Nature Or Nurture: Is Gender Biologically Determined Or Culturally Constructed?

Introduction

The literature suggests that boys and girls often manifest different health, mental health, social, and behavior problems. For example, official statistics reveal that girls are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse compared to boys who are more likely to be victims of physical assault and neglect. Boys and girls also may differ in coping styles. Studies have shown that girls are much more likely to cope with stress using internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety and depression) while boys are more likely to use externalizing behaviors (e.g., anger or aggression).

Methods

Sample

In order to pursue these research questions, we conducted a secondary data analysis of administrative data from a mid-sized suburban county located in the Northeastern United States with a population size of 500,000. Children in this county service system could be referred to any one of the 63 agencies or institutions, which included social or human service providers, educational institutions, juvenile justice agencies, departments, or institutions.

Variables and Measures

Data for the first point of documented service entry was examined for 1,408 children (aged 1-11). The data were derived from Adolescent Information Form (AIF) intake assessments completed between 1989 and 2004. Developed by the county Youth Services Commission, the AIF form is a two-page checklist and consists of socio-demographic characteristics of the youth and three subscales for source of referral, contributing factors for referral, and service use history. No psychometric properties have been reported for this total scale of the three subscales for source of referral, contributing factors for referral, or service use patterns. A review of these three subscales follows.

Data Collection Procedures

Agency staff, most commonly practitioners, completes a hard copy of the AIF form when children enter their agencies for services. The AIF form is used routinely for intake purposes at any one of the 63 participating community agencies and takes about 15-20 min to complete. Practitioners check off relevant juvenile socio-demographic characteristics, referral source, contributing factors for referral, and service use history. Once completed, the AIF data forms are then reviewed monthly by designated agency liaisons for their completeness and accuracy. The agency then sends their forms to the local Youth Services Commission central office. Research and technology staff at the central office enters the AIF data into a central administrative database that represents a master-file of community and system wide service use among the county children.

Data Analysis

A series of analyses were used to examine gender differences in children's service referral and service use patterns. Chi-square analyses were conducted to determine the association between gender and source of referral, service use history, and contributing factors for referral. The Mantel-Haenszel Common Odds Ratio Estimates (Flanders 1985) were used to analyze the relationships of gender (female = 0; male = 1) on each of the dichotomous variables, such as source of referral (0 = absence; 1 = presence), contributing factors for referral (0 = absence; 1 = presence) and service use history (0 = absence; 1 = presence).

Results

Sample Description

The children in the sample ranged in age from 1 to 11 with a mean age of 8 ...