Title: AN ASSESSMENT OF RECENT TRENDS IN GIRLS' VIOLENCE USING DIVERSE LONGITUDINAL SOURCES: IS THE GENDER GAP CLOSING?
Abstract: CriminologyVolume 43, Issue 2 p. 355-406 AN ASSESSMENT OF RECENT TRENDS IN GIRLS' VIOLENCE USING DIVERSE LONGITUDINAL SOURCES: IS THE GENDER GAP CLOSING? DARRELL STEFFENSMEIER, DARRELL STEFFENSMEIER Professor of sociology and Crime/Law/Justice at the Pennsylvania State University. His current research and theoretical agenda focus on: first, social change, gender, girls' and women's crime/delinquency, and the intersection of these topics with race and ethnicity; second, on criminal careers and illegal enterprise; and, third, on triangulation of research methods and data sources. His recent book (with Jeffery Ulmer), Confessions of a Dying Thief: Understanding Criminal Careers and Illegal Enterprise (Spring 2005, Aldine-Transaction), offers a nuanced portrayal of the social organization of offending, the complexity of criminal careers, and the broad landscape comprising the entity called “crime”.Search for more papers by this authorJENNIFER SCHWARTZ, JENNIFER SCHWARTZ Assistant professor in the sociology department at Washington State University. Her research interests focus on gender and other correlates of crime, structural features of communities and offending, and the relationship between social change (for example, in family structure and the economy) and trends in crime and social control.Search for more papers by this authorHUA ZHONG, HUA ZHONG Doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department and Crime/Law/Justice program at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on trends in crime, the gender/crime relationship, the impact of social change on youth crime, cross-national crime comparisons, and social forces of substance abuse. One of her papers on gender differences in outcomes of drug-prevention programs is forthcoming in the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education.Search for more papers by this authorJEFF ACKERMAN, JEFF ACKERMAN Assistant professor in the Sociology Department at Texas A&M University. His current research interests include domestic violence, female offending, peer influences on juvenile delinquency, and innovation among substance abuse treatment and prevention organizations.Search for more papers by this author DARRELL STEFFENSMEIER, DARRELL STEFFENSMEIER Professor of sociology and Crime/Law/Justice at the Pennsylvania State University. His current research and theoretical agenda focus on: first, social change, gender, girls' and women's crime/delinquency, and the intersection of these topics with race and ethnicity; second, on criminal careers and illegal enterprise; and, third, on triangulation of research methods and data sources. His recent book (with Jeffery Ulmer), Confessions of a Dying Thief: Understanding Criminal Careers and Illegal Enterprise (Spring 2005, Aldine-Transaction), offers a nuanced portrayal of the social organization of offending, the complexity of criminal careers, and the broad landscape comprising the entity called “crime”.Search for more papers by this authorJENNIFER SCHWARTZ, JENNIFER SCHWARTZ Assistant professor in the sociology department at Washington State University. Her research interests focus on gender and other correlates of crime, structural features of communities and offending, and the relationship between social change (for example, in family structure and the economy) and trends in crime and social control.Search for more papers by this authorHUA ZHONG, HUA ZHONG Doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department and Crime/Law/Justice program at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on trends in crime, the gender/crime relationship, the impact of social change on youth crime, cross-national crime comparisons, and social forces of substance abuse. One of her papers on gender differences in outcomes of drug-prevention programs is forthcoming in the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education.Search for more papers by this authorJEFF ACKERMAN, JEFF ACKERMAN Assistant professor in the Sociology Department at Texas A&M University. His current research interests include domestic violence, female offending, peer influences on juvenile delinquency, and innovation among substance abuse treatment and prevention organizations.Search for more papers by this author First published: 04 August 2005 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0011-1348.2005.00011.xCitations: 211AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Applying Dickey-Fuller time series techniques in tandem with intuitive plot-displays, we examine recent trends in girls' violence and the gender gap as reported in four major sources of longitudinal data on youth violence. These sources are arrest statistics of the Uniform Crime Reports, victimization data of the National Crime Victimization Survey (where the victim identifies sex of offender) and self-reported violent behavior of Monitoring the Future and National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. We find that the rise in girls' violence over the past one to two decades as counted in police arrest data from the Uniform Crime Reports is not borne out in unofficial longitudinal sources. Several net-widening policy shifts have apparently escalated girls' arrest-proneness: first, stretching definitions of violence to include more minor incidents that girls in relative terms are more likely to commit; second, increased policing of violence between intimates and in private settings (for example, home, school) where girls' violence is more widespread; and, third, less tolerant family and societal attitudes toward juvenile females. These developments reflect both a growing intolerance of violence in the law and among the citizenry and an expanded application of preventive punishment and risk management strategies that emphasize early identification and enhanced formal control of problem individuals or groups, particularly problem youth. REFERENCES Acoca, Leslie 1999 Investing in girls: A 21st-century challenge. Juvenile Justice 6: 3–13. Google Scholar Adler, Freda 1975 Sisters in Crime. New York : McGraw-Hill. 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Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 344
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