Introduction of Gender-Specific Approach to the Correctional Programming : The U.S. experience
This article traces the process in which gender-specific approach was emerged to rehabilitate female offenders in the United States and introduces a few promising gender specific programs for female juvenile delinquents. Gender-specific services refer according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention(OJJDP) the correctional services that are designed to meet the unque needs of female offenders; that value the female perspective; that celebrate and honor the female experience; that respect and take into account female development; that empower girls and young women to reach their full potential; and that work to change established attitudes that prevent or discourage girls and young women from reaching their potential. The emergence of the gender-specific approach can be explained by two factors. empirically, female offenders, especially female delinquents, have been one of the fastest growing criminal population since the 1900s. Correctional personnel recognised the role of gender-sensitive correctional programming to curtail the size of female delinquent population. They realized many current services for juveniles are aimed at the rehabilitation and education of male delinquents. Second, many criminological research based on feminist perspective have found that female offenders are quite different from male offenders in various ways; girls are incarcerated for status offenses that boys; girls develop self-esteem and female identity differently; girls are pressured to conform the traditional gender roles and the gender stereotyping plays a central role in creating female delinquents; girls have gender unique problems such as physical, sexual abuse, domestic violence and adolescent pregnancy. The combination of these two trends resulted in the amendment of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, in which states should review the issue of gender bias in the current juvenile correctional programs before receiving federal