NCJ Number
179666
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This overview of child and adolescent homicide first describes the problem and then addresses historical background; epidemiology; family patterns; assessment and diagnosis; course, prognosis, and recidivism; clinical management; and treatment.
Abstract
The description of the problem notes that the most critical and perplexing problem is to understand the decision-making process that leads to violent behavior. This involves distinguishing between youth who experience rage and hostility but do not kill and those who act out their rage to the extreme. The discussion of historical background notes that no profile encompasses the full range of juvenile homicide cases; there is ample documentation of the diversity of juvenile homicide offenders. The discussion of epidemiology encompasses juvenile homicide trends and gender differences. The section on offender characteristics discusses both main groups of offenders and additional subgroups. The overview of assessment and diagnosis considers general issues and forensic issues. Topics addressed in the discussion of forensic issues include transfer to adult court, competency to stand trial, waiver of Miranda rights, mental state at offense, and disposition. The discussion of treatment advises that the treatment of juvenile homicide offenders differs from that for other aggressive youth. The unalterable tragedy and permanency of death and its devastating effect on loved ones make homicide a singularly demanding therapeutic challenge, one likely to require long-term individual psychotherapy. Eventually the youth must come to terms with his/her crime in all of its complexity and horror. 76 references