males.
Some experts believe that girls have been
socialized to be less violent.
Female delinquents may be the product of
a destructive home life, rebelling against abusive parents.
The liberal feminist view is that girls
did not have the same opportunities to commit crime as boys and that rising female crime
rates represent changing life circumstances.
Critical feminists see female delinquency
as a function of male domination and abuse.