Understanding Female Youth Crime in the UK: Perspectives of the Offender

1. Consequence of wider social shifts Ethnicity Causes Geographical location Class Intersectionality Childhood in crisis? Crime is linked to masculinity Women are victims (Katz, 2000). Is this panic justified? One perspective fits all (Weiler, 1999). Do we have real reason to fear? The desire to rebel and be different Globalisation Women’s employment opportunities The increase of female violent crime is thought to be specific to advanced industrial societies (Goldson, 2006). Feminist critique- can we draw generalisations from such findings? Backlash against constructions to conform Against who? Black women are more likely to be found guilty or receive harsher sentences than white offenders (Soler, 2001). Technological advancement Necessary to understand the cultural context behind each informant. Parental influences Underlying motivations To feel important and be someone in an increasingly diverse society Environmental factors What makes UK different? Are there specific patterns? Race Changes in family structures and composition What crimes? Life experiences and personal biography More public crimes perhaps? Nature of the Crime Ideas of institutional racism Changes in police treatment and reaction to female violence (Weiler, 1999). • Does physical position affect respondents flows and access to crime? • Does it affect the type of crimes committed? • Practicalities • Access Has a political crack down on juvenile delinquency exacerbated attention to the prevalence of youth crime. Women have always committed crimes, and therefore is not a new phenomenon in this sense. Operational ideas Broader social factors to consider Social structures Historical Perspective Gangs Power relationships Will putting money into detention help the problem? Political Action Economics and resources Understanding Female Youth Crime in the UK: Perspectives of the Offender • Lack of legitimate opportunities to feel self-worth. • Failing to achieve in the school system. • Adopt the “bad girl” image as a means to achieve status and power in adolescence (Chesney-Lind and Sheldon, 1998). Is this “universal” ideal suitable across age boundaries? Gender is not enough! No crime exists in a vacuum. We cannot assume that female youth crime is all the same, with the same motivations, rationalisations, trains of thought and opportunities. A complex picture is painted. Are girls really becoming more like boys? Acquiring or imitating traits we have assigned to males Ladette culture One of the guys (Miller, 2001). But what about other crimes? Reinforced by statistical insignificance How much agency do children have? Telegraph headlines: “Savage cuts to youth spending could rob a generation of chances” (Williams, 2011). Violent female offending has increased by 48% in the last five years (Salman, 2009). Sensitivities the problem Leads to female crime going unnoticed 13 yr old girl mugs two adolescent men Distraction from greater political issues? Psychological interplay Have we incorrectly assumed that only men and boys hold the “ability” or “means” to commit crime, especially violent ones? Violence provide the shock factor to readers Existing assumptions about female and youth crime Child empowerment By who? Political tool perhaps? Plays on personal security fears to enhance and stimulate public concern Media Implications Moral Panic But is youth crime divisible by gender alone? Legitimatising stereotypical images Intervention needs to accept that causes of female youth crime is often gender related (Weiler, 1999). Offenders can hold many identities; victim and perpetrator! Creates youth culture Encourage offenders to replicate “bad girl” images. Have we experienced a breakdown in morality? Way to achieve status in society/peer groups What similarities exist? Alienates and marginalizes The sex ratio of youth crime has not changed. Both boys and girls crimes have seen an increase. A reason to study this topic! Changes risk groups and crime categories Reinforces stigma Fractured femininity. Girls have not been socialised correctly (Artz, 1998). Fostered by, and blamed on, the women’s movement (Adler, 1975). Are these wider social changes implicated in the young female offenders experience of crime? Victims of what? This breaks our traditional ideologies of crime; an inherently male sphere. An assumption that women are coerced into crime. How, and to what extent is this fear played out in society and in what ways does this problematise preventative policies? Problematic as it causes us to re-evaluate the ways in which we define, manage and believe crime operates. Power and patriarchal structures Myth? Is there any evidence to suggest that there is a causal relationship? Creates the need to confront stereotypes Are these legitimate reasons or excuses? Result of the destabilisation of traditional gender roles. Suggests they have no agency