Gender matters: Using an ecological lens to understand female crime and disruptive behavior

This chapter will examine how the response of the criminal and juvenile justice system both reflects and perpetuates gender-based perceptions of female offenders. Toward this aim, alternative ways of defining the social problem of female crime will be advanced. These include person-centered, person-mediated, and ecological social problem definitions. Qualitative interviews with 19 girls involved in the juvenile justice system will be used to further describe the similarities, distinctions, and implications of each type of problem definition. The importance of the ecological level of analysis in particular is underscored, with an emphasis on the gendered response of the justice system as a key element of incorporating an ecological lens.