NCJ Number
91043
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1983) Pages: 381-397
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The 1974 Juvenile Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA) has had a differential impact on the admissions of males and females to detention facilities and training schools, suggesting a differential societal response and varied levels of delinquency between sexes. A self-report survey of 1,735 high school students confirms these patterns.
Abstract
The self-report study interviewed youths when they were 15 and 1 year later; police and court records in their midwestern metropolitan communities were also reviewed. The analysis revealed lower crime levels by all types of females and a far lower incidence of serious crime. While adolescent minor crime now involves boys and girls in similar percentages, the data did not document increasing female involvement in aggressive or more serious property crimes. The findings also indicated that parental attachment had both direct and indirect effects on delinquent norms and behavior, particularly for females. Attachment to school was a strong inhibitor of delinquency for females, but had relatively little effect on males unless coupled with other variables. Approximately 12 percent of the self-report sample had some contact with the juvenile court, and 80 percent of this groups was male. Females appearing before the court generally were younger than males and referred overwhelmingly for status offenses and larceny. Female admissions to detention facilities have dropped significantly between 1971 and 1979, and although male admissions dropped after 1974, they actually increased 6.4 percent over the entire period. The actual numbers of youths in detention remained stable. Thus, the JJDPA produced few benefits for males regarding detention and has not been particularly advantageous for females if their arrest rates and types of crime and misconduct for which they are arrested are considered. Tables and 24 references are supplied.