Developmental and Life-Course Findings on Women and Girls

This chapter builds on theoretical insights from the gendered pathways literature to interpret the evidence regarding the influence of gender on life-course offending patterns. It summarizes the key theoretical models explaining female offending and highlights what should be the central theoretical principles that guide research on gender and life-course offending patterns. The chapter then describes the most prominent life-course offending patterns, how females sort into these patterns, what we know about the relevant correlates, and how these vary across gender. In each instance the chapter also applies core theoretical principles to help make sense of evident patterns. This chapter concludes with a call for more research on the theoretical mechanisms that might account for life-course patterns of female offending and the ways in which these patterns diverge from those evidenced by males.