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+++++++++ Wildlife Conservation Society Program for Girls Girls for Planet Earth attempts to address the disparity between male and female students in studying science and technical subjects by engaging female teens in science activities related to the environment. The program is run the by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and funded by the Gender Equity Program of the National Science Foundation. Small groups of high school girls conduct science-oriented service learning projects that, in addition to being scientifically rigorous, must also benefit the communities in which they live. ++++++++++ Magazines for Teen Girls Send Mixed Messages
Sheila Gibbons, who is a commentator for WeNews, says that the contradictory, confusing high-pressure advice directed at teen girls serves them very badly. The advice given in girl magazines advises girls to be simultaneously hot and sexy and virginal. Gibbons suggests that these mixed messages may well be destructive and in part responsible for the rising numbers of teens starving themselves. ++++++++++ In the Media About Girls Wayward Girls is a documentary which examines the lives of young women who find themselves caught up in the juvenile justice system. It examines the causal relationship between child abuse and female juvenile delinquency. Learn more about it and ordering information on its website. For Brevity readers in the Minneapolis area Wayward Girls will be shown on CPT2 on October 19 at 10 p.m. Thirteen is an "R" rated film about a young teen attempting to fit into a fast group of seventh graders in Los Angeles . One of the things that make this film unusual is that it concentrates on the life of the young girl, not the usual plot in which the girl appears as a tag-along to a boy who is the film’s real lead. The film is also unusual in that it was co-written by the film’s producer/director and Nikki Reed, the young teen whose middle school experiences the film is based upon. Click on the link to see a preview of the movie and interviews with its young actors. The girls say Thirteen is an accurate portrayal. ++++++++++ The Center for Young Women’s Development CYWD in San Francisco is run by and for young women. Here are some of the center’s projects: - The Girls’ Detention Advocacy Project was the first peer-based organization to be invited into San Francisco ’s Youth Guidance Center . Young adult mentors provide support for girls and work intensively with incarcerated young women, emphasizing healing as well as accountability.
- Sisters Rising provides employment training, building self-sufficiency, teaching job skills, critical thinking, and self-care. Participants complete 200 hours of training in computers, life skills, sexual health, substance abuse, job readiness, writing, educational planning, public speaking, political education, and conflict resolution and communication. When students have completed this curriculum they go on to a variety of outreach activities.
- The Know Justice Handbook explains legal terminology, provides information about juvenile justice processes, and identifies resources for youth and their families. Also available in Spanish. Click on the link above for a downloadable pdf version of the handbook.
++++++++++ More about Girls – Gender Specific Initiatives - This section of the Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center contains information about a variety of girls’ programming from around the country and includes a handy two-page chart describing these programs. Key Studies: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System – Five pages of resource information on published studies about girls in the juvenile justice system. Includes links to those documents that appear on the Internet and publisher information on those that do not. Handy reference document to have around. ++++++++++ Are There Really More Female Delinquents? In this article from San Francisco Chronicle reporter Joan Ryan interviews Frank Zimring and Mike Males about the question whether girls are becoming as violent as boys. The answer, according to Zimring, is that they are not, and never will be as violent as boys. The article also examines the arrest rate for girls in San Francisco , particularly African American girls. According to Males, girls in San Francisco are 11 times more likely to be arrested for drug offenses than urban girls in Los Angeles , five times more likely to be arrested on robbery charges and three times more likely to be arrested on felony charges. . ++++++++++ Reports on delinquent girls in Pennsylvania - PTSD Program ++++++++++ NPR Series on Girls – This Week, Teen Prostitution NPR’s five week series on girls continues this week with an episode on teen prostitution. It is set in San Francisco where a new approach to teen prostitution is being tried: treating teen prostitutes as victims, not criminals. The Girls Justice Initiative links the Juvenile Probation Department and 14 community-based agencies in San Francisco . One of the links on this episode is to a report on girls in the juvenile justice system by the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, Girls on the Edge, which is 19 pages and downloadable as a pdf file (link to this report is on the same page). In addition I’d like to draw your attention to a major research report on child sexual exploitation published in 2001 in which researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that child sexual