Female Juvenile Deviance and Crime: the invisibility of the facts, selection and trajectories in the judicial system.
At a time when there has been an increase in the number of minors selected by the police and judicial system, although in different proportions (Ferreira et al 2006) and deviant adolescent behaviour, particularly among girls, is a social problem with growing visibility in contemporary societies, especially in urban areas (Carvalho 2003), it is necessary to sociologically characterise: who signals juvenile criminal and deviant behaviours, who is selected by the police and the judicial system and for which behaviours; and also the performance and the measures applied by juvenile justice in relation to sex and the conduct complained of.
Thus, the aim of this project is to explore the gender (in)equalities in the selection of youngsters and in the performance of the system regarding juvenile deviance and delinquency, in the context of all social and economic inequalities (e.g. class and race). So we will focus on the study of the institutional selection mechanisms of 12 to 16 year old girls and on the measures applied to them, by the Portuguese judicial system, in terms of Lei Tutelar Educativa (crime) and Promoção e Protecção (deviance), comparing with their male counterparts and focusing exclusively on the youngsters between 12 and 16 years of age (since the Portuguese Law considers that penal imputability starts at 16; before 12 years old, they are treated as children in danger).
Advanced Training Course; Conference; Book; Peer Reviewed Articles;
Centro de Direito da Família da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra (CDF/FD/UC)