Meda Chesney-Lind’s research while affiliated with University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and other places

The purpose of this chapter is to examine and interpret the results of diversion and neighborhood delinquency programs, both of which contain some similarities and differences. In a general sense, both are designed to divert youths from delinquency and, given that their intent is the same, the division into the two categories is somewhat arbitrary. For historical reasons, however, diversion refers to alternatives for those youths who would otherwise be processed in a court of law and, in some cases, be placed in a correctional institution. In contrast, neighborhood programs are designed for those youths considered at higher risk for delinquency than other youths, rather than as alternatives for court processing. Though some neighborhood programs accept court referrals, these programs are not under the jurisdiction of the court and accept referrals from other sources. Participation in neighborhood programs is voluntary.

Prior research has noted a statistical relationship between increased crime rates and tourism in resort destination areas. This study utilizes data from two Hawaii counties to derive independent crime rates for tourist and resident sub-populations. The analysis reveals that tourists in both counties experienced higher rates of larceny, robbery, and rape than residents. In Honolulu, tourists also had a higher rate of burglary. These data suggest that earlier findings of a relationship between tourism and crime are explained, at least in part, by the fact that tourists are disproportionately the victims of crime. A number of factors including certain attributes of tourists themselves as well as certain aspects of the tourist industry are discussed to explain these findings.RésuméVisiteurs en tant que victimes: les crimes contre les touristes en Hawaii. La recherche antérieure a noté un rapport statistique entre l'augmentation des taux de crime et le tourisme dans des stations de vacances. La présente investigation utilise des données de deux contés hawaïens afin de trouver des taux de crime séparés pour les subpopulations des touristes et des habitants. L'analyse révèle que les touristes dans les deux contés ont subi des taux plus élevés de vol simple, de vol à main armée et de viol que les habitants. A Honolulu, les touristes ont subi aussi un taux plus élevé de cambriolage. Ces données suggèrent que les conclusions antérieures d'un rapport entre le tourisme et le crime s'expliquent, au moins en partie, par le fait que les touristes deviennent les victimes du crime d'une façon disproportionnée. Pour expliquer ces conclusions, on discute plusieurs facteurs, y compris certains attributs des touristes mêmes aussi bien que certains aspects de l'industrie touristique.

This article describes an evaluation of a prisoner-run delinquency prevention program at Hawaii's major prison. An after-the-fact matched group design was employed to determine the program's effectiveness in the prevention of delinquency in previously arrested youths. Examining the frequency and seriousness of police arrests in the year following exposure to the program, the study found the program had no effect on the delinquent behavior of females. Males who attended the program, however, were arrested at a significantly higher rate than their counterparts who did not hear the prisoners' presentation. The finding of higher recidivism among males who saw the program was further explored, and data are presented to show that this pattern is probably a product of some members of the treatment group's concurrent involvement in long-term delinquency prevention programs, rather than the simple result of exposure to the prisoner-run program itself.

Females are treated differently from males in the juvenile justice system. While the majority of males appear in juvenile court on charges of illegal behaviour, most females appear on “status offence” grounds, that is, for behaviour that only juveniles under a particular age can be brought to police or court attention. Females charged on moral or status offences are treated more harshly than males. However, when they are charged with illegal behaviour, females are treated more leniently which is appropriate, since delinquent girls are generally involved in less serious criminal behaviour than boys. In principle, the juvenile court was set up to protect juveniles and, by giving wide powers of discretion to law enforcers, to facilitate decisions in young offenders' best interests. In practice, particular categories of youth are treated more harshly than others. Evidence indicates that those females appearing on status offence charges (often from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds) are discriminated against on the basis of their sexual behaviour. This paper describes the present situation and outlines the failures of attempts at legislative changes in the definition and processing of juvenile status offenders in the United States and Australia. These examples show that the double standard of juvenile justice is international; not simply an artifact of one nation's court system. Treating status offence problems within a criminal justice system has destructive and damaging effects which may only intensify the problems from which such youth are ostensibly being protected.

This course focuses largely on women's and girl's experiences with the criminal justice system both as offenders and victims, but the role of gender in the lives of men and the production of male criminality will also be considered. The course will first examine the notion of gender and social control, after which both traditional and feminist theoretical accounts of women's and men's deviance and conformity will take place. Following the initial discussions of conventional and feminist criminology, the course will consider the female offender and her experience of the juvenile and criminal justice systems; women's victimization and women's experiences as workers in the criminal justice system will also be considered (though in less depth). We will first consider the experience of girls with a specific focus on aggression, violence and girlhood. Later, we will focus on the issues of girls who end up in the juvenile justice system. This will take us from the review of the nature and extent of official female delinquency to a consideration of the intersection of girl's lives, girl's problems, and girl's official delinquency. A particular focus in this section will be the experience of girls on the street. We will also discuss the controversial issues of girls violence and girls in gangs. We will then turn to the sorts of experiences girls have in the juvenile justice system: in the detention centers, the courts, and the training schools. The history of the juvenile justice system's involvement in the enforcement of a double standard of sexual morality will be an important theme here, as will be a consideration the de- institutionalization movement and its impact on the official response to girl's delinquency. Finally, we will review promising programs for girls. A similar sort of approach will also be used in the discussion of adult women's offenses and experiences with the criminal justice system. Here, a special focus will be