exploitation is vastly underreported and affects the lives of 300,000 to 400,000 children each year. In that study the largest group of exploited children were runaway or homeless youth who traded or sold sex in order to meet their basic needs and survive. Click here to read the executive summary, a 39 page pdf file, of "The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S. , Canada and Mexico ." NPR Series – Girls and the Juvenile Justice System NPR’s All Things Considered is doing an in-depth series focusing on the realities young girls face in the juvenile justice system. Three parts have aired at this date with two more yet to come. You have the choice of reading a synopsis of the program online or clicking to listen to the broadcast. The link for each segment includes a list of Internet information resources. #1 - Last Chance Ranch - Florida Detention Center Treats Troubled, Violent Girls (I can't get a link to this segment. To read it, click on #2 below and scroll to near the bottom of that page then click to link back to this segment.) #2 - Girls in a Justice System Build for Boys – Boston Detention Home Sees Rise in Young Female Offenders #3 – Have Girls Really Grown More Violent? – Experts Say Juvenile Justice System is Now Tougher on Females Sheila Gibbons, who is a commentator for WeNews, says that the . The advice given in girl magazines advises girls to be simultaneously hot and sexy and virginal. Gibbons suggests that these mixed messages may well be destructive and in part responsible for the rising numbers of teens starving themselves. ++++++++++ is a documentary . It examines the Learn more about it and ordering information on its website. For Brevity readers in the Minneapolis area Wayward Girls will be shown on CPT2 on October 19 at 10 p.m. is an "R" . One of the things that make , not the usual plot in which the girl appears as a tag-along to a boy who is the film’s real lead. The film is also unusual in Click on the link to see a preview of the movie and interviews with its young actors. The girls say Thirteen is an accurate portrayal. This section of the Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center contains from around the country and includes a In this article from San Francisco Chronicle reporter Joan Ryan interviews Frank Zimring and Mike Males about The article also examines the arrest rate for girls in San Francisco , particularly African American girls. According to Males , five times more likely to be arrested on robbery charges and three times more likely to be arrested on felony charges. . ++++++++++ NPR’s five week series on girls continues this week with an episode on teen prostitution. It is set . links the Juvenile Probation Department and 14 community-based agencies in San Francisco . One of the links on this episode is to a report on girls in the juvenile justice system by the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, which is 19 pages and downloadable as a pdf file (link to this report is on the same page). In that study the largest group of exploited children were runaway or homeless youth who traded or sold sex in order to meet their basic needs and survive. of ." NPR’s is doing . Three parts have aired at this date with two more yet to come. You have the . The link for each segment includes a list of Internet information resources. Last Chance Ranch -Treats Troubled, Violent GirlsBoston Detention Home Sees Rise in Young Female Offenders Experts Say Juvenile Justice System is Now Tougher on Females Pakistanis Trick Daughters into Marriage Pakistanis living abroad send their female children to marry in the home country to preserve culture and lineage. But for many of the girls themselves, this clash of cultures is a breach of fundamental human rights. They chafe at harsh parental control after relishing freedom in their adopted country. This cultural clash is difficult for diplomats and law-enforcement officials to resolve because it takes place in two separate countries and legal systems. ++++++++++ Research on Women and Girls Women’s foundations are funding research on women and girls in their communities because the information they need isn’t there . This article reports on the research and findings from women’s foundations around the country. The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, for instance, found that while Colorado women were generally conquering the wage gap, women without a degree were actually seeing a decrease in their wages in the past 20 years. Article includes links to three of the foundations. ++++++++++ Girls in the Juvenile Justice System - monograph from the CJCJ Journal ++++++++++ Sexual Assault and Rape From the Office of Victims of Crime, this page contains information on rights and services provided to victims of sexual assault and rape. ++++++++++ Female Juvenile Violence – 2 pages Information from the fact sheet: - The study of juvenile crime shows that young females are far less likely than males to violate the law. As a matter of fact, male juveniles account for most of the delinquent acts even though the rate for female juveniles is increasing at as faster pace.
- Research available on female delinquency is very limited, but most of it concludes that female delinquent behavior is related to weak bonds to parents and school.
- The problems encountered by an adolescent female at school cause stress and conflict. If monitoring and supervision are not available to help the adolescent female succeed, the likelihood of violence increases.
