The research did find that the interviewed girls views on what counts as violence differs from the adult or legal view. “A common understanding of violence is of an intentionally harmful, interpersonal physical act” (S. Batchelor 2001) however some girls believed that verbal abuse or intimidation is more harmful than that of physical violence “I think that verbal stuff hurts you longer. Physical Violence, well, that is going to go away” (Anne quoted in Burman, Brown, Batchelor. 2003 Taking it to heart Girls and the meaning of violence). The girls also look at the context in which the fighting occurs in deciding if it is counted as violent. In “The Myth of Girl Gangs” study 59% of the violence reported was between siblings and this was not seen as violent in the same way as fighting a non-sibling would be. The study explains that newspapers focus on girl violence because it is atypical and a lot of the crime news is the same and quite boring. The papers often spice up the stories by misquoting such studies or by not giving all of the information. Batchelor looks at the official figures from 1987-1997 for the number of women convicted of violent offending in Scotland and shows that it has risen by 15% but this is only 38 additional cases, the figures for men is an increase of 26% or 818 cases.
If there are some increases in the amount of girls convicted of violence it may be because of a change in the justice system rather than any great increase in amounts of violence. Girls and violence used to be considered as too small and too low-risk to warrant attention but is now being re-assessed and re-categorised. Young girls who, at one stage, were to be protected form male violent conduct are now being categorised in the same way and subjected to the same forms of management. “Gender is one of the most certain predictors of offending. Young women are a very low risk when it comes to predicting offending.” (A. Worrall 2004) In her article Worrall states that “contrary to popular belief, the number of female juveniles found guilty or formally cautioned in England and Wales has not risen overall since 1994” (figures from Home office, 2000) (Worrall 2001) What has changed is the rate of cautioning: “from 100 to 96 percent for 10-11 year olds; from 94-87 per cent for 12-14 year olds; and from 77-64 percent for 15-17 year olds”(A. Worrall 2001). Because of this change in attitude fewer girls are getting away with just a caution, they are instead appearing in court and being sentenced. This change has caused quite an affect on the statistics for offending. Even though there are less found guilty or cautioned in 1999 than 1994 (14,500 and 16,200 respectively) the rates in custody have doubled from 3% to 6%.
Worrall suggests that the “under representation of girls in young offenders institutions may be accounted for in their over representation in local authority secure accommodations”. There are two ways into secure accommodation; the welfare route, traditionally the route most girls go through, and the justice route. However now “the pattern of admission to secure units has changed… and that, even before DTOs, we have been locking up more of our daughters for criminal rather than welfare matters.” (A. Worrall 2001) The long standing view that girls in “trouble” require care not punishment has changed for good.
A study that doesn’t agree that gangs involving girls don’t exist is Jody Millers’ “The girls in the Gang”. This report not only argues that gangs exists but gives examples of girl gangs dating back to the 1950s. Walter Millers study is mentioned which described two female gangs called the Molls and the Queens that were active in the middle part of the 20th century. Waln Brown studied African American female gang members in Philadelphia in 1978 and Joan Moore, young women active in street gangs during the 1950s and 1970s. Moore’s research also shows that females participation was similar to that of men’s being actively involved in violence, mostly fighting and occupying about a third of the gang. This early research of girls in gangs highlights the inaccuracy of claims of “new violent female offenders” that can be seen in newspapers and on the news. Miller states that “there has been both continuity and change in young women’s participation in gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years” (J. Miller 2001). Interest in womens involvement in gangs has soared since the 1980s because of the massive growth in gang research in the same period. In the U.S there has been increased concern and media attention because the girls are seen to be “rebelling against traditional roles of femininity…becoming more like there male counterparts: wild, hedonistic, irrational, amoral and violent” (Laidler & Hunt 2001). Some traditional accounts have downplayed the role of the girls in the gang and view them only in terms of their sexuality. Others give a very different view “similar to those in the media, of girl gang members seizing the streets, gaining independence from, and almost competing with, their male counterparts” (Laidler & Hunt 2001).
Miller states that the recent estimates for female participation are more than have previously been believed and that official police sources underestimate the amount of girls active within gangs. This is because the male gang members are more likely to be involved in serious crime and therefore caught and used as a statistic as well as the average age difference between male and female members. Millers study found that “young women approximate between 20% and 46% of gang members” (J. Miller 2001) and only a minority (31%) of male gang members spoken to described their gangs as male only. The age of these female gang members vary but girls in Millers study typically began hanging out with gang members when they were 12 on average, took a year to decide and finally joined when they were 13. “69% of the girls in the sample described joining their gangs before they turned 14”.
Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to “adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment” (J. Miller 2001). In Lind’s study on gangs it was concluded that “the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalised communities (Chesney Lind 1995). Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighbourhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be part of a gang are still the majority. Millers study explains that a number of family problems contribute to the likelihood of gang involvement. Problems such as “childhood abuse and neglect, wife abuse, alcohol and drug addiction in the family” (J. Miller 2001) make it more likely that a young girl will become involved in a gang.
