NCJ Number
173254
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 1995 Pages: 327-333
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Recent concerns have been raised that young people are becoming an increasingly violent segment of American society, and these concerns are explored by presenting alternative dimensions within which youth violence trends can be interpreted.
Abstract
Using Uniform Crime Reports and U.S. Bureau of the Census data for 1958-1993, rates of arrests for murder, taken to represent absolute levels of involvement in this form of violence, were analyzed for trends among young people between 15 and 19 years of age. Relative involvement, operationalized as the ratio of arrest rates for those between 15 and 19 years of age to those of the remainder of the population, was also analyzed for trends. A pronounced upward trend since the mid-1980's in both rates and ratios of arrests for murder was found for the 15-19 year age group, resulting in this group having the highest levels of absolute and relative involvement in murder arrests of any age category. As a context for interpreting these levels, the involvement of young people between 15 and 19 years of age exceeded by a considerable margin the involvement of similarly aged cohorts of baby boomers, a youth group formerly the object of considerable public concern. Additional research is recommended to address the multifaceted sources contributing to the dramatic societal shift in age-related arrest patterns for murder. 27 references, 1 table, and 2 figures