NCJ Number
59321
Date Published
1977
Length
47 pages
Annotation
DATA ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF 92 FEMALE JUVENILES HELD AT THE RHODE ISLAND TRAINING SCHOOL OVER A 12-MONTH PERIOD ARE PRESENTED IN 18 TABLES.
Abstract
THE TABLES COVER THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES (AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIPS): CLASSIFICATION, RACE, AGE AT FIRST AND CURRENT COMMITMENT, AGE AT RELEASE, NUMBER OF PREVIOUS DETENTIONS, LENGTH OF DETENTION, TYPE OF OFFENSE, RESIDENCE, AND CHILD WELFARE SERVICE INTERVENTION. ACCOMPANYING THE TABLES ARE NOTES DEFINING THE VARIABLES, EXPLAINING THE CROSS-TABULATIONS PRESENTED IN THE TABLES, AND POINTING OUT HIGHLIGHTS. A SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS NOTES THAT 79 PERCENT OF THE DETAINEES WERE WHITE AND 13 PERCENT WERE BLACKS. FOR REGULAR DETENTIONS, THE RACIAL DISTRIBUTION WAS 78 PERCENT WHITE AND 21 PERCENT BLACK; FOR YOUTHS AWAITING ADMISSION TO THE DIAGNOSTIC CENTER, 94 PERCENT WHITE AND 6 PERCENT BLACK; AND FOR YOUTHS AWAITING OTHER PLACEMENT, 72 PERCENT WHITE AND 4 PERCENT BLACK. MEDIAN AGE AT FIRST COMMITMENT WAS 15.40. MEDIAN AGE AT FIRST COMMITMENT WAS LOWER FOR YOUTHS WHO HAD BEEN COMMITTED MORE THAN ONCE. MEDIAN AGE AT CURRENT COMMITMENT WAS 14.7, (14.4 FOR WHITES AND 17.1 FOR BLACKS). OF ALL YOUTHS DETAINED, 70.4 PERCENT HAD NO PREVIOUS DETENTIONS, 18.5 PERCENT HAD ONE, AND 11.1 PERCENT HAD TWO OR MORE. LENGTHS OF DETENTION VARIED FROM LESS THAN 1 DAY TO 477 DAYS. THE MEDIAN LENGTH WAS 19 DAYS FOR ALL DETENTIONS, 11 DAYS FOR STATUS OFFENDERS, AND 33 DAYS FOR OTHER OFFENDERS. OF ALL DETAINEES, 12 PERCENT WERE VIOLENT OFFENDERS, 18.5 PERCENT WERE PROPERTY OFFENDERS, AND 50 PERCENT WERE STATUS OFFENDERS. MOST DETAINEES CAME FROM THE URBANIZED AREA OF THE STATE. ABOUT 67 PERCENT OF WHITES AND 58 PERCENT OF BLACKS HAD BEEN CHILD WELFARE CLIENTS. (LKM)