Juvenile courts were less likely to use formal processing in delinquency cases involving females (47%) than in cases involving males (60%) in 1997 (figure 11). The likelihood of formal handling increased between 1988 and 1997 for both males and females in all offense categories (table 35). There was offense variation for both males and females in the proportion of cases petitioned for formal processing. In 1997, for females, cases involving public order offenses were most likely to be petitioned (57%), while for males, cases involving drug law violations were most likely to be petitioned (64%).