A study of Chicana gang members by Portillos (1999) found that girls are also drawn to gangs to escape the male dominated environment at home. In fact Miller found that 60% of gang girls described having three or more of the family problems stated above. The gang can be seen as a second family to the members in it. A place where they can talk about the problems they face at home with other people in the same situation. They are part of a group which brings a sense of belonging and the gang colours and territorial nature would enforce this.
In their study Burman et al were surprised at how many of the girls expressed a need to talk about the violence or abuse they have experienced and state that they “underestimated the centrality of violence and abuse (verbal, physical, emotional and sexual), and the fear of violence, in young peoples lives” (Burman et al 2001). No matter the reason for joining a gang the fact remains that young people in gangs whether male or female are a lot more involved in acts of delinquency than people who are not affiliated in gangs. Gang members are not only involved in more crime but in crime of a more serious nature such as murder. Millers article looks at research by Bjerregarrd and Smith (1993) and notes that the evidence shows that gang girls are more delinquent than non-gang males as well as non-gang girls. This is worrying statement since males are involved in the majority of criminal acts. If the amount of girls in gangs is increasing, which is an opinion that has not been confirmed, then the difference in amount of crime committed by either gender would lessen. Male gang members are however still a lot more involved in the serious forms crime than girls and it has been found that “many young women purposefully choose not to be involved in what they considered dangerous and/or morally troubling activities” (J. Miller 2001). In her study Miller found that only about a quarter to a third of the girls were involved in serious delinquency and let us not forget that young girls only make up between 20-46% of the total gang. This is not a very large figure and should help to sooth worries about an increase in girls joining gangs, as even when they are become members they seem to be able to stay away from major trouble.
A problem with gang membership is that the risk of them being victimised either by rival gangs or gang peers increases. Gang girls are “significantly more likely than non-gang girls to have been sexually assaulted, threatened with a weapon, stabbed and to have witnessed stabbings, shootings, drive-byes and homicides” (J. Miller 2001)
Until recently there has been little or no research on women’s involvement in violence. With most areas of study there are different views and opinions and this one is no exception. Looking at information on women and violence it can be seen that the two views are opposite and contradictory. One view can often be seen in the media and it is that levels of violence are rising and large groups of young girls are roaming the streets victimising anyone weaker than they are. Another view is that “violence by girls is not a major social problem” (S. Batchelor 2001) and can be seen in a number of studies.
It is evident that there are some girls involved in gangs but with problems like childhood abuse and neglect, wife abuse, alcohol and drug addiction at home it’s quite understandable that a child would want to get out of the house and escape these problems. The gang seems to be more a form of escapism than wanting to commit crime and become involved in violence. The girls involved just want to be part of a group. Some may want to join a gang to rebel against the traditional views of femininity. For some the participation in the gang “offers an avenue for challenging and testing normative gender roles” (Laidler and Hunt 2001) but for most it is nothing more than a stage that will be grown out of. The question was should we be concerned about increasing girls violence and their participation in gangs. I feel think the answer is no, we should be concerned for them. Anybody either male or female, especially juveniles who experience problems such as the majority of the people studied in the gang research do, should receive help and not persecution
References
Batchelor, S (2001) ‘The Myth of Girl Gangs’, Criminal Justice Matters, 43: 26-27. London: Sage
Burman, M, Batchelor, S, Brown J (2003) ‘Taking it to Heart’: The Meaning of Violence in Girls Lives’ in E. Stanko (ed.) The Meaning of Violence, London: Routledge.
Burman, M et al (2001) Researching Girls and Violence - Facing the Dilemas of Fieldwork’ British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 41, No. p443-459.
Davies, A (1999) ‘These Viragoes Are No Less Cruel Than The Lads’: Young Women, Gangs and Violence in Late Victorian Manchester and Salford, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 39, No. 1, p72-89.
Laidler, K. J & G. Hunt (2001) ‘Accomplishing Femininity Among Girls in the Gang’, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 41, No. p656-678
Miller, J (2001) ‘The Girls in the Gang - What Weve Learned From Two Decades of Research’ in M. Chesney-Lind & L. Pasko (eds.) Girls, Women and Crime: Selected Readings, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Worall, A (2004) ‘Twisted Sisters, Ladettes, and the New Penology: The Social Construction of “Violent Girls” in C. Alder & A. Worrall (eds.) Girls’ Violence: Myths and Realities, New York: SUNY.
Worrall, A. (2001) ‘Girls at Risk? Reflections on Changing Attitudes to Young Women’s Offending’ Probation Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, p86-92.
Worrall, A (1999) ‘Troubled or Troublesome? Justice for Girls and Young Women’ in B. Goldston (ed.) Youth Justice: Contemporary Policy and Practice, Aldershot: Ashgate.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb0604.pdf - Visited 20/04/2005