JUVENILE COURT'S RESPONSE TO VIOLENT OFFENDERS: 1985- 1989

• NCJ Number: 139558
• Author(s): J A Butts; D J Connors-Beatty
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-JN-CX-0012
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: National Juvenile Court Data Archive
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Juvenile Justice Bulletin (April 1993), OJJDP Update on Statistics

Annotation

To understand how juvenile courts handle youth charged with violent offenses, the National Center for Juvenile Justice analyzed more than 1.4 million case records from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive.

Abstract

Study data were obtained from an analysis of automated case records submitted to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive by 493 juvenile courts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia. Violent offenses included homicide, violent sex offenses, aggravated assault, and robbery. In 1989, 7 percent of delinquency cases involved violent offenses: 56 percent aggravated assault, 31 percent robbery, 9 percent violent sexual crimes, and 3 percent homicide. Based on the total number of youth at risk of juvenile court referral, the per capita rate of violent offense cases increased by 18 percent from 1985 to 1989. The per capita rate was higher among males than females and higher among black youth than white youth or those of other races. Courts were more likely to file petitions in cases involving violent offenses than in other delinquency cases. In 1989, 76 percent of violent offense cases were petitioned, compared to 50 percent of delinquency cases that did not involve violent offenses. Juveniles were detained in 49 percent of cases involving violent offenses in 1989, compared to 25 percent in other delinquency cases. In 1989, juvenile courts waived 3 percent of petitioned violent offense cases to criminal court, placed 30 percent in residential facilities, and placed 34 percent on formal probation. 5 tables and 1 figure