NCJ Number
192026
Journal
Criminal Justice Research Reports Volume: 2 Issue: 6 Dated: July/August 2001 Pages: 89-91
Editor(s)
Henry G. Sontheimer Ph.D.
Date Published
2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This paper examines trends in juvenile crime and juvenile justice in the 1990's, with attention to school violence, juvenile gangs, accountability and waiver transfer to adult court, and effective prevention and intervention approaches.
Abstract
Contrary to popular belief, the rate of juvenile arrests has steadily decreased during the past decade; however, despite this decrease, there were still 2.5 million juvenile arrests in 1999. Regarding school violence, violent incidents are reported by most middle and high school students according to National Crime Victimization Survey data; however, few students report serious violent incidents. Results of a national research study show an increase in the number of jurisdictions affected by gangs during the 1980's and through 1998. The nationally representative sample of law enforcement agencies surveyed in the 1999 National Youth Gang Survey reported that youth gang members were most often involved in activities such as theft, assault, and burglary. Forty-six percent of gang members were reported to have been involved in dealing drugs. During the mid-1990's, 46 States passed legislation that makes it easier to transfer juvenile offenders to adult criminal court. Every State has legislation that allows for at least one of three mechanisms used to transfer juveniles to criminal court: judicial waiver, statutory exclusion, and concurrent jurisdiction. Nearly all States have judicial waiver provisions whereby the juvenile court judge can transfer cases to the adult criminal court. Despite changes that set stricter standards and aim to "get tough" on juvenile crime, the outcomes of most cases were similar to what would have occurred if legislative changes had not been made. Among prevention and intervention approaches found to be effective with juveniles are functional family therapy; classroom-based programs such as contingency training and token economy programs; and parent management training. Prevention programs are more likely to be successful when youths' families are involved. Criminal justice professionals and researchers should remain committed to the identification of correlates and causes of delinquency and to the development and evaluation of prevention and intervention programs for juveniles. 5 references