RATES AND THE INCREASES IN NUMBERS
OF GIRLS IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM:
"Between 1988 and 1997, the number of delinquency cases
involving females increased 83 percent." (Female Delinquency
Cases, 1997)."
"Between 1992 and 1996 alone, the number of female juveniles
arrested for violent crimes increased 25 percent." (Juvenile
Justice Journal Volume VI, Number 1, Investing in Girls: A 21st
Century Strategy, 1999).
“Current figures show that female juvenile offenders
represent 28 percent of total juvenile arrests” (Juvenile
Arrests, 2001).
In 1997 26% of juvenile arrests were of girls. Over a third
of these girls were under age 15.
In 1997 over half (58%) of the arrests for runaways were
of girls.
Between 1993 and 1997, arrests of boys for violent offenses
declined by 9%, while those for girls increased by 12%.
Aggravated assault charges, the most frequent of the violent
offenses committed by juveniles, increased for girls by 15%,
while declining for boys by 10%.
Between 1993 and 1997, arrests of girls for drug abuse violations
more than doubled (117% increase).
Between 1993 and 1997, arrests of girls for offenses against
family and children increased by 82%.
In 1988 26% of the serious crimes committed by females were
by girls under 18 years old; in 1997 this figure climbed to
31% (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1988-1999).
According to the National Center for Juvenile Justice 1987-91
data, there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of
13- and 14-year-olds involved in the juvenile court (Bergsmann
1994, p. 7). In data obtained from 29 States by the National
Council on Crime and Delinquency, African-American young women
comprise almost 50 percent of all young women in secure detention,
while Hispanics make up 13 percent (Bergsmann 1994, p. 8).---
It remains true that, for the most part, the juvenile court
and social service system see most young women for status offenses.
Even when young women are involved in delinquent behaviors,
they still tend to be arrested for the more "female"
offenses: prostitution, embezzlement, forgery, and counterfeiting
(Poe-Yamagata and Butts 1996, p. 2).
Nationally, minority young women account for 34% of the U.S.
population of ages 12–17, yet 52% of the young women detained
for juvenile offenses were from minority backgrounds.
One review of the literature has indicated that nearly half
of incarcerated young women meet the criteria for Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder.
The typical female juvenile offender is aged 14 to 16, from
an ethnic minority, lives in a poor neighborhood with a high
crime rate, and has experienced physical, sexual, and/or emotional
abuse, according to a 1998 OJJDP report, "Guiding Principles
for Promising Female Programming: An Inventory of Best Practices."
