6. Boys and Juvenile Justice

Adolescent masculinities and juvenile justice in France

“…The way in which the institution dealt with Brian's situation seems to confirm the hypothesis that the judicial institution reproduces diffuse forms of heteronormativity (Dowd, 2008), by associating certain sexualities to deviance, and by considering that these sexualities necessarily question the future of children they are in charge of. For instance, the initial interpretation of the judge assumes that not having strictly heterosexual parents is in and of itself a reason for identity crisis).…”

“…The present research has confirmed the need to examine the commonly accepted link between male adolescent deviance and violence. For example, Nancy Dowd (2008) has tried to understand the link between the harsh punishments dealt out to men in the justice system and how hegemonic masculinity is perpetuated. According to her, juvenile justice reinforces representations linking masculinity, danger, and violence (Dowd, 2008, p. 132).…”

“…The idea of gender bias in the legal chain was first discussed in North American feminist criminology research and is currently being further developed in the field of feminist surveillance studies (Dubrofsky & Magnet, 2015). This research has introduced gendered inquiry into work on sentencing and deviance (Dowd, 2008;Vanhamme & Beyens, 2007). These studies have contributed to expanding the concept of deviance, which had until then been limited to looking at men (or women in extreme cases, e.g.…”

“…Looking at masculinities, one of the guiding hypotheses of my work was that agents in the justice system tend to equate boys' deviant behavior with a diffuse form of "hegemonic masculinity" strongly associated with risk-taking and violence. From this point of view, analyzing these case files allowed me to test on the ground some of the theories elaborated by works of reference on hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1995;Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005) and, more specifically, on adolescent boys facing the justice system (Dowd, 2008;Messerschmidt, 1999). While reference to "hegemonic masculinity" has been very present within the recent import of research on masculinities to French academia, it should certainly be used with caution.…”

“I’ll Choose My Own Way”: Delinquent Girls and Boys in Search of Gender Hegemony

“…This interview excerpt illustrates how Yasmina, who had just turned eighteen when we met, apprehends her delinquent trajectory through the prism of psychology or personal development. Whereas masculinity is seen as "intrinsically" linked to delinquency and violence (Dowd 2008), no logical link has been acknowledged between crime and femininity by either researchers or criminal justice system actors (Cardi 2007). In contrast to most boys who omitted these aspects in the interviews, girls explain their criminal behavior as the product of relational, psychological or emotional instability.…”