++++++++++ Disproportionality in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Two articles from the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) examine disproportionate minority confinement from the child welfare point of view. From the introduction: “Far too many children of color pass from protection to punishment. With no such mandate to collect data in child welfare, disproportionality – its causes and cures – is just now coming to light.” Both articles can be read and/or downloaded online. #!: Minorities as Majority: Disproportionality in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice #2: Balancing the Scales: Targeting Disproportionality in child Welfare & Juvenile Justice ++++++++++ Rosie’s Girls Summer Program Middle-school aged girls will spend three weeks this summer banging nails, sawing boards, cutting metal with welding torches and getting greasy under the hood of a car. Rosie’s Girls is a three week trades exploration program for girls entering 6th through 8th grades. It is designed to build self-esteem, physical confidence, and leadership skills. Rosie’s Girls is named after Rosie the Riveter, a fictional character created during World War II to recruit women to work in defense plants. ++++++++++ From Rubies to Blossoms – A Superb NPR Report (scroll down the page to Editors Picks and click on "Girl Gangs" An NPR special report on girls in New York gangs: why they’re joining gangs, how gangs exploit them, and what can be done to counter the trend. Gangs today recruit at junior high and middle schools across the country and very few organizations serve the needs of young girls at risk for gang activity. - Rubies are concubines to male gang members, who are often also their pimps.
- Blossom is an after school program designed to help young girls identified as “at risk” for gang initiation.
While the series focuses on New York , it could be any metropolitan area in the country. At the site you can listen to the NPR broadcasts on this two part series, read about the girls and the programs for them, and be directed to a number of resources. Below appear three particularly good links from these broadcasts: Female Gangs in America – An NPR interview with John Hagedorn who, with Meda Chesney-Lind, edited Female Gangs in America : Essays on Girls, Gangs and Gender. This site includes a brief bibliography of female gang member publications. NAGIA – National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations – Web site of an organization composed of representatives from 16 regional gang investigators associations representing over 15,000 gang investigators across the county, federal agencies and other organizations. Gang Research.Net - Definitions, gang research, historic American gangs, modern gangs. +++++++++++ Girl Culture A TIME Magazine photo essay and review of a new book on American girls. The five-year-old will creep you out. ++++++++++ Driving While Female: A National Problem in Police Misconduct This special report by the Police Professionalism Initiative at the University of Nebraska describes a pattern in which police officers use their traffic enforcement powers to abuse women. In some respects it parallels the problems of racial profiling. Reports of this phenomenon have come in from every part of the country, according to the study. The report contains examples from around the country of sexual assault, fondling, and one instance of murder. The report says these are not isolated incidents. Downloadable. ++++++++++ Talks With Mom Help Keep Girls Virgins A new study released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy says that teenage girls who are close to their mothers are more likely to stay virgins. The key for the parents, the research says, is not just talking about sex, but being deeply involved in their children’s lives. Researchers found that, by the time students are in 9th grade, 34 percent of all teens have had sexual intercourse. That percentage rises to 60 percent by 12th grade. Interestingly, researchers also found that half of mothers of sexually active teens didn’t realize their children were having sex. The research was based on interviews with mothers and their 14- and 15-year-old children. The research showed no relationship between mothers’ attitudes and whether their sons have sex. Read the Press Release. Read the entire study. ++++++++++ Girls Use of Family Planning Clinics Would Stop if Parents Were Notified JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, reported this week on the results of a study of the effects of mandatory parental notification on the use by adolescent girls of the services of sexual health care organizations. The study was done at 33 Planned Parenthood clinics in Wisconsin . Girls were given a questionnaire to complete while they waited for their appointments. The study found that of the 950 sexually active girls ages 12 to 17 who were surveyed, 47 percent said they would stop using the clinic entirely and 12 percent more said they would stop or postpone testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Listen to an interview on NPR on August 14 about the survey results and hear what young women themselves have to say about the consequences of mandatory notification. Read a synopsis of the JAMA article. Read Planned Parenthood’s review of the article ++++++++++ Female Bullying The ways in which girls bully and ostracize each other are so different from the overt bullying boys do that it has only just recently been recognized as bullying at all. Ask any woman you meet at random about being picked on or bullied by other girls when she was young and you’ll get an immediate and vehement response. At the same time the average male who comes in contact with young women doesn’t see, doesn’t recognize, and doesn’t know about the ugly wars young women conduct among themselves. They’re conducted with smiles, quietly, behind whispered hands and every one of us who experienced this peculiar adolescent form of torture remembers it – vividly and in detail, no matter how long ago it took place. Here are some very good articles on female bullying from a variety of sources: How Girls Hurt – from the American School Board Journal, this article tells how covert aggression can be just as damaging as outright bullying and just as big in schools. Girl Bullies don’t leave black eyes, just agony – from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, this article features the Ophelia Project in Erie , Penn. The Ophelia Project is an organization that develops intervention programs in schools, provides mentoring at several age levels, and advocates for creating a culture that nurtures children. The Ophelia Project – The organization takes its name from Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, the pioneering book about girls growing up in a culture toxic to young females. If you haven’t looked at or read this book and you work with or are the parent to young girls, take yourself to your nearest library or bookstore and read it. ++++++++++ Alcohol Use Among Girls A four page fact sheet about girls and alcohol from SAMHSA’s Prevline. Some information from it: - In the 1960s seven percent of new female users of alcohol were ages 10 to14.
