Beyond Gay and Straight: Gender-Atypical Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

• In Event: Gender and the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

Correctional practices have increasingly recognized the special needs of gay/lesbian and transgender youth in the juvenile justice system. However, most programs continue to promote essentialist, gender-polarized concepts of masculine and feminine behavior, and to patrol and punish gender-atypical behavior regardless of sexual orientation. This paper will investigate how juvenile justice professionals respond to diversity in sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender presentation.

Author

• Jeffery P Dennis, Minnesota State University, Mankato