Defining Gender-Responsive Services in a Juvenile Court Setting

Abstract

Scholars have documented the importance of developing gender-responsive services for girls in order to address their unique needs and reasons for entering the juvenile justice system. Although researchers have made progress in efforts to develop gender-responsive services, the research and policy literature does not provide a clear definition of what constitutes a gender-responsive approach. This study examined qualitative interviews with juvenile court staff (N = 39). Court staff lacked familiarity with gender-responsivity and most used the term interchangeably with gender-specificity. However, multiple court staff expressed a need for programming for girls and more research on the effectiveness of gender-responsive services.

Keywords:

• girls
• gender-responsive
• juvenile justice
• female delinquency
• gender-specific
• intervention
• qualitative methods

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. William S. Davidson II for his assistance with the larger project from which this study was developed.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Public Policy Grant.