Chesney-Lind, Meda: Feminist Model of Female Delinquency

Brittany L. Groot

In the 1980s, Meda Chesney-Lind began outlining why criminological theories were inadequate in their explanations of female delinquency. She posited that theories were androcentric, focusing on the experiences of males. However, these theories are applied to both genders as if they were universal propositions. In 1988, with coauthor Kathleen Daly, Chesney-Lind argued that current thinking failed to recognize the unique factors that differentiate females from males and the factors that predispose females to crime differently than males. She contended that an increasing number of girls are entering the criminal justice system and, therefore, require the attention of system officials and researchers as a separate subgroup. Furthermore, according to Chesney-Lind and Lisa Pasko, females become involved in the system for different crimes and status offenses (offenses that are only illegal for juveniles) than their male counterparts. To address these issues, Chesney-Lind developed a feminist model for female delinquency. She argued that ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.