Transcript The Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile Crime and
Punishment
Causes of Youth
Violence
 Complex
interplay of factors
 Correlations,
not predictions
 Accumulation
 Number
of risk
of resources
The Development of
Delinquency
Individual-level
Social
risk factors
factors
Community factors
Neighborhood factors
The system ...…..

founded on the principle of hope

designed to help youth overcome criminal tendencies

focused on rehabilitation, not punishment

based on the assumption that youth are not fully
responsible for their actions
It is a system ...…..

Informal proceedings
 A high level of court discretion
 Judge acting “in the child’s best interest”
 Closed court proceedings

Confidential records

Charged as “delinquents” not “criminals”

Found “delinquent” not “guilty”

No imprisonment, training schools and reformatories
The Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act,
1992

Limits placement of juveniles in adult facilities

Jail removal requirement: they shall not be detained or
confined in any institution in which they have contact
with adult(s) incarcerated because they have been
convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal
charges
The Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act

Exempt are juveniles held in secure
facilities if the juvenile is being tried as a
criminal for a felony or has been convicted
as a criminal felon.
The Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act

Sight and Sound Separation: In
institutions other than adult jails or lockups,
confinement is permitted if the juvenile and
adult inmates cannot see each other and no
conversation between them is possible.
The Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act

Requires that states determine whether the
proportion of minorities in confinement exceeds
the proportion in the general state population. If
such over representation is found, states must
implement efforts to reduce it.
Sources of Crime
Data
Arrest
Rates
Victim Reports
Self-report Data
Outlining the problem

In 1997 2.8 million arrests were made of persons <18
years

In 1997 juveniles accounted for 19% or all arrests and
17% of violent crime arrests

In 1997, despite a recent 4 year decline, violent crime
arrests were 49% higher than in 1988
A perplexing phenomenon...

The number of juvenile arrests for murder decreased
39% from 1993 to 1997

The number of juvenile arrest for other violent crimes
has also declined

And, these decreases are occurring despite continuing
growth in the juvenile population!
Violent Crimes…...

Where do they occur?

What types of crimes?

Who commits them?

How are the committed?

When are they committed?
Geographic
Concentration

85% of the 3,141 counties in the U.S. reported no
juvenile homicide offenders in 1997.

8% reported only one offender

In contrast, 25% of all known juvenile homicide
offenders were reported in just FIVE counties that
contain the following cities: LA, Chicago, New York,
Philadelphia, and Detroit.
Figure 1: Delinquency Cases Processed in Juvenile
Court, 1987-1996
Murders and
Homicides

1,700 juveniles were implicated in 2,300
murders in 1997 (12% of all murders)

Males were responsible for most of the
growth in homicides by juveniles from
the mid-1980s through 1994.
Number of Known Juvenile Murderers
Juvenile Murderers: Males offenders
vs. Female Offenders 1980-1997
3000
Males
2500
Females
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997
Number of Known Juvenile Murderers
Number of Juvenile Murderers by Age
Group 1980-1997
1400
1200
1000
Age 17
800
Age 16
600
Age 15
400
Age 14 or
Younger
200
0
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
Denver, Rochester, and
Pittsburgh Studies
Age and gender
differences
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
19
92
19
91
19
90
19
89
19
88
19
87
19
86
19
85
19
84
19
83
19
82
19
81
19
80
19
Number of Known Juvenile Offenders
Juvenile Homicide Offenders by Race
1980-1997
2000
1800
1600
Black
1400
White
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Who were the victims?

Most victims were male (85%), slightly more
were black (49%) than white (48%), and 11%
of victims were below the age of 18.

In 1997, 11% of victims were family members,
56% were acquaintances, and 34% were
strangers
1600
Acquaintance
1400
Stranger
1200
Family
1000
800
600
400
200
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
0
1980
Number of Known Juvenile Offenders
Homicides by Juveniles by
Offender’s Relationship to Victim
1980-1997
Type of Crime

In 1997, fifty-six percent of victims of
juvenile homicides were killed with a
firearm, 29% decline from 1995
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
Number of Juvenile Offenders
Homicides by Juveniles
by Weapon Used 1980-1997
2500
2000
Firearm
No Firearm
1500
1000
500
0
1997 Youth Risk Behavior
Survey

9% of high school students had carried a weapon on
school property in the past month

In a year, 7% of high school kids were threatened or
injured with a weapon at school

Fear of school-related violence kept 4% of high school
kids home at least once in the past month
What type of crimes do
juveniles commit?

