Citation

Vaughan TJ, Pollock J, Vandiver DM. Violence Gend. 2015; 2(1): 24-34.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/vio.2014.0028

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines sex differences in assault, as well as the differences in arrest likelihood, for girls and boys in a sample of juvenile assaults from the National Incident-Based Reporting System. Using contingency tables, we compare dimensions of assault severity, victim characteristics, and victim-offender relationship across offender sex to identify patterns in boys and girls violence. Further, we employ logistic regression to analyze the effect of offender sex on the probability arrest, while controlling for these differences. The results indicated that the proportion of girls' offenses committed against older family members was greater than the proportion of boys' offenses. Furthermore, while controlling for victim, offender, and offense characteristics, log odds of arrest for girls were 11% higher than that for boys, a statistically significant effect. These results suggest that mandatory arrest policies for domestic violence may disproportionately affect girls, as a greater proportion of girls' offenses than boys' offenses take place at home, requiring the application of domestic violence policies with less discretion by police officers to respond with any response other than arrest. This study lends support to a selective chivalry model, where system actors treat women differentially depending on the circumstances of the offense.