NCJ Number
79905
Date Published
Unknown
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This speech addresses the problem of violent crime in the United States in relation to both the population increase in young people and policy decisions.
Abstract
The main reason that crime increased so dramatically in the 1960's and 1970's is that the number of young people in the population increased dramatically: between 1960 and 1970 there were 13 million more persons between the ages of 14 and 24 added to the population than had been added in the preceding decade. Secondly, in 1960, the number of jobs available to young people had begun to decrease. Before 1957, teenage and young adult unemployment ran on the average about 8 to 10 percent, but by the middle of the 1960's, the average for teenagers had increased to 16 or 17 percent. Thus, two societies were coexisting in the Nation: one with unparalleled prosperity for adults and the other with job shortages for persons under age 25. In addition, during the 1960's, data show that the number of crimes cleared by arrest went down. In many States, the prison population during this period either stabilized or dropped at a time of rising crime rates. Also, at the time when the relative availability of legitimate jobs for persons under the age of 24 was decreasing, the penalties for criminal activity were decreasing. Thus, the benefits of crime were increasing at a time when the costs of crime were decreasing. Concerning drug addicts and their impact on crime, data show that less than half of all addicts have active criminal records. Although in the 1980's, the juvenile population will decrease, the overall crime rate will probably not go down because most people that the police arrest for criminal matters have been arrested before. A more effective crime policy requires a decision to give the correctional system only two legitimate purposes: that of protecting society by segregating certain people for certain periods of time and that of creating a penalty so that the cost of criminal activity outweighs the gains. This will require more certain sentences, although not necessarily severer ones. In addition, more employment opportunities for all persons, but especially young persons, must be created. Finally, a detection and early intervention system that will permit the successful detection and intervention of drug abuse must be devised. No references are cited.