It is well documented that juvenile females often incur harsher sentencing that male juvenile offenders. Females have seen a 50% increase, from 20% to 29%, in arrest from 1992 to 2012. The percentage of juvenile girls being sent to detention centers has had a similar increase over the same amount of time (On, n.d.). There are several theories that try to explain the phenomenon of this harsher sentencing, most notably is the paternalistic theory. There is evidence that juvenile girls are treated more severely by police, caseworkers, lawyers, and judges (Thibodeau, 2002).
Overall, the juvenile justice system has evolved over the years to accommodate male delinquents, as they have typically been the majority of incarcerated children. As well as being in the minority, girls have been viewed throughout the years as being “wayward”, but not criminal like male delinquents (Thibodeau, 2002). Male juvenile delinquents have historically had several avenues for rehabilitation, including boarding schools, job placement, and reporting centers ( Green, 2017). Female delinquents are more likely to be
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While overall the number of juvenile delinquent girls is decreasing, it is doing so at a slower rate then male juvenile delinquents. Young female delinquents often come with a host of abuse issues, which make their care and rehabilitation especially unique. The delinquent criminal justice system has so far been unprepared to deal with female’s unique needs. As a result of not being able to meet female needs many women end up spending their lives behind bars when they could have been rehabilitated at much younger ages. It is of the upmost importance that the juvenile justice system allocates more money towards female incarceration and rehabilitation, or continues to fail young American