NCJ Number
93813
Date Published
1981
Length
55 pages
Annotation
These data tables show the rates and geographic distribution of delinquency and dependency cases brought before juvenile courts in the United States during 1979 as well as selected data for each year between 1957 and 1979.
Abstract
During the 23-year period, the number of delinquency cases increased by over 200 percent, while the rate of delinquency cases increased by 125 percent. Males were involved in 77 percent of the cases in 1979. Almost two-thirds of the cases were processed in urban areas, which also had higher delinquency rates than semiurban and rural areas. The number of dependency cases has increased by 43 percent during the 23-year period, in part due to the increase in child population. In 1979, 2.6 dependency cases were processed by juvenile courts for every 1,000 children below the age of 18. This rate was 37 percent higher than the 1957 rate. Just over half of the cases disposed of by juvenile courts in 1979 involved males. Dependency rates were similar for urban, semiurban, and rural areas. A list of data sources for each State and five references are included.