ABSTRACT
A curious mixture of attention and neglect characterizes the history of the treatment of girls by the juvenile justice system (Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 1998; Leonard, 1982). Since its inception, the juvenile justice system has been interested in the behavior of females, particularly when that behavior is seen as inappropriate in terms of traditional gender roles and expectations. Though arrested and institutionalized much less often than boys, as researchers have demonstrated time and time again (Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 1998), the police and juvenile justice system have demonstrated a remarkable attention to the pre-delinquent behaviors of girls, arresting and incarcerating them for behaviors often ignored in boys. In fact, the idea that girls receive differential treatment has led many researchers in this area to argue that the juvenile justice system’s treatment of females is often characterized by both paternalism and sexism.
