path to commit crime. Many adolescents who are involved in crime had histories of family dysfunction, school problems, such as, truancy, learning disabilities, failure, and conflicts with teachers. As well, young offenders are quite often found to be involved in drug and/or alcohol abuse, have delinquent peers and/or belong to a gang. Personal risk factors are also a big issue when dealing with the profile of a young offender. If a child shows anti-social behaviour, frequently runs away from home and/or is a very hyperactive child, then criminal activity, although it may not always be the case, could be another behaviour to surface from the individual child. Compared to males, young females are much more likely to turn crime if they have been a victim of physical and/or sexual abuse (Corrado et al., 2000, p. 144).
             Although a young offenders profile is very similar for both males and females, girl offenders differ from their male counterparts in several ways. Criminal activity by girls and young women tend to begin and end at a younger age (Reitsma-Street, 1993, p. 440). In a 1997 study the percentage of accused youth between the ages of twelve and thirteen, 22 percent were females, 15 percent were males and between the ages of fourteen and fifteen, 43 percent were females and 36 percent were males. However, after the age of fifteen female youths accused of a crime dropped drastically and while males being charged escalated. Also, young females are two to five times less likely to get involved in more serious crime than are young males (Savoie, 1999).
             Of all the "Canadian kids who killed" between 1961 and 1983, 89 percent were male and 11 percent were female (Meloff & Silverman, 1992) Figures revealed by Statistics Canada (1995), 36 Canadian youths were charged with homicide. Of these 36 charged only three were females. A major gender difference is shown in the number of youth charged with homicide. ...