".
Studies that take from youth themselves the volume of their delinquent behavior consistently suggests that large numbers of adolescents engage in at least some form of misbehavior that could result in their arrest. As a consequence, it is largely trivial misconduct, rather than the commission of serious crime, that shapes the actual nature of juvenile delinquency. One national study of youth aged 15-21, for example, noted that only 5% reported involvement in a serious assault, and only 6% reported having participated in a gang fight. In contrast, 81% admitted to having used alcohol, 44% admitted to having used marijuana, 37% admitted to having been publicly drunk, 42% admitted to having skipped classes, 44% admitted having sexual intercourse, and 15% admitted to having stolen from their families (Constantino, 1995).
Indeed, an important point to understand about the nature of delinquency, and particularly female delinquency, is that youth can be taken into custody for both criminal acts and a wide variety of what are called "status offenses." These offenses allow for the arrest of youth for a wide range of behaviors that are violations of parental authority: running away from home, being a person in need of supervision, being "incorrigible," "beyond control," in need of care and protection, and so on. Juvenile delinquents, then, are youths arrested for either criminal or non-criminal status offenses.
Looking at girls who find their way into juvenile court populations, it is apparent that status offenses continue to play an important role in the character of girls" official delinquency. In total, 34% of the girls, but only 12% of the boys, were referred in court in 1983 for these offenses. Stating these figures, while males comprised 81% of all delinquency referrals, females constituted 46% of all status offenders in court. And fifteen years earlier about half of the girls and about 20% of the boys were referred to court for these offenses.