In 1996, juvenile courts disposed 1,359,000 delinquency cases involving males, compared with 398,600 cases involving females (table 4). The number of delinquency cases involving females increased 76% between 1987 and 1996, while cases involving males increased 42%. The relatively greater increase in cases involving females reflected changes in the number of person offense cases processed (up 152% for females versus 87% for males) and the number of property offense cases processed (up 52% among females compared with 16% among males). Drug violation cases increased more among males than among females between 1987 and 1996, but between 1992 and 1996, the growth in cases involving females outpaced the growth in cases involving males.

Table 4: Percent Change in Delinquency Cases and Case Rates, by Sex, 1987-1996

Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Percent change calculations are based on unrounded numbers.

Between 1987 and 1996, the delinquency case rate for males increased 28%, to 92.9 cases per 1,000 male youth. Among female juveniles, the delinquency case rate grew 58%, to 28.8 cases per 1,000 female youth. The person offense case rate for females was 127% higher in 1996 than in 1987, while the person offense case rate for males grew 68%. Still, the 1996 person offense case rate was almost three times greater for males than for females (19.5 versus 6.9 cases per 1,000).