Violence in the United States reached epidemic proportions in the early-1990s. Crime in the United States, particularly violent crime, has been a major concern of the American population for decades. A particularly troublesome factor in recent years has been the increase in the proportion of all crimes perpetrated by youthful offenders. Persons under the age of 18 years old are responsible for approximately 32 percent of serious property crimes cleared by arrest and for approximately 17 percent of violent crimes so cleared.
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 above 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, 19 percent of all single-offender violent criminal acts were perpetrated by persons under the age of 18 years old. 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 of 21 years old.
Criminal behavior by young people represents
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