juvenile justice chapter 5 status offenders and nonviolent offenders

Juvenile Justice

Chapter 5

Status Offenders and Nonviolent Offenders

Measuring the Number of Juvenile Offenses Committed

• Three methods used to measure the nature and extent of unlawful acts by juveniles– Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

• Complied by FBI from 15,000 police departments• Divides crime into Part I and Part II crimes• Part I includes eight major crimes: homicide and non-

negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson and motor vehicle theft.

• 80 – 90% of children under the age of 18 commit crimes that they could be arrested for BUT Only 3% of youth are actually arrested.

• Other sources of official stats come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and National Institute of Justice (NIJ)


• Self-Reports– Dark Figure of Crime – Crime not known to officials– crime not gathered from official stats, but by

self-reports.– Self-reports include one-on-one interviews,

surveys and anonymous questionnaires


• Victimization Data– National Crime Victimization Survey

• U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau

• 2 X’s year on 50,000 people 12 years and older• Gather information about crime, including those

not reported to police.

STATUS OFFENDERS

• Offenses that an adult would not be arrested for. – Truancy, curfew violations, running away, alcohol use,

incorrigibility.– 142,000 youth arrested for running away in 2000– Truancy is most frequent offense for youth below the

age of 15– Curfew violations most common status offense– 154,700 juveniles arrested for curfew and loitering

violations in 2001– Liquor violations most frequent offense for youth 16

years and older• Binge Drinking reported in 2 out of 5 college students• Linked to 1,400 student deaths

STATUS OFFENDERS

• Alcohol and Drug Use• 139,238 arrested for drug abuse• 92,326 arrested for liquor law violations• 13,397 arrested for drunkenness• 13,971 arrested for DUI

• Computer Crimes• Juveniles use computers to hack into other

systems, counterfeit money, traffic in child porn and stealing passwords from internet providers

Juvenile Delinquents

• Juvenile delinquent is defined as a youth who commits an act that would be considered a crime if committed by an adult

• Characteristics of juvenile Delinquent– Socially assertive– Defiant– Ambivalent about authority– Resentful– Hostile– Suspicious– Destructive– Impulsive– Lacking of self-control

Juvenile Arrest Statistics

• Between 1980 and 2000 juvenile arrests for violent crimes increased more for females than males

• Although Blacks make-up for only 16% of the juvenile pop., black youth accounted for:– 41% of motor vehicle theft arrests– 28% of drug abuse violations– 26% of larceny-theft– 25% for curfew violations

Juvenile Arrest Statistics

• Table 5.5 Arrest by age. 2001– Delinquency tends to increase with age,

peaking in mid-teens then drops significantly by age 21 in Part I crimes

Vandalism

• Experiments:– Stanford psychologist Phillip Zimbardo place two cars

without license plates and their hoods up in the following places:

• Bronx, New York• Palo Alto California

• Broken-Window Theory– Unattended property becomes fair game for people

out to have fun.– In 2000, 114,000 juveniles arrested for vandalism– Down in 2001 with 71,962 arrests

Other Part I Crimes• Motor Vehicle Theft:

– 2000, 50,800 arrest resulting in a 51% decrease from 1991• Larceny-Theft

– Most frequent crime for juveniles– Streaming: band of juvenile shoplift from stores– 363,500 arrests

• Arson– With exception of runaways and loitering, arson is the offense with

greater proportion of arrests– Average of 415 arrest in 1980’s– Increase of 53% in 2000– Juveniles accounted for 49% of all arson arrests.

• Burglary: – In 2000, 95,800 arrests for ages 10-17– 2001 down to 61,623

Recap of Causes that Contribute to Delinquency

• Biological Theory– Criminals are born not made– Genetic abnormality– Violence and aggression associated with the

presence of certain chemicals in the brain.– Richard Speck who murdered 8 nurses, had

one extra male chromosome.


• BEHAVIORAL Theories– Criminals are made not born– People become who they are because of their life

experiences– Children first learn from their families their rules of

conduct– Wrongdoing is reflected by what was learned– Children who are corrected by their parents/guardians

are more likely to conform to society rules– If not corrected, they are likely to ignore society rules.


• Sociological Theories– Take behavioral position one step forward.– During socialization process, children likely to

learn antisocial behaviors through their social and cultural environments

– Delinquency often begins in school.– Most youths will test limits with

theft/shoplifting, but they usually outgrow this


• Psychological Approaches– Most delinquent youth have to deal with

poverty and/or destructive relationships– Unhealthy environments can lead to a

disturbed personality structure.– Adolescence is crisis…….with added

psychological disturbances, problems worsen.– Emotional foundation that is weak is related to

delinquency


• Acting Out behaviors are a major characteristic of delinquency– Lack of self-control and impulses– Desire for immediate gratification– May give youth a sense of importance– A way to overcome feelings of inadequacy

and inferiority


– Other factors include:• Divorce• Alcohol and/or Drug abuse• Diminished supervision of children• Family Criminal History• Transient Family patterns (moving all the

time)• Special Education needs or ADD

Development Pathways

• Developmental pathways is a progressive process where delinquent behavior occurs.– Stages occur over time– See Figure 5.3 on page 159– Authority Pathway:

• Stubbornness & disobedience

• Can lead to running away

– Covert Behavior: Property crimes– Overt Behavior: Violence

juvenile justice chapter 5 status offenders and nonviolent offenders

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