查看文章

How does the development of antisocial behavior differ between males and females? Because females have historically been left out of longitudinal studies on antisocial behavior, few studies could provide answers to this question until recently. over the past two decades, longitudinal studies measuring antisocial behavior among males and females have “come of age,” as individuals in these studies have reached their 20s and 30s. As such, we are currently in a position to take stock of what is known—and what is still unknown—about sex differences in antisocial development. It is important to examine our knowledge in this area because female antisocial behavior is neither as rare nor inconsequential as once thought. According to a 2009 national survey of ninth-to twelfth-graders in the united States, 7 percent of girls reported carrying a weapon (such as a gun, knife, or club) in the past thirty days and almost 23 percent had been involved in a physical fight in the past year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2010). That same year, females comprised 18 percent of juvenile violent crime arrests and 38 percent of juvenile property crime arrests (Puzzanchera and Adams 2011). Although juvenile arrests have decreased 17 percent overall from 2000 to 2009, rates of arrest among girls have actually increased for some offenses, such as simple assault and larceny-theft (Puzzanchera and Adams 2011). Most prior research focuses on males, but the salience of female antisocial behavior highlights the need to understand how antisocial behavior develops within both sexes. Longitudinal studies that follow the same individuals over time are in a …