THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON TWO ASPECTS OF THE TREATMENT OF FEMALE OFFENDERS, THE DETECTION OF OFFENSES AND THE HANDLING OF KNOWN OFFENSES. A SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE GIVEN TO BOYS AND GIRLS IN SHEFFIELD FOUND THAT BOYS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY THAN GIRLS TO HAVE COMMITTED A WIDE RANGE OF OFFENSES, INCLUDING THEFTS, BREAK-INS, VANDALISM, AND VIOLENCE. A NUMBER OF STUDIES ARE CITED TO INDICATE THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN DETECTION RATES IS ONLY MARGINAL. THEN OFFICIAL CRIMINAL STATISTICS FOR 1975 ARE ANALYZED TO EXAMINE THE TREATMENT OF THOSE FEMALE OFFENDERS WHO ARE CAUGHT. A SERIES OF TABLES PRESENT THE DATA. IT IS FOUND THAT FOR THOSE UNDER AGE 21 THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS IN SENTENCES GIVEN. THESE FIGURES TEND TO SUPPORT THE ARGUMENT THAT GIRLS MAY RECEIVE RELATIVELY MORE SEVERE TREATMENT THAN WOMEN. FURTHER ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT ADULT FEMALES WITH NO PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS MAKE UP FIVE TIMES THE PROPORTION OF PRISON RECEPTIONS, COMPARED WITH MALE FIRST OFFENDERS. A FEMALE FIRST OFFENDER IS MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE A SHORT PRISON TERM; A MALE, TO BE HANDLED OUTSIDE THE PRISON SYSTEM. IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT 21 PERCENT OF FEMALE INMATES WERE FINE DEFAULTERS, COMPARED WITH 8.4 PERCENT OF MEN. WOMEN WERE ALSO FAR MORE LIKELY TO BE JAILED WHILE AWAITING TRIAL OR SENTENCING, EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY WERE EVENTUALLY FOUND NOT GUILTY OR RECEIVED A NONCUSTODIAL SENTENCE. THESE FINDINGS ARE DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE APPENDED. (GLR)