Faculty Advisor(s)

Stacy Wittrock

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Abstract

The association between gender and crime or delinquency, with males committing more crime and delinquency than females, has been well-established in the criminological literature (e.g., Lauritsen et al. 2009; Kruttschnitt, 2013; Steffensmeier & Allen, 1996). This relationship has been consistently found across offenses, except for prostitution, across data sources, and over time. Despite this consistent association between gender and crime, or more broadly gender and deviance, this relationship is not fully understood. In part, this lack of understanding is a result, until relatively recently, of the paucity of research on girls’ deviance and delinquency. More recent research has demonstrated areas of similarity in factors associated with violent delinquency across gender (Giordano & Copp, 2019). Mack and colleagues (2015) used data from the Add Health study, to examine how gender, family structure and family processes were related to delinquency and depression. While the researchers found no gender differences, the relationships between family structure, family processes, depression, and delinquency were complex and warrant further study (Mack et al., 2015). Using data from the longitudinal Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) we will examine the relationships among neighborhood disadvantage, family structure, and family processes and how these complex factors contribute to depression and delinquency across gender for adolescents.

Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Poster

Department

History, Government, Law & National Security

Disciplines

Criminology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance | Sociology

Disentangling the Relationships Among Gender, Neighborhood Disadvantage, Depression, and Delinquency

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