Abstract
A dramatic rise in arrest rates for girls over the past decade has led to an increasing interest in understanding gender differences in the risk factors that are associated with delinquency. Moreover, the call has been made for the implementation of gender-specific or gender-responsive interventions in order to effectively divert girls from an antisocial course. However, questions have been raised about three key assumptions underlying the gender-responsive approach to girls involved in the juvenile justice system: is there unequivocal evidence for gender-specificity in the risk factors that contribute to girls’ delinquency; is there clear evidence that existing non-gender-responsive evidence-based interventions for delinquency are less effective for girls than boys; and is there well-grounded evidence that interventions specifically tailored for girls are differentially effective? This article reviews the available research regarding each of these questions and proposes an agenda for future research into the development of effective interventions for juvenile justice-involved girls.
Highlights
As data derived from national FBI records attest [1], arrest rates for girls have risen sharply in the past decade, for violent offenses, even at the same time that rates for boys have beenLaws 2013, 2 decreasing
As this literature review suggests, the argument that girls have different treatment needs relative to boys is buttressed by a number of findings regarding gender differences in the risk factors for delinquency
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, it is notable that, in the case of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) and Trauma Adaptive Recovery Group Education and Therapy (TARGET), intervention trials supporting the treatment’s effectiveness have come from samples including a high proportion of girls, and in the case of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), the rare studies that have looked for gender differences in effectiveness have found none
Summary
As data derived from national FBI records attest [1], arrest rates for girls have risen sharply in the past decade, for violent offenses, even at the same time that rates for boys have been. Matthews and Hubbard [21] subsequently offered a thoughtful review of how the available evidence regarding “what works” might inform intervention programs for JJ-involved girls, arguing for the incorporation of five “essential points:” utilizing assessment instruments that are calibrated to measure the specific needs of delinquent girls, building a helping alliance, modifying the process and content of interventions to take into account girls’ relational and cognitive strengths and vulnerabilities, promoting healthy connections and recognizing the various sources of heterogeneity amongst girls. Our review is focused on those youth who have been referred to as being in the “deep end” [28] of the JJ system, and we do not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of the vast literature devoted to gender differences among community youth in problem behavior, conduct disorder, aggression and the like
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