Female Delinquency and Relational Problems

The contextual nature of the family structure/delinquency relationship

“…The traditional view is that familial disruption should be more criminogenic for girls (Morris, 1964;Toby, 1957). This assertion is based on the assumption that girls have always been more family-oriented than boys (Andrew, 1976;Austin, 1978;Morris, 1964;Offord, 1982;Toby, 1957;Wilkinson, 1980).…”

Contributions of quantitative methods to the study of gender and crime, or bootstrapping our way into the theoretical thicket

“…Nevertheless, there is relatively little empirical evidence to support this belief. Most tests of social control theory find the effects of parental attachment on delinquency to be unaffected by gender (Cemkovich and Giordano, 1987;Elliott et al, 1985;Hindelang, 1973;Messner and Krohn, 1990;Morash and Chesney-Lind, 1991;Smith and Paternoster, 1987;Thornberry et aL, I991), although some find variation in the effects by gender (Austin, 1978;Canter, 1982;Datesman and Scarpitti, 1975;Krohn and Massey, 1980;Morris, 1964).…”

Adjudicated Adolescent Girls and Their Mothers: Examining Relationship Quality and Communication Styles

“…Although the research related to the family-relationship problems of female delinquents is not as extensive as the research related to male delinquents (Berger, 1989;Calhoun, Jurgens, & Chen, 1993;Campbell, 1981Campbell, ,1987Chesney-Lind, 1989;Emler & Reicher, 1995;Rutter & Giller, 1984), some research results have suggested that families of female delinquents are more dysfunctional than those of male delinquents (Henggeler, Edwards, & Borduin, 1987;Kroupa, 1988;Morris, 1964;Nye, 1958;Roff & Wirt, 1984). Henggeler et al (1987), in a study that compared the family interactions of male and female delinquents, found that, in general, families of delinquents showed less facilitative information exchange (i.e., supportive communication) than did the families of well-adjusted adolescents.…”

“…Problematic mother-to-daughter relationships (Bowker & Klein, 1983;Campbell, 1987;Mak, 1990;Shoemaker, 1994) and ineffective mother-to-daughter communication patterns (Henggeler et al, 1987) have been related to a higher incidence of female delinquency. Several authors have argued that inadequacy in the area of parentxhild interactions (i.e., parental conflict and ineffective communication patterns) is likely to have a strong effect on girls' behavior (Cowie, Cowie, & Slater, 1968;Gove & Crutchfield, 1982;Henggeler et al, 1987;Morris, 1964;Norland, Shover, Thornton, & James, 1979). Results of a recent study in which 40 female offenders were interviewed regarding their family dynamics indicated that mother-to-daughter relationship problems were the most frequent family problem related by the girls .…”