Resilient Girls

Book excerpt: From 1991 to 2000, arrests of girls increased more than arrests of boys for most offenses. By 2004, girls accounted for 30% of all juvenile arrests. Resilience, the psychological ability to successfully cope with severe stress and negative events, is a widely studied concept that has important implications for the development of delinquency prevention and intervention programs. Scientists still cannot completely explain why some children are resilient to the negative events in their life and others are not. Furthermore, factors associated with resilience may not be the same for both genders. This report examines a select number of factors that research suggests may ¿protect¿ girls who are at risk for becoming delinquent. Illustrations.