Journal article
Adolescence, Empathy, and the Gender Gap in Delinquency
Feminist criminology, Vol.15(4), pp.410-437
10/01/2020
DOI: 10.1177/1557085120908332
Abstract
I propose the gender gap in delinquency is linked to adolescents' orientation to gender-normative behavior and empathic development. I use longitudinal data on 1,525 youth from the Denver Youth Survey to analyze relationships among gender, empathy, and delinquency. I find girls exhibit higher levels of empathy across adolescence than do boys, and these differences emerge in preadolescence. Empathy is inversely related to delinquency, and is predictive of fraud and theft, but not violent delinquency. Finally, empathy partially mediates the effect of being male on delinquency. I therefore argue the gender gap in delinquency can be explained-in part-by adherence to gender norms governing empathetic expression.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Adolescence, Empathy, and the Gender Gap in Delinquency
- Creators
- Kate K. O'Neill - University of Washington
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Feminist criminology, Vol.15(4), pp.410-437
- DOI
- 10.1177/1557085120908332
- ISSN
- 1557-0851
- eISSN
- 1557-086X
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 28
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9984696712902771
Metrics
16 Record Views