ABSTRACT
In Canada, an increasing number of serious female offenders are coming into conflict with the law. Moreover, since the 1960s, the use of custody for female youth has been rising steadily and is expected to continue increasing given the crime control nature of many of the new youth justice statute proposals (Reitsma-Street, 1999). In addition, official police charge statistics suggest a marked increase in violent offending among female youth (Statistics Canada, 1998). Although it is clear that young women engage in significantly less violent behavior than their male counterparts (Hatch & Faith, 1990), the number of females charged with violence has been increasing at twice the rate of males charged with violence over the last decade (Statistics Canada, 1998).
