Abstract
We investigated offense characteristics for a national sample of 38,749 homicide arrestees identified in the FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports for 1984 and 1993. Analyses indicated little change from 1984 to 1993 in the circumstances of homicides committed by adolescent girls; however, there were consistent offense differences between girls and boys, and between girls and women. Homicides by adolescent girls were more likely than those committed by boys to involve interpersonal conflict rather than a criminal motive such as robbery. Girls were more likely than boys to use a knife rather than a firearm and their victims were more likely to be under the age of 13 years. Compared to women (18 years or older), girls were more likely to act with an accomplice and their victims were more likely to be female and between 13 and 20 years of age. Results were inconsistent with a stereotypic masculinization theory of the increase in female violence, but provide indirect support for the importance of domestic stress and relational conflict experienced by adolescent girls. Overall, this study supports the need for differentiated study of violence by juvenile girls, and for preventive interventions which target domestic and interpersonal stress.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adler, F. (1975).Sisters in crime. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Biderman, A. D. (1991):Understanding crime incidence statistics: Why the UCR diverges from the NCS. New York: Springer-Verlag
Campbell, A. (1981).Girl delinquents. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Campbell, A. (1993).Men women, and aggression. New York: Basic Books.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1987). Girls and violence: An exploration of the gender gap in serious delinquent behavior. In D. H. Crowell, I. M. Evans, & C. R. O'Donnell (Eds.).Childhood aggression and violence: Sources of influence, prevention, and control (pp. 207–229). New York: Plenum.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1993). Girls, gangs and violence: Anatomy of a backlash.Humanity & Society, 17, 321–344.
Cohen, J. (1988).Statistical Dower analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cornell, D. G. (1993). Juvenile homicide: A growing national problem.Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 11, 389–396.
Cornell, D., Benedek, E., & Benedek, D. (1987). Juvenile homicide: Prior adjustment and a proposed typology.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 383–393.
Ewing, C. P. (1990).When children kill: The dynamics of juvenile homicide. Federal Bureau of Investigation (1994).Uniform crime reports: Crime in the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Printing Office.
Heide, K. M. (1992).Why kids kill parents: Child abuse and adolescent homicide. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.
Jones, A. N. (1993, April 11). Are girls getting meaner than boys?San Francisco Chronicle, p. D3.
Kresnak, J. (1994, March 12). Girls violence chillingly familiar.Detroit News and Free Press, p. A3.
Mones, P. (1991).When a child kills: Abused children who kill their parents. New York: Pocket Books.
Naffine, N. (1987).Female crime: The construction of women in criminology. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Peterson, K. S. (1993, August 11). Girls are muscling in on the bully act.USA Today. D5.
Rowley, J. C., Ewing, C. P., & Singer, S. I. (1987). Juvenile homicide: The need for an interdisciplinary approach.Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 5, 1–10.
Sommers, I., & Baskin, D. (1993). The situational context of violent female offending.Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 136–162.