Profiling the Needs of the California Youth Authority's Female Population, 1996 (ICPSR 2754)
Version Date: Nov 4, 2005 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Barbara Owen, California State University;
Barbara Bloom, Sonoma State University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02754.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This study was designed to assess the needs and characteristics of the female juvenile offender population in California and to evaluate the existing program structure. The main focus was to conduct a pilot study to test an instrument the researchers had designed for profiling the needs of youthful female offenders in developing a protocol for use by other jurisdictions and agencies working with delinquent female youths. To study the needs and program demands of young female offenders, the researchers conducted a profile survey of 162 randomly-selected women at the Ventura School in the California Youth Authority (CYA) in the summer of 1996. The data are the result of personal interviews using a modified version of the instrument used for a 1995 study of adult female offenders in the California Department of Corrections by the principal investigators. Information was collected on demographics, social and economic background, criminal history, and correctional experiences. Demographic variables include age, race and ethnicity, marital status, and parents' marital status. Variables on social and economic background include religious preference, living situation, education, work history, family relationships, pregnancy history while incarcerated, and family and juvenile history. Criminal history variables cover gang involvement, arrest and sentence information, offense profile, reasons for committing the offense, weapon use, substance abuse history, and personal abuse. Variables on correctional experiences include abuse counseling, HIV testing, correctional programming participation, work experience during incarceration, and California Youth Authority housing assignment.
Citation View help for Citation
Export Citation:
Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
HideTime Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
While young female offenders remain a small minority within the juvenile justice system, the unique needs and program demands of this population require particular attention in terms of research and policy. Some research findings suggest delinquent females tend to be similar to male delinquents in terms of lower socioeconomic status, disrupted family backgrounds, and school difficulties. Most researchers argue, however, that girls' lives and girls' problems present unique challenges for the juvenile justice system and related social service agencies. These gender-based differences shape both offense patterning and policy response. This study was designed to assess the female juvenile offender population in terms of its characteristics and existing program structure. The main focus was to conduct a pilot study to test an instrument the researchers had designed for profiling the needs of youthful female offenders in developing a protocol for use by other jurisdictions and agencies working with delinquent females. The instrument and its accompanying instructions were intended as a guide to managers, researchers, and line staff who wanted to collect and analyze systematic information on their youthful female offender population.
Study Design View help for Study Design
To study the needs and program demands of young female offenders, the researchers conducted a profile survey of 162 randomly-selected women at the Ventura School in the California Youth Authority (CYA) in the summer of 1996. The data are the result of personal interviews administered using a modified version of the instrument from a 1995 study of adult female offenders in the California Department of Corrections by the principal investigators. This study was designed to be a pilot study testing an instrument the researchers had designed for profiling the needs of youthful female offenders in developing a protocol for use by other jurisdictions and agencies working with youthful female offenders.
Sample View help for Sample
Random sampling.
Universe View help for Universe
Young female offenders in the California Youth Authority system.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
personal interviews
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Demographic variables include age, race and ethnicity, marital status, and parents' marital status. Variables on social and economic background include religious preference, living situation, education, work history, family relationships, pregnancy history while incarcerated, and family and juvenile history. Criminal history variables cover gang involvement, arrest and sentence information, offense profile, reasons for committing the offense, weapon use, substance abuse history, and personal abuse. Variables on correctional experiences include abuse counseling, HIV testing, correctional programming participation, work experience during incarceration, and California Youth Authority housing assignment.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The total response rate was 97 percent.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
None
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
1999-12-14
Version History View help for Version History
- Owen, Barbara, and Barbara Bloom. PROFILING THE NEEDS OF THE CALIFORNIA YOUTH AUTHORITY'S FEMALE POPULATION, 1996. ICPSR02754-v1. Fresno, CA: California State University [producer], 1997. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1999. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02754.v1
2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.
1999-12-14 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Standardized missing values.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.