NCJ Number
191908
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: Autumn 2001 Pages: 639-655
Date Published
2001
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article challenges the view that juvenile violence is rapidly increasing in Western Europe.
Abstract
Postwar criminological research into crime trends has been dominated by descriptions of an ever-increasing population of young offenders (Wilson and Herrnstein 1985; Smith 1995). In more recent times, however, an alternative description highlights a levelling in this trend during the 1970's (Kyvsgaard 1991; von Hofer 1995; Estrada 1997; Balvig 2000a). A survey of studies produced in 10 Western European countries shows that this alternative description best captures the trends in the majority of the countries analyzed. England and Germany stand out as important exceptions; in these two countries juvenile offending has increased more or less continually during the post-war period (Farrington 1992; Pfeiffer 1998). The studies that portray an increase in juvenile violence are far too reliant on official crime statistics. In countries where alternative data are available, a different picture often emerges. It is possible that the way violence is viewed in society and the subsequent response to juvenile offending have changed, leading to a deviancy amplification spiral. This hypothesis is examined by using results from two Swedish studies, one on changes in the media coverage of violence and the other on changes in schools' reaction to violence. The concluding discussion highlights the role of the media as actor and arena in the creation of this altered reaction to juvenile offending. 1 table, 7 figures, and 39 references