Research Note

• Author: Charles M. Borduin,Scott T. Ronis
• Published date: 01 October 2012
• Date: 01 October 2012
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1541204012440108
• Subject Matter: Research Note

Research Note
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
10(4) 386-400
Research Note: Individual,
ª The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/1541204012440108
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Characteristics of Female
Serious Juvenile Offenders
Charles M. Borduin1 and Scott T. Ronis2
Abstract
This study examined the individual functioning, interpersonal relations, and academic performance
of 142 female adolescents who were divided into three demographically similar groups: violent
juvenile offenders (n ¼ 51), nonviolent juvenile offenders (n ¼ 56), and nondelinquent youths (ND;
n ¼ 35). Both the violent and the nonviolent offenders had histories of serious crimes (i.e., felonies).
Parents and youths completed self-report instruments, behavior-rating inventories, and a videore-
corded interaction task, and teachers completed a rating measure. Results showed that violent juve-
nile offenders and nonviolent juvenile offenders had more behavior problems, more difficulties in
family and peer relations, and poorer academic performance than did ND. However, violent juvenile
offenders did not differ from nonviolent juvenile offenders on any of the measures of individual func-
tioning, family relations, peer relations, or academic performance. Taken together, the findings suggest
that girls who commit serious crimes, regardless of whether violence is involved, share a number of
risk factors across key domains of individual and interpersonal functioning. The implications of these
findings for research, theory, and treatment are discussed.
Keywords
female juvenile offenders, violence, delinquency, antisocial behavior, integrated theory
Adolescent girls have been increasingly represented in the juvenile justice system over the past 15
years and now account for approximately 34% of all serious (i.e., index) crimes committed by youths
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1995, 2010). In response to this trend, federal study groups (e.g.,
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2010) and reviewers (e.g., Sprott & Doob,
2009; Zahn, 2009) have recently attempted to advance our understanding of the causes and corre-
lates of criminal behavior among adolescent girls so that effective prevention and treatment
1 University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
2 University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Charles M. Borduin, 210 McAlester Hall, University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO
65211-2500
Email: BorduinC@missouri.edu

