Social Control of Girls -- Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1099 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 3

Page 1 of 4

(Sheldon 2004: 3). In other words, girls are penalized for transgressing societal norms such as the idea that girls should stay at home, or the fear that a loitering girl might be soliciting sexual activity. "Part of the explanation of why girls become involved in activities that are likely to land them in the juvenile justice system, but at a rate substantially lower than for boys, is that girls undergo a childhood and adolescence that is heavily colored by their gender," and they are discouraged rather than encouraged to act out in violent actions (Sheldon 2004: 4). However, the obsession with curtailing teenage female sexuality remains in the form of status offenses. As in Victorian times, making female sexuality criminal, and morally reforming female offenders becomes a way of socially engineering the population as a whole, and making it more 'moral' by encouraging or forcing girls to be chaste.

Furthermore, when women, particularly women of color do engage in violence, even minor acts of violence, they are even more harshly penalized than their male counterparts, and are often portrayed by the media as "somehow more vicious," because they are transgressing the stereotype of how women should behave (Sheldon 2004:14). In this fashion, the construction of an artificial, passive femininity lays the foundation for the "demonization of young girls of color" (Sheldon 2004: 15). When girls engage in violence, they are not seen as products of a gang environment, but as somehow unnatural.

Stuck Writing Your "Social Control of Girls --" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Social Control of Girls -- Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



Tragically, one of the reasons that girls commit status abuses like running away is not because they seek out sexual activity, but because they are the victims of sexual abuse. Girls are much more likely than boys to be the victims of child sexual abuse.70% of the victims of sexual abuse are female (Shelden 2004: 15). Girls who find their way into runaway shelters or juvenile detention facilities have often been sexually abused, yet their crime is more easily noted and marked by the law than their perpetrators. The fact that the juvenile justice system is supposed to rehabilitate young offenders becomes a double-edged sword for young girls -- in the desire to rehabilitate young criminals, girl's non-criminal personal lifestyle choices regarding sexuality become penalized. Also, because the female body has become a means of making males more moral, even when girls are victims, it is the girls who are contained and convicted of status offenses, rather than their adult abusers. When girls lash out in gang violence, it is they who are penalized, and no attempt is made to reform or understand their crimes in the context of their environment.

Works.....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Social Control Of Girls --" (2007, October 12) Retrieved July 5, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/social-control-girls-35220

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Social Control Of Girls --" 12 October 2007. Web.5 July. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/social-control-girls-35220>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Social Control Of Girls --", 12 October 2007, Accessed.5 July. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/social-control-girls-35220
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example