Gendered Pathways: The Experience of Girls in School

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Juvenile Custody, Gender, and Attitudes Towards Crime

Abstract

This research explores the gendered nature of school life in Canadian schools. There is a gap in the literature, particularly in a Canadian context, which explores the ways in which gender may contextualize antisocial behaviour that occurs in schools and how official responses by school personnel may be unique for girls. Even less is known about the experiences of young people who are serving sentences in the community (i.e. probation) while attending school and how schools may respond to these young people in particular, especially girls.

Using qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of Ontario schools and youth courts across Ontario this paper investigates how girls’ antisocial behaviour is perceived by school officials, how these responses may be gendered, and if girls who are perceived as being antisocial or whom are serving sentences of probation while attending school are at a greater risk for school conflict or failure. Results indicate girls’ behaviour is often problematized by school officials, especially for those girls on probation who were more likely to be cited for beaching compared to boys. Gender appears to be a powerful explanatory variable in understanding the complicated ways girls navigate through school and the youth justice system.

Authors

• Allison Chenier, University of Waterloo

• Jessica E. Pulis, Sheridan College