Citation

Lim S, Lambie I, van Toledo A. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2019; 63(2): 198-217.

Affiliation

The University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X18799002

PMID

30198362

Abstract

Female youth offending is poorly understood, despite increased rates of such offending. Research indicates there are a range of factors that have a causal impact on the development of offending in young people. This study investigated risk factors using a retrospective file audit of 184 female youth offenders in New Zealand. The findings were classified using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, which highlights the different contextual levels that influence behavior, including individual, family, peer, school, community, and cultural factors. The results indicate that there are significant risk factors for female youth offenders. There were high rates of mental health difficulties, drug use, histories of maltreatment, family stressors, peer issues, and school behavior problems in the cohort. There was very little difference between violent and nonviolent offenders. All the young women had risk factors affecting them at many levels. Targeted, multisystemic intervention and prevention programs are therefore needed to address female youth offending.

Language: en

Keywords

Bronfenbrenner; characteristics; female offenders; maltreatment; risk factors; youth