Overrepresentation of Juvenile Crime Proportions in Robbery Clearance Statistics

• NCJ Number: 178765
• Journal: Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: June 1999 Pages: 151-161
• Author(s): Howard N. Snyder
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-JN-FX-K008
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines data on juvenile involvement in robbery from all National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) states over a 3-year period.

Abstract

Using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s NIBRS, this article explores the likelihood of arrest for juvenile and adult robbery offenders. Juvenile robbery suspects are 23 percent more likely to be arrested than adults, and 32 percent more likely after controlling for other incident characteristics. There is an increased likelihood of arrest in robbery incidents in which the victim is a juvenile, a female, or white; the offender is white or female; and the victim was injured. The presence of a weapon is not related to the likelihood of arrest. The differential influence of specific incident characteristics on the likelihood of arrest for juveniles and adults highlights the underlying biases of law enforcement and the public in their response to juvenile violent crime, i.e., the relative seriousness of the offense is less of an issue when handling juvenile offenders. Figure, tables, references