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Borduin and Ronis
387
programs can be developed. Indeed, when one considers that girls who commit serious violent and
nonviolent crimes during adolescence are at high risk of mental and physical health problems,
substance abuse, low educational and vocational achievement, and persistent criminal behavior in
adulthood (Bright & Jonson-Reid, 2010; Piquero, Brame, & Moffitt, 2005), it seems imperative
to develop an empirical base regarding the characteristics of female serious juvenile offenders and
the systems in which they are embedded.
Unfortunately, however, very few controlled studies have examined the characteristics of female
serious violent offenders (VO) and nonviolent offenders (NO), and the vast majority of studies have
included relatively significant methodological limitations (Goldweber, Broidy, & Cauffman, 2009;
Wong, Slotboom, & Bijleveld, 2010). For example, research on female VO has typically not used
appropriate comparison groups (e.g., NO with similar demographic characteristics). Without such
control groups, it is difficult to determine whether observed results are linked with violent offending
in particular or with delinquency in general. Furthermore, the data in many of the extant studies are
derived from clinical impressions and unstandardized assessment instruments, and the self-reports of
incarcerated adolescents are often the primary source of information. In light of these methodologi-
cal difficulties, findings from research conducted to date should be viewed as quite tentative.
In developing an understanding of female serious juvenile offenders, it seems most efficacious to
examine variables that are consistent with comprehensive theories of delinquency. Agnew (2009)
has validated a general integrated theory of crime and delinquency that combines elements of strain
theory, control theory, and social learning theory to explain delinquency in both girls and boys. This
integrated theory proposes that low bonding to conventional socializing agents (i.e., family, school)
increases the likelihood that youths will associate with deviant peers, and association with such peers
is viewed as the primary determinant of delinquent behavior. Similarly, developmentalists (e.g.,
Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006; Minuchin, 2002) and family systems theorists (e.g., Henggeler,
Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 2009; Minuchin & Nichols, 1998) have empha-
sized that child behavior is associated with the bidirectional interaction between individual child char-
acteristics and the key systems or contexts in which youths are embedded. Thus, both integrated theory
and contextual/systemic approaches highlight the roles of individual child characteristics, family rela-
tions, and extrafamilial factors (e.g., peers, school) in the development of antisocial behavior.
Integrated theory and contextual/systemic perspectives have stressed the importance of family
bonding (i.e., affective ties) and family organization (i.e., adaptability, control) in the development
of delinquency. Indeed, investigators have found that female delinquent youths report high rates of
conflict, disorganization, and dysfunction and low rates of positive communication in their families
(Dixon, Howie, & Starling, 2004; Fergusson & Woodward, 2000; Hubbard & Pratt, 2002). However,
studies have focused primarily on girls who commit nonviolent offenses and have not examined
whether such family problems are associated with violent offenses among girls. It is possible that girls
who commit violent crimes, like their violent male counterparts (see Blaske, Borduin, Henggeler, &
Mann, 1989), have even more dysfunctional family relations than do NO.
A central aspect of the integrated model is that delinquent youths associate extensively with devi-
ant peers. In contrast with social learning theory (e.g., Snyder, Reid, & Patterson, 2003), however,
the integrated model does not suggest that the peer relations of delinquent girls are deficient in pos-
itive affect and social skills (Agnew, 2009). Instead, studies using community samples have shown
that involvement with deviant peers is associated with increased delinquency among girls (Fergus-
son & Woodward, 2000; Hubbard & Pratt, 2002). Although there is evidence that involvement with
deviant peers is more strongly associated with violent than with nonviolent criminal behavior among
boys (Blaske et al., 1989; Lacourse, Nagin, Tremblay, Vitaro, & Claes, 2003), it is not clear whether
female serious VO associate more extensively with deviant peers than do female serious NO.
The integrated and contextual/systemic models also emphasize the role of school bonding (i.e.,
academic performance, involvement in extracurricular activities) in the development of

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Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 10(4)
delinquency. In general, investigators have reported that delinquent girls demonstrate poorer
academic performance than do nondelinquent girls (Hubbard & Pratt, 2002; Payne, 2009). Although
research has shown that boys who commit violent crimes have more academic difficulties than do
boys who commit nonviolent crimes (Lipsey & Derzon, 1998; Stouthamer-Loeber & Loeber, 2002),
studies have not compared female VO and NO on measures of school bonding.
Finally, from both integrated and contextual/systemic perspectives, individual youth characteris-
tics are also important correlates of delinquent behavior. The extant research with delinquent girls
has emphasized the assessment of psychiatric symptomatology rather than the study of cognitive and
social developmental processes. This literature suggests that female delinquent youths report high
rates of emotional and behavioral problems (Dixon et al., 2004; Hubbard & Pratt, 2002). Again,
however, studies have not focused on girls who commit serious crimes and have not included perti-
nent comparison groups.
In summary, investigators have concluded that female delinquent youths generally evidence
emotional and interpersonal deficits that are consistent with major theories of crime and antisocial
behavior. However, our understanding of the characteristics of female serious juvenile offenders has
been limited by a relative absence of controlled studies and by other methodological problems in
the extant literature. The primary purpose of the present study is to provide a rigorous evaluation
of the characteristics of female serious juvenile offenders and of the key systems in which they are
embedded. As such, this study includes several relative strengths. First, consistent with previous
research indicating that male violent and nonviolent juvenile offenders represent distinct subgroups
(see Loeber & Farrington, 1998), the present study distinguishes between girls who have committed
serious violent crimes and girls who have committed serious nonviolent (i.e., property) crimes. Sec-
ond, we include a demographically similar comparison group of nondelinquent girls to help deter-
mine the unique and common correlates...