The degree to which gender effects on both aggressive and property delinquency are mediated by peer group experiences is examined with data on 588 adolescents in two types of urban communities. The data best support an explanation in which gender has its major effect on the type of peer group to which an adolescent belongs. More specifically, girls belong to less delinquent groups, and this is a salient factor in accounting for their lower levels of delinquency. The findings point to the need to delineate specific gender differences that lead girls to be in less delinquent groups, and in so doing to reorient research on the etiology of delinquency to an examination of the individual predispositions and the environmental circumstances that result in youths joining peer groups that are supportive of illegal behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Akers, R. L.
, M. D. Krohn, L. Lanza-Kaduce, and M. Radosevich1979“Social learning and deviant behavior: a specific test of a general theory.”Amer. Soc. Rev.44: 636-655.
2.
Baily, K. D.
1978 Methods of Social Research. New York: Free Press.
3.
Beschner, G. M.
and K. G. Treasure 1979 “Female adolescent drug use,” pp. 169-212 in G. M. Beschner and A. S. Friedman (eds.) Youth Drug Abuse: Problems, Issues and Treatment. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
4.
Canter, R. J.1982“Sex differences in self-report delinquency.”Criminology20: 373-393.
5.
Cavan, R. S.
1962 “Delinquent girls,” in Juvenile Delinquency. New York: J. B. Lippincott.
6.
Cloward, R. A.
and L. E. Ohlin 1960 Delinquency and Opportunity: A Theory of Delinquent Gangs. New York: Free Press.
7.
Cohen, A. K.
1955 Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang. New York: Free Press.
8.
Cohen, S. F.
1980 Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. Oxford: Martin Robertson.
9.
Downes, D. M.
1966 The Delinquent Solution: A Study in Subcultural Theory. London: Collier-Macmillan.
10.
Dunphy, D. C.
1969 Cliques, Crowds and Gangs: Group Life of Sydney Adolescents. Melbourne, Australia: Cheshire.
11.
Elliott, D. S.
and S. S. Ageton1980“Reconciling race and class differences in self-reported and official estimates of delinquency.”Amer. Soc. Rev.45: 95-110.
12.
Empey, L. T.
1978 American Delinquency: Its Meaning and Construction. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
13.
Empey, L. T.
and S. G. Lubeck 1971a Explaining Delinquency: Construction, Test, and Reformulation of a Sociological Theory. Lexington, MA: Heath Lexington Books.
14.
Empey, L. T.
and S. G. Lubeck 1971b The Silver Lake Experiment. Chicago: Aldine.
15.
Figueira-McDonough, J.
, W. H. Barton, and R. C. Sarri 1981 “Normal deviance: gender similarities in adolescent subcultures,” pp. 17-45 in M. Q. Warren (ed.) Comparing Female and Male Offenders. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
16.
Gans, H. J.
1963 The Urban Villagers. New York: Free Press.
17.
Giordano, P. C.1978“Girls, guys and gangs: the changing social context of female delinquency.”J. of Criminal Law and Criminology69: 126-132.
18.
Giordano, P. C.
and S. A. Cernkovich 1979 “The female delinquent: a casualty of the women's liberation movement?” pp. 531-543 in R. G. Lacovetta and D. H. Chang (eds.) Critical Issues in Criminal Justice. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
19.
Glaser, D.1956“Criminality theories and behavioral images.”Amer. J. of Sociology61: 433-444.
20.
Gold, M.
1970 Delinquent Behavior in an American City. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
21.
Gora, J. G.
1982 The New Female Criminal: Empirical Reality or Social Myth?New York: Praeger.
22.
Harris, A. R.1977“Sex and theories of deviance: toward a functional theory of deviant typescripts.”Amer. Soc. Rev.42: 3-16.
23.
Hepburn, J. R.1977“Testing alternative models of delinquency causation.”J. of Criminal Law and Criminology67: 450-460.
24.
Hindelang, M. J.1971“Age, sex, and the versatility of delinquent involvements.”Social Problems18: 522-535.
25.
Hindelang, M. J.1973“Causes of delinquency: a partial replication and extension.”Social Problems20: 471-487.
26.
Hindelang, M. J.1981“Variations in sex-race-age specific incidence rates of offending.”Amer. Soc. Rev.46: 461-474.
27.
Hindelang, M. J.
, T. Hirschi, and J. G. Weis 1981 Measuring Delinquency. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
28.
Hirschi, T.
1969 Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
29.
Hoffman, M. L.1977“Sex differences in empathy and related behaviors.”Psych. Bull.84: 712-722.
30.
Hoffman-Bustamante, D.1973“The nature of female criminality.”Issues in Criminology9: 117-136.
31.
Hollingshead, A. B.
1949 Elmstown's Youth. New York: John Wiley.
32.
Hollingshead, A. B.
and F. C. Redlich 1958 Social Class and Mental Illness. New York: John Wiley.
33.
Jansyn, L. R.1966“Solidarity and delinquency in a street corner group.”Amer. Soc. Rev.31: 600-614.
34.
Jensen, G. J.1972“Parents, peers, and delinquent action: a test of the differential association perspective.”Amer. J. of Sociology78: 562-575.
35.
Jensen, G. J.
and R. Eve1976“Sex differences in delinquency: an examination of popular explanations.”Criminology13: 427-448.
36.
Johnson, L.
, P. M. O'Mally, and L. K. Eveland 1976 “Nonaddictive drug use and delinquency: a longitudinal analysis,” pp. 325-350 in Drug Use and Crime: Report of the Panel on Drug Use and Criminal Behavior. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service.
37.
Johnson, R. E.
1979 Juvenile Delinquency and its Origins: An Integrated Theoretical Approach. Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press.
38.
Klein, D.1973“The etiology of female crime: a review of the literature.”Issues in Criminology8: 3-30.
