NCJ Number
175165
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 365-375
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study describes the characteristics of juveniles convicted of homicide, their crimes, and their victims; the study also obtained within-group comparisons.
Abstract
A total of 112 juveniles (ages 14-17) were the subjects; these adolescents were prosecuted and convicted of a homicide- related crime within the adult courts over a 10-year period (1983-93) in a midwestern State. The sample consisted of 106 males and 6 females. Seventy-three of the subjects were African- American (65.2 percent), and 39 were Caucasian (34.8 percent). Upon incarceration, each juvenile was interviewed by one or more justice system caseworkers at the State Diagnostic Center. A child psychiatry fellow reviewed the correctional facility charts, including the Diagnostic Report, of each subject and recorded relevant data. To add to the descriptive literature regarding juvenile homicide, data were obtained on psychosocial characteristics of the offenders, delineation of their crimes, and victim features. Family abuse among subjects was also explored in depth. Youths who came from abusive families tended to be Caucasian and younger than adolescents who did not have abusive families. Subjects who were abused in their families were also more likely to experience suicide ideation or attempts prior to the commission of the homicide than subjects who were not abused. These findings provide preliminary support for the "lockage phenomenon," which postulates that in abusive families, some stressed adolescents may respond by either committing suicide or homicide as a means of escape. 21 references