Differential Pathways to Violence and Self-Injurious Behavior: African American and White Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, research, largely from a feminist perspective, has been devoted to identifying the “gender-specific needs” of delinquent girls. This article explores racial differences between girls and how these differences may affect the commission of violent behavior and self-injurious behavior. Self-report data were collected from 163 girls incarcerated in Ohio in 1998. Data were collected on a wide range of variables, including potentially criminogenic areas such as abuse, antisocial attitudes, drug use, type of parenting received, self-esteem, family experiences, and mental health. The findings indicate that some of these variables differ significantly by race. Furthermore, these criminogenic areas are investigated in order to test their relationship to self-reports of violence, self-injurious behavior, suicide attempts, and overall delinquency. These models are then examined by race with findings that demonstrate the fallacy of representing girls as a homogeneous group. Of particular interest is how differently girls respond to abuse, based on race.

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