Preface: Delinquent Girls, Relationships, and Ordinary Magic; M.K. Underwood -- Section I.  Setting the Stage -- Stability and Change in Girls’ Delinquency and the Gender Gap: Trends in Violence and Alcohol Offending across Multiple Sources of Evidence; J. Schwartz, D. Steffensmeier -- Crossing Over: Girls at the Intersection of Juvenile Justice, Criminal Justice, and Child Welfare; J.L. Woolard -- Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: The Causes and Correlates of Girls’ Involvement; S.R. Hawkins -- Section II.  Context and Relationships -- Juvenile Assault Arrestees and Their Incidents: Same and Opposite Gender Relationships; A.L. Stahl, P. Coontz -- Girlfriends, Gun-holders, and Ghetto Rats? Moving Beyond Narrow Views of Girls in Gangs; D. Peterson -- Girls’ Relational Orientation and Interpersonal Dynamics of Delinquency; S. Miller, D.-M. Winn, T. Wiki, J. Taylor -- Section III.  Psychological Functioning -- Dealing with Double Jeopardy: Mental Health Disorders among Girls in the Juvenile Justice System ; E.G. Marston, M.A. Russell, I. Osbuth, G.K. Watson -- Trauma and Girls’ Delinquency; P.K. Kerig, S.P. Becker -- Section IV.   Intervention and Implications for Practice and Policy -- Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care as an Intervention for Juvenile Justice Girls in Out-of-Home Care; L.D. Leve, P. Chamberlain, D.K. Smith, G.T. Harold -- Risk for Girls’ Delinquency: Early Intervention to Promote Healthy Development; A. Rubin-Vaughan, D. Pepler, M. Walsh, K. Levene, A. Yuile -- Addressing Girls Delinquency – Recommendations for Policymakers and Practitioners; J. Chiancone.

Traditionally, delinquent girls were considered an anomaly, a rare phenomenon attracting little scholarly notice. Today, more than one in four youth offenders is female, and researchers and practitioners alike are quickly turning their attention and resources to address this challenging situation. Delinquent Girls: Contexts, Relationships, and Adaptation synthesizes what is known about girls involved in delinquent behavior and their experiences at different points in the juvenile justice system. This breakthrough volume adds to the understanding of this population by offering empirical analysis not only of how these behaviors develop but also about what is being done to intervene. Employing multiple theoretical models, qualitative and quantitative data sources, law enforcement records, and insights across disciplines, leading scholars review causes and correlates; the roles of family and peers; psychological and legal issues; policy changes resulting in more arrests of young women; and evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies. Each chapter covers its subject in depth, providing theory, findings, and future directions. Important topics addressed include: Narrowing the gender gap – trends in girls’ delinquency. Girls at the intersection of juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare. Trauma exposure, mental health issues, and girls’ delinquency. Beyond the stereotypes: girls in gangs. Intervention programs for at-risk and court-involved girls. Implications for practice and policy. With its broad scope and solution-oriented focus, Delinquent Girls: Contexts, Relationships, and Adaptation is a must-have volume for researchers, professionals, graduate students, and social policy experts in clinical child and school psychology, social work, juvenile justice, criminology, developmental psychology, and sociology.