A. Slotboom

Risk factors for delinquency in adolescent and young adult females: A European review

This article reviews 30 European studies on risk factors for delinquency in adolescent and young adult females. Risk factors are compared with those for (adolescent) male delinquency. Risk factors unique to females are identified, as well as risk factors shared by males and females. Sex differences in risk factors are mainly found for individual and family factors. Females and males differ less in school and peer risk factors. As studies zoom in more on specific domains of risk factors or specific types of delinquent behaviour, more differences emerge between males and females. The limitations of studies examining female delinquency are discussed and future research areas proposed.

Psychological well-being of incarcerated women in the Netherlands: Importation or deprivation?

In light of the dramatic increase over the past decade in the number of women incarcerated in the Netherlands, we examined 251 female inmates’ psychological reactions to imprisonment with a survey that taps importation and deprivation factors and related life experiences. While depressive complaints, irritability and risk of self-harm were all predicted by both sets of factors, the evidence suggests that deprivation factors have a greater impact on these measures of well-being than importation factors. Previous treatment for psychological problems was the most important covariate for psychological complaints and post-traumatic stress. The most important deprivation factors were treatment by staff and other inmates, and environmental stress. Accordingly, we suggest that in order to further our understanding of women prisoners’ adaptations to incarceration greater attention should be directed to women’s conditions of confinement and less to their histories of victimization and drug abuse.

Female desistance: A review of the literature

To examine whether, and if so how, male-based theories of desistance also apply to female offenders, this article reviews 44 studies on female desistance. Where available, gender differences in desistance are considered. Having children and supportive relationships is found to be important for females, in addition to economic independence, the absence of drugs and individual agency. Gender differences are found for the influence of children, supportive relationships, employment and the absence of criminal peers. This review shows that male-based theories of desistance seem applicable to females as well. Furthermore, results underscore the importance of considering how individual and social factors interact during the process of desistance. Implications for future research and for strategies for promoting desistance are discussed.

Contrasting adolescent female and male sexual aggression: A self-report study on prevalence and predictors of sexual aggression

Abstract In this study we investigated the prevalence of sexual aggression as reported by adolescent males and females in the Netherlands. Data were collected from a low-risk school-based sample (n=219; 119 adolescent females and 100 adolescent males), a medium-risk school-based sample (vocational training) (n=237; 117 adolescent females and 120 adolescent males); and a high-risk sample from eight different juvenile justice institutions (n=377; 215 adolescent females and 162 adolescent males). Participants reported on the strategy used to force a person into sexual contact (defined as sexual touching, sexual intercourse or oral sex) against his/her will. Results showed that around 8% of the adolescent females and 10% of the adolescent males reported having used sexual aggression against a person. However, prevalence rates differed for the different samples: the juvenile institution sample showed the highest rate. Further, we found that for adolescent females “beliefs about sexual behaviour” was the only predictor of sexually aggressive behaviour, while for adolescent males being a victim of sexual abuse was the most important predictor. The results are discussed in relation to the literature on sexually aggressive offending behaviour.

Bringing Women’s Carceral Experiences into the “New Punitiveness” Fray

The last decade produced a revival in comparative penal research, most of which focuses on explaining aggregate-level changes in imprisonment rates. In this paper, we highlight the absence of women in this research and we shift the focus from aggregate imprisonment rates to women’s prison experiences, arguing that these experiences are the best indicators of the post-modern penal era. Using both survey and interview data, we examine women’s perceptions of control over their carceral lives in California, England, and the Netherlands. We find similar prison experiences explain perceptions of control across all three regimes, but regime differences ultimately produce very different outcomes for these women.