- By the early 1990s that figure had risen to 31 percent.
Risk Factors for Girls Who Use Alcohol - Puberty tends to bring a higher incidence of depression among teen girls which can trigger alcohol use. One study found symptoms of depression in one in four girls – rate that is 50 percent high than in boys.
- Adolescent girls who are heavy drinkers (five or more drinks in a row on at least 5 different days in the past month) are more likely than boys to say that they drink to escape problems or because of frustration or anger.
- Girls are particularly susceptible to peer pressure when it comes to drinking. Adolescent girls are more likely than boys to drink to fit in with their friends, while boys drink largely for other reasons and then join a group that also drinks.
- Girls often are introduced to alcohol by their boyfriends, who may be older and more likely to drink.
From a TIME Magazine series on Women & Drinking, here are two more articles on the same subject, but looking more at older teens and young adult women: Women on a Binge and Viewpoint: Libation as Liberation? Be sure to click here or at links at the lower left of the TIME Women & Drinking pages to view the Blood Alcohol Concentration Worksheet and the Self-scoring Alcohol Quiz. ++++++++++ Girls Inc. – A Resource for GOOD Information on Girls This organization addresses the needs of all girls, not just girls who are incarcerated or in trouble. While growing up has never been easy for teen-age girls, the problems and decisions they face today are particularly difficult and thorny. Girls Inc. has fine resources to offer anyone who is interacting with teenage girls (and that includes parents). Here are some samples from the Girls Inc. web site: Home Page Girls Inc. Projects Strong, Smart and Bold: Empowering Girls for Life Fact Sheet: Girls and Sexual Activity Fact Sheet: Girls and Violence Tips for Parents Resource Sheets ++++++++++ National Young Women’s Health Summit Under the sponsorship of the National Women's Health Information Center, the National Young Women's Health Summit will bring together, from July 31 to August 4, 2002, approximately 200 young women, 53 parents, and 53 mentors from around the nation. Here are some of the objectives of the Summit: - To convene young girls, parents, and mentors from across the nation to discuss health issues facing young women and girls, their families, and their communities.
- To promote positive images of young women and girls in the media and community.
- To establish a network for interaction, information and community action for young women and girls.
