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GENDER DIFFERENCE IN JUVENILE MISCONDUCT: REVISITING THE GENERALITY-SPECIFICITY DEBATE

DAIGLE, LEAH ELIZABETH
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1113498338

Abstract Details

2005, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Education : Criminal Justice.
In attempting to explain male and female delinquency, theorists have taken two distinct approaches. In the first approach, theories that purport to be general have been used. In these theories, the same explanatory concepts are utilized to explain both male and female delinquency. In the second approach, a gendered explanation is used in which different variables are thought to be relevant in explaining male and female delinquency. This disagreement has spurred the development of the generality-specificity debate that centers on the question of whether general or gender-specific theories should be developed and applied to delinquency. In response to this debate, empirical examinations have been carried out to examine if traditional criminological theories can explain both gender’s delinquency participation. In addition, feminist researchers have also examined whether females’ unique experiences are related to engaging in delinquency. What this body of research has not done, however, is examined the etiology of delinquency across theoretical perspectives. As such, the current study addresses the generality-specificity debate by including variables from the feminist perspective, traditional criminological theory, and the life-course perspective. To meet this objective, data on 3,419 youths from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was used. Findings from the first stage of analysis revealed that males and females do differ in their levels of involvement in overall delinquency, nonviolent delinquency, and violent delinquency. Results from the multivariate analysis showed that there are some similarities in the predictors of male and female delinquency and substance use. For example, delinquent peers, victimization, and prior delinquent and substance abuse involvement were relatively robust predictors for both males and females. Despite these similarities, differences in the predictors across gender were discovered. For females’ delinquency, depression, autonomy, traditional strain, attachment to friends, and risky behavior are related. Males’ delinquency, on the other hand, is explained by general strain variables, involvement in sports, attention deficits, and pubertal development. These findings suggest the following conclusions: (1) the predictors of male and female delinquency differ across type of delinquency; (2) there are both similarities and differences in the predictors across gender; and (3) gender-specific approaches should be further examined for their applicability to delinquency. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
Dr. Francis Cullen (Advisor)
216 p.
Sociology, Criminology and Penology
Delinquency; Gender; Juvenile; Feminist Perspective; Life-Course Perspective; Strain Theory; Social Bond Theory; Peers; Substance Use

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Citations

  • DAIGLE, L. E. (2005). GENDER DIFFERENCE IN JUVENILE MISCONDUCT: REVISITING THE GENERALITY-SPECIFICITY DEBATE [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1113498338

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • DAIGLE, LEAH. GENDER DIFFERENCE IN JUVENILE MISCONDUCT: REVISITING THE GENERALITY-SPECIFICITY DEBATE. 2005. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1113498338.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • DAIGLE, LEAH. "GENDER DIFFERENCE IN JUVENILE MISCONDUCT: REVISITING THE GENERALITY-SPECIFICITY DEBATE." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1113498338

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.