Social control normally encompasses all the cycles of day to day beliefs that are put in place to prevent people from breaking the law. In simple terms this guidelines do not apply to every group in a community equally and tend to be specific to either gender or age. In this case the emphasis is put on historical control of girls in the society. This paper will seek to give an overview of tradition of abuse and discrimination, look into the ways girls are abused and discriminated and connect this to resultant delinquent behavior. In the same note the institutions responsible for neglect and how they can be empowered are explored towards the end.
The girl child in most cultures and communities is expected to be responsible and submissive and the norms normally expected them to be always guided by these beliefs of such communities. Unlike boys who cases of becoming deviant are more tolerated (Brown, 1998). Historically the girl is taken to be commanded and decisions regarding their lives may be made by the family head or the parents on their behalf. The history has seen them being denied equality especially in control. In some groups the girls did not even have the right to choose their marriage partners but they were actually sold like property. Being perceived as the weak gender has seen the girls invent ways to become deviant. Being denied a voice in the community or at the family level the child have been subjected to all forms of abuse imaginable including rape, incest, forced marriages, confinement ,denial of formal education to mention a few. The history haunt them and even today, girls curfew are strict than those of their boy counterparts (Williams, Seed &Mwau, 1994).
In overcoming all this discrimination which is basically gender based the girl have adopted many mechanisms of achieving satisfaction as self and get consolation. In some instances the behavior adopted is against the law and normally land the offenders in the wrong side of the law however, not all the cases end up this way as some very moving steps that normally liberates the marginalized child. Gender differences are forced by the society people live in. The class is another determining factor. In most instances women who go against the norms of what the society they live in are viewed negatively. It is in the same note that a woman is believed to be a mother and hence a woman who is pregnant and is involved with chemical abuse is seen to be a bad mother. In this case majority of women who turn to crime mainly do this because they need to generally survive mostly in poverty and abuse. Remember women due to their gender are more susceptible to crimes such as domestic violence sexual abuse and assault. Substance abuse is a way of consoling the already abused girls. In most cases girls after abuse get to drugs ranging from soft to hard drugs (Holms, Maahs &Vito, 2007). It has been proved that most women who commit crime normally commit them while on drugs and a good number commit offences so as to help pay for acquiring these substances. In other cases partners introduce girls to drugs and act as their suppliers when they are totally hooked up these girls often remain with them for protection and supply while hiding from abuse and think that they are secure while they have fully acclimatized to abuse. In a case like this girls are often turned in to crime since they need to please the suppliers or the partner and have to get money to fund this expensive habit.
Studies indicate more psychological disorders are normally seen in women who are into substance abuse than their male counterparts. It is therefore reasonable to say that girls due to this pressure eventually turn to crime and other criminal activities. Delinquency in any individual is normally a result a behavior that is normally taken by these individuals to either meet some need whichever needs or achieve some satisfaction or a discreet way of running away from reality. It is common to find cases where a bullied child may turn to violence later and eventually became a bully. In the same way girls who have been abused find a way to console themselves and more often the behaviors adopted are not parallel to the law and eventually may lead to this girls ending up in the wrong side of the law and thus labeled deviant by the same community which is blind to their plea of abuse. It can be seen that girls often end up in delinquent behavior as a result of protecting themselves in which they go to an extent of breaking the law (Holms, Maahs &Vito, 2007).
In most instances this girls are made to feel neglected and often want to be rebellious so that their self esteem is stabilized. Delinquent behavior can be therefore blamed on several factors which as we have seen are tied to abuse and most importantly neglect (Brown, 1998). It does not matter who is responsible for neglect but the fact remains that this girls need institutions that protects them and voices their concerns to the public such that they feel they belong to the community. In this case it is worth mentioning how several institutions entrusted or that should be in place for them fails in protection. Since any wrong doing and crime is often a result of a failed institution this is clear in the case of how lack of employment can lead to increased violence in youth as well as substance abuse.
The family is the first institution that has contributed to failure of girls. As research indicates most family will contribute greatly to discrimination and abuse of girls. In a large number of cases girls have been abused by their fathers and brothers, this leaves them with no option but end up crime victims. It should also be noted that modern family due to issues like divorce have lead to maternal deprivation of children and this have been shown to cause deviant behavior ,girls are not exempted.
The judicial system have in some cases a culprit for failing to emphasize that abuse of the girl child is wrong and indiscriminate prosecution of parent and sibling offenders (Brown, 1998) . Setting laws that will protect the girl child from traditional based abuse should be put in place to help protect them. This is the case in developing countries where the girls are married off before they can make their own decisions and are subject to rituals such as genital mutilation and involvement in adult orgies.
The last culprit of failing institution is the community at large which includes the community, hospitals, churches and schools. All these have often displayed the traditional role of women to be submissive especially to domestic violence. The church may call for submission of girls normally is indicative that men should therefore subject girls to their own rules. In other cases hospitals may treat victims of abuse without reporting the cases to the relevant authorities. Some schools have been bad examples and some teachers or tutors have been found to be part of abuse and play role in discrimination cases.
In reversing this wrongs, strict rules should be enacted that will protect girls from abuse and discrimination of any kind. These laws should be indiscriminate regardless of relationship of the offenders to the girls. Education to the general public and public institutions should be greatly invested in to save the endangered girl child (Williams, Seed &Mwau, 1994).
In conclusion it can be seen that the traditions can be seen to play big role to abuse and discrimination of girls. Due to this girls have found alternate ways to console themselves and this have often lead them to find themselves in the wrong side of the law. This can however be reversed by setting strong laws that will protect them and eventually warn the community against this wrong doing. In addition to this awareness will be of great importance in ensuring the public is well endowed with knowledge regarding abuse and discrimination. Holding close to the heart the rule of law of public at large will see decreased involvement of girls in crime.
References
Brown, S (1998) Understanding Youth and Crime (Listening to youth?), Buckingham: Open University Press.
Holms, Ronald M.; Maahs, Jeffery R.; Vito, Gennaro F. (2007). Criminology: Theory, Research, and Policy. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Williams, S, Seed, J. &Mwau, A. (1994). Oxfam Gender Training Manual. Oxfam, Oxford U University press.
