International expert says girls' crime wave "doesn't exist"

An international expert says the media is incresingly portraying girls as violent - especially black girls - despite evidence suggesting girls' (and boys') use of violence is actually decreasing. Meda Chesney-Lind, Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii said a "moral panic" around violent girls was leading to more girls being arrested and placed in juvenile detention.

"But even false moral panics have real consequences," Professor Chesney-Lind said. "Between 1991 and 2003 detentions of girls went up 98 per cent, while detentions of boys went up only 29 per cent."

"African-American girls represent nearly half of those in detention. Seven out of 10 cases involving white girls were dismissed, compared with three out of 10 cases involving African-American girls."

Professor Chesney-Lind gave a keynote presentation, "The 'Violent Girl' problem, corporate media and racism: On the need for public criminology", at the recent Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) conference in Auckland.

'Expert disputes girls' crime wave', NZ Herald, 29/11/12