CRIMINOLOGY AND APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

Criminology and Applied Psychology

Acknowledgements

Writing this thesis has been very demanding, challenging and time-consuming, but also remarkable, informative and above all fun. Nevertheless, it feels great to have finally completed my bachelor's or master's thesis and I am now looking forward to a nice relaxing period for recovering. It has been both advantages and drawbacks with the limited amount of earlier research conducted within this area, even though I faced serious troubles but sometimes the advantages of this research luckily were in my favor and have made this research both challenging and interesting. I would like to thank my supervisor -------, professor at -------University, who has been great in guiding my through this thesis, helping me through the difficulties I faced during the entire process and motivated me to work hard. Furthermore, I would like to thank all my friends, for their contributions by sharing their perceptions and opinions with me. Above all I would like to thank my family and teachers that provided me with valuable and constructive criticism.

Abstract

The latest research on female gangs and female arrest statistics indicates a rise not only in violent offenses, but also in the willingness of law enforcement to view women as violent offenders. This shift in attitude by law enforcement within the last decade is an awakening long overdue. Ironically, it may be through this willingness to view the female as a dangerous entity in and of herself that the juvenile female offender may finally begin to receive the help she so desperately needs. In exploring why more females are being arrested on weapons charges, why there are increases in the percentages of female arrests, and why females are gaining more influence in the gang world, the underlying question remains: from where does this recent impetus for violence stem? This paper look at the recent statistics on female arrests and offers some possible and compelling reasons behind them.

Table of Content

Acknowledgementsii

Abstractiii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Outline of the Study1

Problem Statement1

Rationale1

Aims and Objectives1

Research Question2

Limitation of the Study2

Assumptions & Limitation2

Ethical concern3

Reliability3

Validity4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

The Cyclical Nature of Abuse6

Crime prevention media campaigns7

Anti-drunk driving media evaluations9

Theoretical approach12

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY14

Research Design14

Data Collection Method15

Data Analysis15

Case Study Research Method15

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION17

Is the Female Juvenile a Victim First?17

What Factors Put These Girls at Risk?17

Why Do Young Females Join Gangs?18

The Female Path to Juvenile Injustice20

Addendum21

CASE STUDY21

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION24

References25

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Outline of the Study

Females have traditionally been viewed by law enforcement as "accessories," "appendages," "mirrors," or "satellites" to male gang activity, and in many jurisdictions, they are not even counted as gang members (Curry and Decker, 1998). This reluctance has been explained by the tendency of some jurisdictions to qualify an offense as being "gang related" only if the offense was committed by an actual gang member (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001). Behind this distinction is the bias that violence is not naturally feminine.

Problem Statement

Females have not been thought capable of committing "male crimes" for reasons that often arise from law enforcement and society falsely accepting gender stereotypes as valid: viewing the female as the ...