1. Gender Sensitive Factors in Girls’ Delinquency
Diana Fishbein, Ph.D.
Research Triangle Institute Transdisciplinary Behavioral Science Program
Shari Miller-Johnson, Ph.D.
Duke University
Center for Child and Family Policy
Sanford Institute
Donna-Marie Winn, Ph.D.
Duke University
Center for Child and Family Policy
Psychology, Social and Health Sciences
Gayle Dakof, Ph.D.
University of Miami
Department of Epidemiology &
Public Health
Diana H. Fishbein, PhD, RTI Senior Fellow, Behavioral Neuroscience, directs the
Transdisciplinary Behavioral Science Program at RTI. Previously, she was prevention
coordinator and evaluator at the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Research Program
centered at the University of Maryland. Dr. Fishbein began her career as professor of
criminology at the University of Baltimore and as a scientific investigator at the University
of Maryland and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She then served as a senior
researcher with the U.S. Department of Justice to develop and evaluate crime prevention
programs. Dr. Fishbein consults regularly with federal, state, and local agencies for
purposes of expert witnessing in criminal court, training, technical assistance,
scientific peer reviews, and development of research protocols. She publishes regularly
on antisocial and violent behavior and drug abuse. She is primary author of two textbooks,
The Dynamics of Drug Abuse and Biobehavioral Perspectives in Criminology, and editor of The Science,
Treatment and Prevention of Antisocial Behavior.
Support for this presentation comes from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

2. Research on Girls Scarce: most delinquency studies focus on boys
Correlates appear to be similar
Not clear if the risk factors affect girls similarly
Or risk factors may exert a similar influence but occur disproportionately
Interpersonal and familial relationships may more profoundly influence girls’ behavior
Even less research that accounts for ethnic differences between sexes

3. Sample Characteristics
Adjudicated and Clinical Samples
Concentrated with high risk girls
Biases and differential referral processes
Various segments of the CJS will differ due to system biases
Best information for designing treatment strategies
Community samples
Indicative of general risk and protective factors
Highlights ways in which different outcomes can emerge from similar influences
Best information for designing prevention strategies

4. Gender Specificity ≠ Sensitivity
Specific = only specific to one gender (Menstruation)
Sensitive = present in both genders, but more prevalent or functions differently
Biological functions (testosterone)
Psychological traits (depression, CD)
Need to understand normal physical and psychosocial development of each gender
Need to account for how development affects delinquent outcomes

5. Short Story!
Biology (aspects of genetics, brain development and function) affects behaviors
Chronic stress increases risk for bad outcomes by negatively affecting brain development
Once stressed, the individual is more sensitive to environmental triggers
Early high risk behaviors are malleable

6. Brain Development: Prefrontal Cortex
If the prefrontal area does not develop appropriately:
Hard time understanding social situations and social cues
“Why I always got to wait!!”
Sees many situations and people as out to get them or hostile
He dissed me!!!
Gets mad easily
“He meant to step on my shoe,
so I punched him!”
Is impulsive and inattentive
Plays video games all day,
but can’t focus in class
Seems insensitive to consequences
“Like I care!!”
Heightened sensivity to reward in
spite of consequences
Drug abuse

7. Brain Development: Emotional Regulation
Limbic system is regulated by prefrontal cortex
If the Limbic System is not adequate communicating with the Prefrontal Cortex:
Difficulty getting motivated
Hard time regulating emotions
Response to stress is
dysregulated
Decreased sensation leads
to seeking highs (drugs)
Poor self regulation

8. Causes of Disconnect between Prefrontal Cortex and the Limbic System
Genetic defects
Developmental delays
Injury
Metabolic errors
Stress

9. Chronic stress primes the brain for risk behaviors and drug abuse
Alters brain function, disengages coping mechanisms, and compromises ability to execute rational choices
Increases the likelihood of psychopathology: depression, drug abuse & violence
Genetic vulnerabilities affect particular behavioral outcomes of stress
Positive attributes of individual or environment is protective.

10. The Adolescent Brain
Particularly vulnerable to environmental inputs, including stress and drug effects
Effects are longstanding
Prefrontal cortex not fully developed until early adulthood
Unique stage of change in metabolism, pruning, and increased efficiency in prefrontal function
Emotional centers (limbic) without checks and balances
Greater sensitivity to rewards, less inhibition
Seek altered states of consciousness

11. Fundamental Imbalance in Puberty
Rapid physical, endocrine, and social changes that create early affective motivations and challenges
Gradual, later development of affect regulation and maturation of cognitive/self-control skills
Cognitive Capacity
Planning; logic; reasoning, inhibitory control; problem-solving skills; capacity for understanding long-term consequences of behavior
Emotional Capacity
Pubertal drives and emotions; sensation seeking; risk taking; sensitivity to rewards, low self control

