Female Juvenile Offending: A Review of Characteristics and Contexts

We reviewed current literature on female juvenile offending including the scope and nature of offending by female adolescents and the risk and protective factors across ecological contexts. We suggested that female juvenile offending is best viewed within a multidimensional framework in which female adolescent developmental characteristics as well as the ecological contexts must be considered for effective preventions and interventions. An ecological framework may assist professionals to target adolescent female offenders who are most likely to be chronic offenders. We offered both an intervention and research frame for addressing the issue of offending among our female youth and concluded that, as the incidence of female juvenile offending increases, researchers and practitioners are well advised to consider both the contexts surrounding the potential female adolescent offender as well as the contexts that contribute to her resiliency against offending.