Subtitle:
Author: Laurie Schaffner
Subject: Sociology/Criminology/Family and Childhood studies
Paper ISBN 0-8135-3834-3
Pages: 272 pp. 18 b&w illus, 12 tables
Series: Series in Childhood Studies

Praise for Girls in Trouble with the Law

Winner of the prestigious 2007 American Sociological Association's Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award for her qualitative research, from the Section on Childhood and Youth.

"Girls in Trouble with the Law offers readers a brilliant window for re-viewing the gender, race, and class politics of juvenile justice. Readers will be filled with outrage, and yet fueled by Schaffner's passionate sense of possibility and vision for 'what must be.'"-Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY.

"This is a superb work, intermingling poetry, narrative, interviews, and examples to create a fascinating overview of what girls experience in the juvenile corrections system, as well as how they are perceived by the people entrusted with their care. Schaffner's book is well-conceived, beautifully written and extremely clear."-Lynn Chancer, author of High Profile Crimes: When Legal Cases Become Social Causes

"A much needed, well-grounded exploration of the trials and tribulations of aggressive  girls who fall prey to the accumulation of social risk factors in their lives. Schaffner blends first-hand accounts with empirical data from multiple sources to tell a compelling nonfiction narrative."-James Garbarino, author of See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It 

In Girls in Trouble with the Law, sociologist Laurie Schaffner takes us inside juvenile detention centers and explores the worlds of the young women incarcerated within. Across the nation, girls of color are disproportionately represented in detention facilities, and many report having experienced physical harm and sexual assaults. For girls, the meaning of these and other factors such as the violence they experience remain undertheorized and below the radar of mainstream sociolegal scholarship. When gender is considered as an analytic category, Schaffner shows how gender is often seen through an outmoded lens.

Offering a critical assessment of what she describes as a gender-insensitive juvenile legal system, Schaffner makes a compelling argument that current policies do not go far enough to empower disadvantaged girls so that communities can assist them in overcoming the social limitations and gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic discrimination that continue to plague young women growing up in contemporary United States.

Laurie Schaffner is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Illustrations
Tables
Preface
Introduction: Girls Trouble the Law
Chapter One: New Troubles for Girls
Chapter Two: Injury, Gender, and Trouble
Chapter Three: Empty Families, Sexuality, and Trouble
Chapter Four: Gender, Violence, and Trouble
Chapter Five: Children, Gender, and Corrections
Chapter Six: Pathways, Politics, Policies, and Programs
Notes
Bibliography
Index