The criminal justice system is supposed to be a process that helps people receive an appropriate sentence for their crime, however this is not the case for young people. Young people require a qualitatively different response to adult offenders (Minaker & Hogeveen 2009), this is particularly evident in the case of special populations such as criminalized girls and Aboriginal youth. A first major concern with a special population is girls and their interaction with the criminal. judicial system. The adult system is androcentric, meaning it is based on male behavior. Precisely because of this, many prison systems are not competent in how to adequately handle female offenders, let alone young offenders. According to Minaker and Hogeveen there are three main differences among young women that must be taken into consideration: biological differences, masculinization of female deviance and gender role socialization. Biologically, women were destined to bear children and therefore were not as intelligent as men, which is why the criminalized woman is considered unnatural. With the masculinization of deviance, which Minaker and Hogeveen argues, women have become more similar to men. Finally, in relation to gender roles, the argument is that without a stable male role in girls' lives, they do not get the proper socialization they need. When focusing specifically on girls, there is a need to address and rehabilitate their journey through the criminal justice system. The three main differences must also be taken into account when judging and treating young offenders. However, due to all these considerations, most officials do not know how to properly handle girls n...... middle of paper ...... transferred into the youth system. The only way to learn is to try running different programs in the hope of having a positive outcome. A key aspect of improving our system is also asking young people what they specifically want. According to Minaker and Hogeveen the young people said that it is not one problem but multiple factors, these factors must be addressed and alternatives must be found. If the system continues not to listen to young people, there is no hope that it will have a positive outcome on their lives. The youth criminal justice system must move from a gender-based, all-ages approach towards a gender-specific (male or female) approach. ) and separate systems for youth and adult offenders. We must deal with young people not only to find a solution, but through intelligent programming that seeks to transform young people and help them not to reoffend..