The juvenile share of crime has declined
The relative responsibility of juveniles and adults for crime is hard to determine. Research has shown that crimes committed by juveniles are more likely to be cleared by law enforcement than are crimes committed by adults. Therefore, drawing a picture of crime from law enforcement records is likely to give a high estimate of the juvenile responsibility for crime.
The clearance data in the Crime in the United States series show that the proportion of violent crimes attributed to juveniles by law enforcement has declined in recent years. The proportion of violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrests grew from about 9% in the late 1980s to 14% in 1994 and then declined to 12% in 2001.
In the period since 1980, the proportion of murders cleared by juvenile arrests peaked in 1994 at 10% then dropped to 5% in 2001—the lowest level since 1987 but still above the levels of the mid-1980s. The juvenile proportion of cleared forcible rapes peaked in 1995 (15%) and then fell, with the 2001 proportion (12%) still above the levels of the late 1980s (9%). The juvenile proportion of robbery clearances also peaked in 1995 (20%); it fell substantially by 2001 (14%) but was still above the levels of the late 1980s (10%). The juvenile proportion of aggravated assault clearances in 2001 (12%) was slightly below its peak in 1994 (13%) and substantially above the levels of the late 1980s (8%). The proportion of Property Crime Index offenses cleared by juvenile arrests in 2001 (21%) was below all but 2 years in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2001, juveniles were involved in about 1 in 10 arrests for murder (or
10% of arrests for murder), 1 in 8 arrests for a drug abuse violation, and
1 in 3 arrests for larceny-theft, burglary, or motor vehicle theft
Data source: Crime in the United States 2001 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002), table 38. |
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