Male and Female Delinquents

Male and Female Juvenile Delinquency
Males are far more likely to be a juvenile offender rather than females. According to the 1996 Sourcebook, every one out of four juvenile arrests are female, while every four out of five juvenile arrests are male. Ever since the beginning of human kind, it was proven that males do commit more crimes. According to Criminal Statistics in 2001, males rather than females were more likely to commit crimes such as theft, drug offenses, violence against a person, burglary, criminal damage, robbery and sexual offenses. The one crime that males and females had in common was theft and handling of stolen goods. According to the Violent Crime Index, the male offender is more likely to be convicted of violent crimes such as murder, sexual assault and forcible rape, however, the female is more likely to be convicted for property crimes such as burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft.
Males and females are similar, but yet different with factors which change them from being innocent to a delinquent. Similarly, males and females can become delinquent with specific factors such as poverty and growing up in a neighborhood with high crimes, most likely to belong in an ethnic group like Hispanic or African-American, a history of poor educational performance or a high school dropout, and abused drugs and alcohol (October, 1998). However, other factors which can lead to females being delinquent are the physical changes of puberty coincide with enormous emotional and psychological changes, according to Brooks Gunn & Reiter in 1990. During female teenage years, females become more separated from their families by finding their own identity, exploring their sexuality, and transforming into adulthood, which is a very difficult transformation considering the negative images from the media on how a female should look like, such as skinny, big breasts, small waist, blonde hair, etc. These false images from the media makes it very difficult for a female to gain a high self-esteem because a majority of females cannot achieve this Hollywood image, which depresses them and gives them a low self-esteem, thus resulting in criminal behavior. On the other hand, males have a far less difficult time than females when dealing with puberty during their adolescent years because males do not undergo such an enormous emotional and psychological change. The major factor for males becoming delinquent is not the outside factors that trigger emotional and psychological changes during adolescence such as low self-esteem; it is the need for a positive male role model to develop a healthy identity as a male (Davis, 1997). Males do not dwell so much upon their self-image and less likely to be engulfed in a low self-esteem due to their image, thus making them less-susceptible to some crimes.
Correspondingly, males and females are virtually the same with the needs that must be satisfied in order to eliminate juvenile delinquency. Both male and female need physical safety and healthy physical development; need trust, respect, love, validation from caring adults; need for positive role models; and need of belongingness and worthiness (Acoca, 1995). With these specific needs enforced and implemented on juveniles, both male and female should not turn to a life of delinquency.

Miller, Taylor. "Female Juvenile Delinquents." Guiding Principles for Promising Female Programs. 2 April 2010. Oct 1998.

Whales, John. "Crime: Gender Archive." Office for National Statistics. 2 April 2010. 8 Jan 2004.