Does Feminism Spoil Girls?: Explanations for Official Rises in Female Delinquency

Abstract

Official rates of female delinquency have been rising steadily incountries such as Australia, England, Canada and the United Statessince the 1960s. They have also generally been rising at a rate faster than that for boys. As yet there is little consensus about the reasons for these rises or even whether such rate rises reflect any real increase in female delinquency at all. Against this backdrop of rising official crimes rates for young women, this article revisits the various criminological explanations for these trends.