39.
Klein, M. W.
1971 Street Gangs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
40.
Klein, M. W.
, H. E. Shimota, and G. Luci 1971 “Delinquent girl gangs,” pp. 395-397 in J. Segal (ed.) The Mental Health of the Child. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
41.
Leonard, E. B.
1982 Women, Crime and Society: A Critique of Criminological Theory. New York: Longman.
42.
Lerman, P.1967“Gangs, networks, and subcultural delinquency.”Amer. J. of Sociology73: 63-72.
43.
Liska, A. E.1973“Causal structures underlying the relationship between delinquent involvement and delinquent peers.”Sociology and Social Research58: 23-36.
44.
Miller, W. B.1958“Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang delinquency.”J. of Social Issues14: 5-17.
45.
Miller, W. B.1973“The molls.”Society11: 32-35.
46.
Miller, W. B.
1974 “American youth gangs: past and present,” pp. 210-239 in A. S. Blumberg (ed.) Current Perspectives in Criminal Behavior. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
47.
Miller, W. B.
1981 “Crime by youth gangs and groups in the United States (preliminary version).”National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.
48.
Morash, M.1983a“Gangs, groups, and delinquency.”British J. of Criminology23: 309-335.
49.
Morash, M.
1983b “An explanation of juvenile delinquency: the integration of moral reasoning theory and sociological knowledge,” pp. 385-409 in W. S. Laufer and J. M. Day (eds.) Personality Theory, Moral Development, and Criminal Behavior. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
50.
Morash, M.1984“The establishment of a juvenile's police record: the influence of individual and peer group characteristics.”Criminology22: 97-111.
51.
Morash, M.
and S. K. Wright 1983 “Gender differences in delinquency: a closer look.” Presented at the 1983 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Detroit, Michigan.
52.
Morris, R. R.1965“Attitudes towards delinquency by delinquents, non-delinquents and their friends.”British J. of Criminology5: 249-265.
53.
Nye, F. I.
1958 Family Relationships and Delinquent Behavior. New York: John Wiley.
54.
Poole, E. D.
and R. M. Regoli1979“Parental support, delinquent friends, and delinquency: a test of interaction effects.”J. of Criminal Law and Criminology70: 188-193.
55.
Quicker, J. C.
1975 “Chicano gang membership as a function of institutional failure.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association, Victoria, B. C.
56.
Rankin, J.1980“School factors and delinquency: interactions by age and sex.”Sociology and Social Research64: 420-434.
57.
Reckless, W. C.1957“Female criminality.”National Probation and Parole Assn. J.3: 1-6.
58.
Richards, P.1981“Quantitative and qualitative sex differences in middle class delinquency.”Criminology18: 453-470.
59.
Rosenblum, K. E.1975“Female deviance and the female sex role: a preliminary investigation.”British J. of Sociology26: 169-185.
60.
Schur, E. M.
1969 Our Criminal Society. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
61.
Seashore, S. E.
1954 Group Cohesiveness in the Industrial Work Group. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
62.
Short, J. F.
and F. L. Strodtbeck 1965 Group Process and Gang Delinquency. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
63.
Simon, R.
1975a The Contemporary Woman and Crime. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
64.
Simon, R.
1975b Women and Crime. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
65.
Simons, R. L.
, M. G. Miller, and S. M. Aigner1980“Contemporary theories of deviance and female delinquency: an empirical test.”J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency17: 42-57.
66.
Smart, C.
1977 Women, Crime, and Criminology: A Feminist Critique. Boston: Routledge and Kegan-Paul.
67.
Smith, D.1979“Sex and deviance: an assessment of major sociological variables.”Soc. Q.20: 183-195.
68.
Smith, E. A.
1962 American Youth Culture-Group Life in Teenage Society. New York: Free Press.
69.
Spencer, J. C.
1964 Stress and Release in an Urban Estate. London: Tavistock.
70.
Spergel, I. A.
1975 “Interactions between community structure, delinquency and social policy in the inner city,” pp. 55-100 in M. Klein (ed.) The Juvenile Justice System. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
71.
Steffensmeier, D. J.1983“Organization properties and sex-segregation in the underworld: building a sociological theory of sex differences in crime.”Social Forces61: 1010-1032.
72.
Steffensmeier, D. J.
and R. H. Steffensmeier1980“Trends in female delinquency: an examination of arrest, juvenile court, self-report, and field data.”Criminology18: 62-85.
73.
Sutherland, E. H.
and D. R. Cressey 1970 Principles of Criminology. New York: J. B. Lippincott.
74.
Toby, J.1961“Delinquency and opportunity: review article.”British J. of Sociology12: 282-288.
75.
Vedder, J. G.1956“Some dynamics of delinquent girls.”J. of Nervous and Mental Disease123: 292-295.
76.
Wattenberg, W.1956“Differences between girl and boy repeaters.”J. of Educ. Psychology47: 48-53.
77.
Weis, J. G.1976“Liberation and crime: the invention of the new female criminal.”Crime and Social Justice6: 17-27.
78.
Weis, J. G.
, K. Sakumoto, J. Sederstrom, and C. Zeiss 1980 Jurisdiction and the Elusive Status Offender: A Comparison of Involvement in Delinquent Behavior and Status Offenses. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
79.
Weis, J. G.
and J. Sederstrom 1981 The Prevention of Serious Delinquency: What to Do?Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
80.
Wolfgang, M. E.
and F. Ferracuti 1967 The Subculture of Violence: Toward An Integrated Theory in Criminology. London: Tavistock.
81.
Wolfgang, M. E.
and J. T. Sellin 1964 The Measurement of Delinquency. New York: John Wiley.
82.
Yablonsky, L.
1961 The Violent Gang. New York: Macmillan.
