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Girls in the juvenile justice system in England and Wales, 2002-2017
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Girls in the juvenile justice system in England and Wales, 2002-2017

Elaine Arnull, Jihye Park and Karen Heimer
Journal of youth studies, Vol.26(1), pp.19-42
2023
DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2021.1970723
url
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/624366View
Open Access

Abstract

This paper addresses a gap in the literature on youth justice in England and Wales by examining disaggregated patterns of juvenile court processing (i.e. proven offences) and custody. It provides new evidence to show that gendered effects are best observed over time. Looking at juvenile justice data over time allows us to see the effects of policy that are obscured in the short-term. This is especially important when considering small and specific populations, such as girls. It is often assumed that policy impacts smaller groups in the justice system (in this case, girls) in the same way as the larger group (in this case, boys), with boys' experiences representing the norm. In this paper, we call into question that assumption by considering female and male proven offences and juvenile custody over time in England and Wales and show why gendered impacts should be given proper consideration. We also examine changes in the gender gap in proven offences and juvenile custody over time.
gender gap Girls juvenile justice

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