12. Adolescent Girls’ Disadvantages
Greater sensitivity to stressors, particularly familial
Greater incidence of sexual abuse, dysfunctional familial relationships, maltreatment and other stressors among antisocial females relative to males
Proneness to psychological and psychiatric illnesses: e.g., depression and anxiety
Differences in development of amygdala and hippocampus heighten stress sensitivity
Adrenal gland sensitivity negatively alters mood
Estrogen amplifies stress responses, increasing mood disturbances
Perception of greater stress than males

13. Girls’ Advantages Larger Prefrontal Cortex  less acting out behaviors
Advanced language and verbal skills
More effective processing of social and emotional cues
Female hormones protect against neurocognitive damage from stress
“Tend and Befriend”, rather than “Fight and Flight” due to hormonal differences

14. ADHD and Conduct Disorders
Developmental delays: Males outnumber females by a 3:1 ratio
Boys more hyperactive, girls more inattentive and less externalizing
Presence of CD substantially compounds outcome: severity and early onset more similar to boys
Boys more prone to both in response to stress than girls
ADHD more persistent in girls, although less severe in community samples
Family violence is related to ADHD in girls and predicts psychological and cognitive deficits

15. Programmatic Implications
Need more research: Studies of ADHD in girls are sorely lacking
Need greater sensitivity among professionals to the clinical features of ADHD in girls.
Need greater clinical referrals and treatment, even when symptoms are not externalizing
Need timely and comprehensive screening of ADHD (and other mental health concerns) in order to adequately address treatment needs for delinquent girls

16. Basic Intelligence
Both boys and girls with lower IQs tend to be more delinquent
Other factors that affect the link between IQ and delinquency
Low Self esteem
Poor School attitudes and performance
Poor reaction of school staff towards girls (perceived)
Negative family influences
Deficits in abstract thinking interact with early pubertal maturation to increase risk for delinquency

17. Programmatic Implications
Need assessments for targeted educational and vocational special needs programs
Need cognitive therapies with a language base
Need to better understand links between IQ and early puberty

18. Cognitive and Emotional Regulatory Deficits
Hot and Cool Cognition
Cool = strictly cognitive processing of abstract and decontextualizing problems
Hot = regulation of affect and motivation in performing a task or solving a problem
Prefrontal-Limbic Circuitry – develops in early adulthood
Girls develop this circuitry later than boys due to female hormones
Girls have larger and more active PFC so can suppress externalizing behaviors but not internalizing
Sources of delays: genetics, prenatal conditions, adversity, puberty and substance abuse

19. Programmatic Implications
Programs to reduce child maltreatment
Treatment for deficits resulting from substance misuse
Parenting and family support programs to enhance cognitive reinforcements and bonding at home
Programs to reduce maternal smoking
School preparation programs for disadvantaged girls with cognitive and intellectual deficits
Targeted remediation services in home and school
Harm reduction approach during adolescence
Alternative activities

20. Early Pubertal Maturation
Both biologically and socially challenging
Disconnect between brain and body readiness
Early hormone release increases neural excitation
Stress profoundly influences early puberty
Absence of biological father and familial instability
Strongly related to disruptive behavior disorders, antisocial personality traits, and delinquency
Affiliation with older boys
Exposure to intimate partner violence
More often sexually abused in the home
Good parenting may mitigate negative effects
Intimately interacts with psychological disorders

21. Programmatic Implications
Family therapy and educational supports for families of divorce and entry of new male household figure
Stress reduction programs under conditions of adversity or disadvantage
Domestic violence and child abuse prevention programs
Psychological and cognitive supports during early puberty for both child and caregivers
Weight control

22. Mental Health Issues Greater incidence of internalizing disorders
Less related to delinquency than externalizing disorders
Depression and anxiety more prevalent, tho, in JJ girls
Also more CD, ODD and SA than in community
Over ¾ in JJ system with one or more disorders
Predominantly untreated
Rates of depression similar b/t sexes until puberty
Co-occurring ECF & emotional regulation deficits
Relationship with early puberty
Triggered by stress: e.g., higher rates of PTSD
Strong familial attachments may be protective

23. Programmatic Implications
Comprehensive psychological assessment and appropriate treatment, as indicated

24. Remaining Research Questions
How can we use information about girls’ brain development and function to improve outcomes?
How might manipulations of the environment improve brain function and development?
How can we use their advantages to increase resiliency (e.g. talkative, less acting out, and read social cues better)?
What are the critical stages of development during which psychosocial conditions (e.g., stress) differentially exerts its effects on girls relative to boys?
Can understanding brain-environment interactions help design interventions that impact at critical points in the developmental trajectory to alter risk status for girls?