Steffensmeier, D., Schwartz, J., Zhong, H., & Ackerman, J. (2005). “An assessment of recent trends in girls’ violence using diverse longitudinal sources: Is the gender gap closing?” Criminology, 43(2), 355-405.
There is little knowledge about the nature and the actual causes of girls’ violence since few types of research work on delinquencies and young women’s crime. Considering this, Steffensmeier et al (2005) discuss criminal issues about delinquency. Thus, the researchers intend to define the notion of violence in the broader meaning to lessen the minor incidents of young women’s crimes. They also enlarge on the setting consideration like school or home as the major factors of juvenile females’ crimes. Finally, the article is also dedicated to the analysis of an intolerant environment that serves as the precondition of the crimes committed.
The study of these factors deposits to the violence psychology, especially to its effect on the social changes and gender relations. The whole paper mostly uncovers the authors’ vision of female crime and their specific evaluation of reliable sources. Steffensmeier et al (2005) demonstrate in what way the law system fights against violence if to take the recent trends of young women crimes into consideration. Arising from this, the main purpose of the article is to promote the establishment of the crime policy towards women taking into consideration the gender gap.
Steffensmeier et al (2005) focus on the causes of the girls’ violence based on gender peculiarities and psychological issues. The analysis of those issues leads to the inevitable engagement of social changes as facilitating factors of girls’ violence. A detailed consideration of the plot of the problem allows the researchers to trace the fluctuations of the female crimes about the current social situation and the emergence of now moral norms. The researchers make an important conclusion that contributed to the development of the modern trend of girls’ violence. The assessment of these burning issues is rather helpful in defining the degree of the infringement. Hence, the study of the gender gap encourages a new approach to juvenile delinquency where was underestimated previously. Steffensmeier et al (2005) prove that there is an urgent necessity to consider the penal philosophy to change it for the better.
The strong side of the article lies in a logical and consistent analysis of the four sources in terms of girls’ violence investigation. Steffensmeier et al (2005) manage to determine the correlation between the types of crimes and sex and age characteristics. To provide accurate research, the authors provide such a specific approach as time-series techniques applied for a comprehensive analysis of female-to-male trends in violence. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test encourages the establishment of specific patterns in the gender gap in terms of violence. The article considers the test as rather an efficient method that should provide policy shifts in crimes investigation.
In general, the paper is well-structured and provides a gradual analysis of issues in the appropriate order. The article is of great value for the researchers as this topic is still on hold. A popular account is focused on the scholars who study the field of gender bias and its effect on criminology. The conclusions based on four veritable sources are rather helpful in the deeper analysis of girls’ behavior towards violent crimes.
Reference List
Steffensmeier, D., Schwartz, J., Zhong, H., & Ackerman, J. (2005). “An assessment of recent trends in girls’ violence using diverse longitudinal sources: Is the gender gap closing?” Criminology, 43(2), 355-405.