Describe the policy shifts that may have escalated girls' proneness to arrest. Explain why you agree or disagree with the view that policy shifts may have affected girls' proneness to arrest

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• The definition of "violent crime" may have expanded so that minor incidents that girls, in relative terms, are more likely to commit are now included in the arrest data.
• Police are more likely to make arrests in private settings (e.g., home and school) where girls' violence is more widespread.
• Family and societal attitudes toward juvenile females are less tolerant now. These developments reflect both a growing intolerance of violence in the law and among the citizenry and an expanded application of preventive punishment and risk management strategies that emphasize early identification and enhanced formal control of problem individuals or groups, particularly problem youth.
• While the gender gap has narrowed, gender differences are still significant for the most serious violent crime.
o Arrest for murder is typically 10:1 in favor of males; only 57 girls ages 18 and under were arrested on murder charges in 2011 compared to 594 boys.
• One reason for the gender disparity in lethal violence is that males and females display differences in the victims they target and the weapons they use.
o The typical male juvenile kills a friend or acquaintance with a handgun during an argument. In contrast, the typical female is as likely to kill a family member as an acquaintance and is more likely to use a knife. Both males and females tend to kill males—generally their brothers, fathers, or friends.
• Student views will vary.