RT Article
T1 Persistent Paternalism: The Instantiation of Gendered Attributions in the System Response to Girls
JF Criminal justice and behavior
VO 50
IS 5
SP 666
OP 687
A1 Anderson, Valerie R.
A2 Javdani, Shabnam
A2 Singh, Sukhmani
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1843246783
AB Prior research suggests that the juvenile legal system does too little to address the sources and underlying reasons for girls’ court referrals. Drawing on attribution theories, the current study examined perspectives that characterize the response of the system to girls’ behaviors. Data from this study were derived from a multimethod, qualitative study on system-involved girls. We find that court actors hold gendered attributions of girls’ delinquency, in turn informing their decision-making about how to treat and sanction girls. Paternalism remains a persistent feature in how the system locates, defines, and responds to girls through varying gendered attributions. The findings lend further support to attribution perspectives that suggest implicit gender-biases influence court actor decision-making, exacerbating the challenges girls face in and out of the juvenile legal system. By extension, this study offers concrete policy and practice implications for systems change and improving its response to girls.
K1 system actors
K1 Attributions
K1 Juvenile Justice
K1 Adolescence
K1 Youth
K1 Girls
K1 Gender
DO 10.1177/00938548231152184