It will consist of plenary and moderated sessions on pertinent issues and skill-building sessions on communication. Readers are asked to spread the word to anyone who may be interested in applying to attend the summit. Young women between the ages of 12-17 from throughout the nation will be selected via a competitive application process as will mentors and parents. Applications are due May 15, 2002 and are available on the web at http://www.4women.gov/nwhic/current/calendar/YWHS/200/index.htm ++++++++++ Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls Rachel Simmons is a Rhodes scholar who has researched female bullying and the psychology of girls. She feels that girls’ aggressiveness is just as harmful as boys, but much harder to recognize. The book catalogues “chilling and heartbreaking acts of aggression, including the silent treatment, note-passing, glaring, gossiping, ganging up, fashion police, and being nice in private/mean in public.” Any of this sound familiar, ladies? One interesting chapter contrasts truth telling in white middle class, African-American, Latino and working-class communities. You can read reviews of the book and publisher’s blurbs at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. ++++++++++ Research on Women and Girls in the Justice System - Cathy Spatz Widom wrote a chapter in this report titled “Childhood Victimization and the Derailment of Girls and Women to the Criminal Justice System.” Another chapter on the judicial perspective on the sex trade may also be of interest. Downloadable pdf file. 36 page NIJ report. ++++++++++ Female Gangs: A Focus on Research – 12 page juvenile justice bulletin. Tracks the rise in the number of female gangs, considers the motivations for female gang membership, looks at delinquency and criminal activity. With recommendations for future research. downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ The Girls Project – An empowerment program for public school girls ages 9 to 12. Responds to the well documented conditions of sexist stereotyping, lack of engagement in sports or other physical activities by girls, dealing with the powerful and provocative message girls are sent about their bodies and sexuality. A variety of activities teach girls to take control of their own lives. X-Cheerleaders - A squad of ex-cheerleaders ranging in age from 21 to 50 have created new cheers, chants and movements to redefine cheerleading and to explore sexuality, aging, motherhood, self-esteem, harassment and inequality. The group leads workshops on women’s and girls’ issues and works with them to create empowering cheers for themselves. Bet you've never heard cheers like the cheers at this site. ++++++++++ The National Study of Girl Neighborhood Power This report from the Urban Institute examines the types of activities being offered through the Girl Neighborhood Power (GNP) program to determine if GNP assists girls in living healthier lives. GNP targets girls ages 9-14 with a range of services in health care, mentoring, after-school activities and career development. Four communities nationwide were selected to implement federally funded GNP programs through 2002. The grantees, the programs they provide, and the effect of the programs on the participants are the subject of this study. The report is available as a pdf file. It is 76 pages long. The Executive Summary concludes at page 9. ++++++++++ HIV Increases Among Teen Girls According to two articles published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, the number of teenage women between 15 and 19 contracting HIV from heterosexual contact increased 117 percent from 1994 to 1998 (No. Its not a typo. The increase is 117%.) The number of teenage women who contracted HIV through injected drug use increased 90 percent during the same period. By comparison, the number of older women who contracted HIV from heterosexual contact was stable or declined from 1994 to 1998, and the number who contracted HIV from drug use declined by at least 31 percent. Author Ellie E. Schoenbaum says, "open discussion about HIV and its prevention in the context of adolescent peer groups may be most effective" in preventing this increase. The author also notes that the most effective and convenient forms of birth control( the pill and Depo-Provera) do not prevent HIV. Abstracts for Trends in HIV Diagnoses Among Women in the United States, 1994-1998 by Lisa M. Lee, PH.D. and Patricia L. Fleming, Ph.D. and Trends in HIV Among Adolescents: Implications for the Clinician by Ellie E. Schoenbaum, M.D. are available free at the JAMWA web site. Click on the article titles above. Research on Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls (Scroll down "Original Contributions" to the Dating Violence article.) The August 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) includes a lengthy monograph presenting the results of a study to assess lifetime prevalence of physical sexual violence from dating partners among adolescent girls. The paper concludes that violence against adolescent girls from dating partners is extremely prevalent (18% of 2,000+ 9th through 12th grade girls participating in the 1999 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys). Further, girls who experience dating violence are at greater risk for other serious adolescent health concerns, i.e., substance use, risky sexual behavior, pregnancy, eating disorders, and suicide. 8 pages, downloadable in PDF format as a reprint. ++++++++++ Justice by Gender: The Lack of Appropriate Prevention, Diversion and Treatment Alternatives for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System. This study, a product of the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association, was released on May 1. It is completely downloadable as a PDF file from the ABA Juvenile Justice Center. In addition to news about the report, this web page includes other resources for programs and information about girls in the Juvenile Justice System. Scroll down the page to see them. Research on Women and Girls in the Justice System - (NCJ 180973) This report calls for taking into account the particular circumstances under which girls and women come into contact with the criminal justice system. Researchers say that the status of girls and women as victims must be understood in order to respond appropriately to their needs. Calls for programs breaking the cycle of victimization. Available at www.ncjrs.org and click on Juvenile Justice. |
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