5.38 % violent crime (murder, rape, robbery,
and aggravated assault)

26.80% property crime (burglary, arson, theft)

67.82% other crimes (top categories are
vandalism, prostitution, DWI, liquor law
violations, drug possession/abuse)
Prevalence of
crimes by juveniles
Most of the data are provided by the
Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention and relate to
ARREST RATES
Prevalence of crimes by
juveniles
While juveniles below age 13 were
involved in only 9% of all juvenile arrests,
these very young juveniles were involved
in a higher proportions of the following
crimes: arson (35%), nonviolent sex
offense (18%), larceny-theft (15%), simple
assault (13%), burglary (12%), and
forcible rape (11%).
Prevalence of crimes by
juveniles
Black youth made up 15% of the juvenile
population in 1997 but they were involved in
28% of all juvenile arrests. Black youth
were disproportionately involved in juvenile
arrests for murder (56%), forcible rape
(45%), robbery (60%), aggravated assault
(42%), motor vehicle theft (38%), fraud
(42%), and gambling (77%).
Time of Day Juvenile Violent
Crimes Are Committed
Percent of all juvenile Violent Crime Index Offenses
7
Percent of Offenses
6
School Days
Non-School Days
5
4
3
2
1
0
6AM
9AM
12PM
3PM
6PM
9PM
12AM
3AM
6AM
Time of Day Juvenile Gang
Crimes Are Committed
Percent of all juvenile gang crimes
Percent of Gang Crimes
6
School Days
Non-School Days
5
4
3
2
1
0
6AM
9AM
12PM
3PM
6PM
9PM
12AM
3AM
6AM
When are violent crimes
likely to be committed?
Juveniles are more likely to commit
violent crimes on school days than on
non-school days, and directly after school
than at any other time of day.
Rate of Growth in
Juvenile Crime
While changing little between 1973-1989, the rate
at which juveniles committed violent crimes
increased nearly 70% from 1987 to 1994--then
declined and returned to the 1989 level in 1995
and then continued to decline through 1997.
The Good News

Serious violent crimes by juveniles dropped
25% between 1994-1995 and has continued to
drop since then.

Most encouraging is the nearly 20% decline in
murders by juveniles between 1993-1995
The Good News
 In
1997, juvenile homicides were
the lowest in the decade but still
21% above the average of the
1980s
Violent Crimes Committed
by Juveniles 1973-1997
Victimizations by juveniles per 100,000 persons aged 1017
(Includes rape, sexual assault, robbery & aggravated assault w/ victims aged
12+)
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Violent Crimes
1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1996 1997
Juvenile Arrest Rate for
Forcible Rape 1975-1997
Arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10-17
25
20
15
Juvenile Arrest Rate
10
5
0
1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1996 1997
Juvenile Arrest Rate for
Robbery 1975-1997
Arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10-17
250
200
150
100
50
Juvenile Arrest Rate
0
1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997
Juvenile Arrest Rate for
Aggravated Assault 19751997
Arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10-17
300
250
200
150
Juvenile Arrest Rate
100
50
0
1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997
However…….
While the wave of juvenile violence has
subsided somewhat this is not to say that we
have solved the problem of juvenile crime. The
current level of juvenile violence is still at an
unacceptable level
What happened in
1995?

For the first time in 8 years the juvenile violent
crime arrest rate declined in 1995.

A substantial drop of 17% over 1994 numbers!

Nearly all the decline was in homicides was by
black juvenile males

Nearly all the decline was in fire-arm related
homicides
What happened in
1995?

Nearly all the decline from 1994 to 1995
was in arrests for younger juveniles (-2%
for 15-17 year olds, -5% for younger
juveniles)
Trend Continued Through
1997

By 1997, the juvenile violent crime arrest rate
was at its lowest level in the 1990s
 In 1997, both the male and female juvenile
violent crime arrest rate decreased since 1995
 The violent crime arrest rates for very young
juveniles (10-12) also declined from 1994-1997.
State Responses
Study by the National
Center of Juvenile Justice
(1992-1997)
Change in the Juvenile Justice
System
to punish, hold accountable, and
incarcerate for longer periods of time
those juveniles who, by history or type of
offense, passed a threshold of tolerated
juvenile law violating behavior.
State Changes to:

jurisdictional authority (juvenile to
criminal court)
 sentencing authority (new sentencing
options)
 confidentiality (removal of traditional
confidentiality provisions)
 victim's rights (increased the role of
victims in court hearings)
Changes to sentencing
options:

judicial waivers (waive juvenile court
jurisdiction)

prosecutor discretion (at the will of state
prosecutor)

legislative exclusion (state statutes exclude
certain juvenile offenders from juvenile court
jurisdiction)
Juvenile
Court
Processing
of
Delinquency
Cases, 1996
Delinquency Cases Waived to Criminal Court, 19871996
From 1992 - 1997 all but 5 states
enacted or expanded provisions for
transferring juveniles from juvenile
court jurisdiction to criminal court
for prosecution.
A trend away from traditional
juvenile dispositions is emerging, and
"blended sentencing” options at the
state level are creating a middleground between traditional juvenile
and adult sanctions
As many states have shifted away from
rehabilitation and toward punishment,
accountability, and public safety. The
emerging trend is one of dispositions
based on the offense. Retribution and
deterrence have replaced rehabilitation
as the primary juvenile justice goals
Problems that might force the
issue:

many more juveniles are being held in crowded
secure public facilities in 1997 than in 1991

crowding in juvenile facilities (detention
facilities, training schools) has increased as the
juvenile custody population has grown.

in 1997 half of all public detention centers were
operating above their design capacity.
Problems that might force the
issue:

Minority youth (10-17 years) are over
represented in custody facilities. In 1997 they
made up 34% of the population as a whole, but
62% of the detention population.