for older teenagers (Barlow, 1991, pp. 229 242). This practice occurs because young persons under the age of 12 years old frequently are not subject to adult prosecution, and thus can act with relative impunity.
Youth crime, particularly violent behavior, also is increasingly being characterized by gang related activity (Harrison, 1992, pp. 203 245). Street gang activity more often than not is associated with inner city population groups; however, other population groups also increasingly are engaging gang related activities.
There is a major difference in the rate of violent behavior by young persons depending upon the criterion measure that is used. The 17 percent rate cited at an earlier point in this discussion was based on the proportion of persons under the age of 18 years old included among the crimes of violence that were cleared by arrest. When all violent crimes whether or not cleared by arrest are considered, however, the proportion of such crimes committed by young persons increases. In 1992, as an illustration, 19 percent of all single offender violent criminal acts were perpetrated by persons under the age of 18 years old (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994, p. 59). An additional 10 percent of such acts were committed by persons aged 18 to 20 years old, and an additional 31 percent of such acts were committed by persons aged 21 to 29 years old. Thus, three fifths of the violent criminal acts in the United States are committed by persons under the age of 30 years old. When multiple offender crimes of violence are considered, the number of such violent acts attributed to persons under the age of 21 years old leaps to 41 percent from the 29 percent level for single offender acts of violence. In 1992, there were 1,330,392 single offender violent criminal acts committed or by persons under the ages of 21 years old, while 757,989 multiple offender violent criminal acts were committed or by persons under the ages...