Juvenile Violence and Demographics

Despite the fact that crime rates in general have decreased across the United States, violent crimes (e.g., murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) among juveniles increased by 14.9 percent from 1989 to 1998 (Corbitt, 2000). While some analysts argue as does Daane (2003) that the juvenile violent crime rate has decreased steadily during the past five years, few would deny that the problem of violence and violence-related behavior, including juvenile gang membership and activity, remains significant in the lives of many American children and adolescents.

Of specific importance today is gang-centered or fostered violent crime which negatively impacts upon many American communities. Particularly affected, according to Siegel and Senna (2000), are urban neighborhoods characterized by high levels of poverty, joblessness, and other forms of crime. While juveniles belonging to gangs may be responsible for many violent crimes committed by members of this age cohort, they also are

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provided for research purposes. The Coverage Indicator refers to the relative size of the sample from which these estimates are based. A coverage indicator of 90% means that data covering 10% of the jurisdiction's population are estimated and that data from 90% of the jurisdiction's population are based on actual reports. Source:: Snyder, H., Puzzanchera, C., Kang, W. (2003) "Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics 1994-2001" Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/ezaucr/ Other data also illustrate the extent of juvenile delinquency in the U.S. The following table captures longitudinal data regarding juvenile court cases. Table 2 Juvenile Court Cases, US Year of Disposition by Age at Referral Count <12 12 13 14 15 16 17 >17 Total 1985 72,207 59,178 114,920 190,096 247,029 256,083 180,205 18,978 1,138,696 1986 68,613 56,365 110,147 183,192 264,914 281,327 194,634 21,295 1,180,487 1987 72,841 59,409 109,970 179,716 249,906 287,525 202,652 22,694 1,184,713 1988 74,880 61,685 115,955 183,003 243,577 273,097 213,215 23,871 1,189,283 198
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Approximate Word count = 8236
Approximate Pages = 33 (250 words per page)

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