Book Review: Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities

• Author: Kristine Miller
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204006296166
• Published date: 01 April 2007
• Date: 01 April 2007
• Subject Matter: Articles

Alder, C., & Worrall, A. (Eds.). (2004). Girls’Violence: Myths

and Realities. Albany: State University of New York Press.

DOI: 10.1177/1541204006296166

A great deal of information has been collected and researched with respect to crime. Although

much remains to be studied on the subject, criminologists have become comfortable in making asser-

tions to the causes and correlates of male-perpetrated crimes. However, researchers acknowledge that

the assumption of criminal activity being primarily a male domain has led to a gendered view of crime

that essentially excludes female-perpetrated offenses.

Girls’Violence is a collection of research pieces that represent contemporary perspectives on female

delinquency. This collection offers the reader a catalog of issues regarding female delinquency, includ-

ing how crime and society’s response to crime is influenced by the social construction of gender, the

classification of violent versus nonviolent crime, and whether female delinquency is actually increas-

ing or rather the result of an increase in the official response to female criminality.

Chapter 1: A Contemporary Crisis (C. Alder and A. Worrall)

The editors provide an overview of female delinquency and the specific topics explored in the book.

Criminologists recognize that female crime represents a small number of total crimes committed, and

female juveniles account for a small number of violent crimes. However, the prevalence of female

offending has increased in recent years. What remains unclear, as highlighted by Alder and Worrall, is

whether these numbers represent a true increase in offending, or whether it is an increase in the official

criminal justice response to female delinquency. The issue is further complicated when considering that

some of the acts that were previously considered status offenses are now treated as criminal acts. Further-

more, because much of the violent behavior exhibited by juvenile females occurs in the home, official

reports may be missing many incidents, as parents are often reluctant to report these acts to the police.

Chapter 2: Rough Girls, 1880-1930: The “Recent”

History of Violent Young Women (B. Godfrey)

Although many view female violence as a relatively new phenomenon,the author examines the his-

torical context of female violent crime. Despite the relative infrequency of arrests and prosecutions

against female juveniles, historical accounts attribute some gang-related delinquency to girls. For

example, those from more “problematic” populations, such as the Irish underclass, were more likely to

be officially sanctioned. Public fear of females was more geared toward their sexuality, such as those

associated with venereal diseases, underage sexual activity, and liberated women. Such moral panics

diverted attention away from the issues relating to female violence.

Chapter 3: Twisted Sisters, Ladettes, and the New Penology:

The Social Construction of “Violent Girls” (A. Worrall)

One of the social “facts” that has become widely accepted by criminologists is that gender, in addi-

tion to age, race, and income, is a strong predictor of criminality. The increase in female crime has

Youth Violence and

Juvenile Justice

Volume 5 Number 2

April 2007 207-210

© 2007 Sage Publications

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Book Review