GENDER, CRIME AND JUSTICE WORKING GROUP: PANEL 2: YOUNG WOMEN /GIRLS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE /GIRLS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

0127 - A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND URBAN VEGETATION IN A PORTUGUESE CITY

Nuno Alvim (Portugal)¹; Maria Francisca Rebocho (Portugal)¹ 1 - University Fernando Pessoa

The empirical relationship between urban vegetation and criminality is one fraught with controversy, and lacking in scientific consensus. Literature reviews show the existence of two divergent paradigms of thought. Traditionally, vegetation is seen as a criminogenic element, thought to facilitate crime by allowing the potential criminal to conceal himself from the victim´s sight and thus remain inconspicuous. This has spawned historical attempts of controlling or reducing the vegetation in order to prevent crime. However, more recently, urban vegetation has also been thought to have potential in crime prevention, according to several studies conducted in the United States. In line with these studies, this study aims at finding a connection between crime and urban vegetation in the Portuguese urban context.

Theoretical models drawn from environmental criminology, such as rational choice theory, routine activity theory, and broken windows, as well as from environmental psychology, such as attention restoration theory are instrumental in the understanding of the founding basis for this study, and are discussed and framed into context. A review of current literature linking crime to vegetation will be presented and briefly analyzed. From this discussion emerges the hypothesis that vegetation contributes to crime reduction through two different mechanisms, the mitigation of psychological precursors of violence, and the informal surveillance stimuli.

Employing a Geographic Information System (GIS), vegetation indexes produced by orbital remote detection will be contrasted with geo-referenced criminality rates in the corresponding urban regions, while statistically controlling for socio-demographic variables. Results will be presented and discussed, as will their implications for policy, crime prevention strategies and policing.

2.10 GENDER, CRIME AND JUSTICE WORKING GROUP: PANEL 2: YOUNG WOMEN

111 contributors were concerned at the attitudes demonstrated by some young men towards young women and about the poor understanding of young people generally in relation to the issue of genuine consent to sexual intercourse.

Drawing on research with male gang members in the UK (see Hallsworth and Young 2008 &

2011; Trickett 2011 & 2015) and work with gang associated young people (Young, 2015) this paper by Trickett and Young outlines how gang research in the UK can be used to inform sexual education programmes in schools.

The authors draw on subcultural theories, symbolic interactionism and labelling theories in order to understand how the ‘normalisation of sexual violence’ within gangs drew on ideas about female ‘honour’ which were used to challenge, shore up and defend masculine identities. The authors suggest that we cannot expect to touch the abusive attitudes towards young women without having an impact on the moral basis of action and moral careers of the young people involved in such interactions as these are the key social learning spaces where young people learn the real situation by being respected or humiliated. The authors suggest ways of changing the moral foundations of the learning spaces in which young people act out sexual relations. They conclude that a focus on honour may assist us in changing understandings of sexual consent based on morality which can extend beyond the gang to inform more positive sexual relations between young people, both in the UK and across Europe.

0129 - INVISIBLE GIRLS? ROMANI IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Sofie De Bus (Belgium)¹; An Nuytiens (Belgium)²

1 - Crime & Society (CRiS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel; 2 - Crime & Society (CRiS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel

In this paper, we will elaborate on Romani girls who appear before the Youth Court in Belgium.

Romani girls only concern a small proportion of the Youth Court population and they are mainly charged with theft and burglary (see e.g. Cipollini, Faccioli and Pitch, 1989). According to Siegel (2013) some of these girls are trained into a delinquent path from an early age on.

Given poverty and precarious living circumstances, these girls can become involved in itinerant criminal groups that operate in Western Europe.

Because of their specific characteristics, it is sometimes argued that these girls are

‘untreatable’. Based on own research about Belgian Youth Court practices, we will discuss and reflect about the alleged untreatable character of these girls. Why are they perceived as untreatable? Shouldn’t we question the ‘culture-centrism’ of European juvenile justice systems? Drawing on our own research findings, we will reflect on their ambivalent position in the system which refers to the thin line between victim and offender.

We will also go into methodological problems we encountered when doing research on Romani girls. Youth Court records of Romani girls often lack important information (age, social

networks, school…) so that is sometimes difficult to gain insight in these specific cases. Above this, Romani people tend to use several aliases, and false dates of birth, which makes it difficult to obtain a full overview of their Youth Justice pathway or to track them down in official databases (e.g. to follow-up their pathway into adulthood). This, and also their international mobility, hinders doing research on this population.

0130 - THE CRIMINALISATION OF DISTRESS AND THE ‘HARMFUL’ PUNISHMENT OF YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS

Michele Burman (United Kingdom)¹ 1 - University of Glasgow

Over a space of 20 years, young women have moved from criminological obscurity to relatively high visibility. This paper critically assesses the ‘discovery’ of young women as ‘criminological objects’, the corresponding discourses and characterisations of ‘troubled and troublesomeness’ that have been applied to them, and the (inevitably?) crime-focused responses of the criminal justice system. Factors that are associated with young women’s law-breaking are closely linked to social, political and economic contexts - addictions, mental health problems, poverty and gendered violence - which call for a broader lens than criminal justice. The paper discusses the processes of criminalisation and punishment of young women and girls, and their impact in the context of retrenched social policies affecting health, housing and other services, and rapidly diminishing resources within communities. It highlights the need for significant reform of the ways in which young women who break the law are conceptualised and responded to, and the need to recognize the relationship between criminal and social justice.

0131 - ‘IT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES VERSUS THERE’S SOMETHING ACTUALLY MEDICALLY WRONG WITH YOU’: A CRITICAL EXPLORATION OF DIFFERING PERCEPTIONS AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF YOUNG WOMEN IN CONTACT WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Annie Crowley (United Kingdom)¹

1 - University of Glasgow

In recent years the number of young women coming into contact with criminal justice systems internationally has been a subject of concern, particularly focusing upon an apparent increase in their offending. Despite increased attention, there is still insufficient knowledge regarding the needs and deeds of such young women, and limited understanding of what effective working exists, or might look like for this group. This paper discusses data drawn from a larger

113 levels of mental health issues in the young women, a finding which supports existing research, with self-harm, low self-esteem, personality and post-traumatic stress disorders featuring prominently. Practitioners described how these issues feed into responses such as empowerment and self-esteem programmes and trauma informed approaches; and to practices, such as securing young women to prevent further harm. The stance of this paper is not that young women do not experience these mental health issues, or that all such responses and practices are inappropriate. Far from it, the very high levels of traumatic experiences in the histories of many young women in contact with criminal justice systems will inevitably impact upon states of mental health and wellbeing. However, whilst the interview narratives reveal rich description regarding the psychological needs of the young women and practice to address these, structural constraints were frequently striking by their absence. This may well be because such constraints are out with practitioners’ remit and control, but the paper will argue that uncritical pathologization of young women as, for example, personality disordered, permits an individualisation of both the issue and the response, placing responsibility upon the young woman to ‘get better’ and to change, whilst wider structural and societal issues are marginalised or ignored. Whilst it is critical that research continues to seek to understand and develop responses to the psychological issues faced by these young women, it is equally important that research addresses and brings into the foreground, wider contextual influences and constraints largely overshadowed within practice by a psychological based risk factor approach to young women who offend.