Investing in Girls: A 21st Century Strategy

Victimization is consistently identified as the first step along a girl's pathway into the juvenile justice system. The increasing criminalization of girls is fast becoming a problem, and Leslie Acoca addresses the needs of adolescent girls, arguing this is a necessary first step in halting the intergeneratonal cycle of family fragmentation and crime. Acoca explores the reality underlying the existing statistics to find out if girls are in fact becoming for violence or if the recent trends are partially an artifact of girls' lower base rate of arrests and delinquency cases since the 1970's. She questions the influence of family and societal attitudes toward girls, looks at shifts in law enforcement practices and the increasing availability of weaponry, and compares the crimes of girls with those of boys. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive continuum of gender-responsive prevention, intervention and graduated sanctions services that are tailored to meet the needs of diverse jurisdictions. These interventions much be based in research-based profiles of the characteristics, needs, and life circumstances of girls at risk of entering the juvenile justice system and those already involved with the system.