Correlates of female juvenile delinquency Available to Purchase

This study examines the relationships between the age at which female juvenile offenders receive their first sentencing and individual risk factors, family risk factors, and race. The individual risk factors include dropping out of school, physical abuse, sexual abuse, prostitution, substance abuse, gang involvement, poverty, pregnancy, and the existence of co‐defendants. The family risk factors include parents’ marital status, familial criminal activity, education level of parents, and receipt of public assistance. The results showed individual risk factors to have a statistically significant relationship with the dependent variable, age at first sentencing. Family risk factors did not have a statistically significant relationship to the dependent variable. Socio‐demographic risk factors were found to be statistically significant only indirectly, through the individual risk factor scale.