Juvenile Justice Bulletin Banner 2004

J. Robert Flores, Administrator

July 2004
Victims of Violent Juvenile Crime

Carl McCurley and Howard N. Snyder

Introduction

Most victims of juvenile violence were juveniles

Nearly all victims of juveniles knew their offender

Many adult victims of juvenile assault were family members

The majority of violent juvenile offenders were male

The risk of injury during juvenile crimes was greatest for older teens and young adults

Methods

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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

This Bulletin was prepared under grant number 1999–JN–FX–K002 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

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A Message From OJJDP

Violent crime is always disturbing, but this is especially true when its perpetrators are youth.

About one in five nonfatal violent victimizations involves a juvenile offender, acting either alone or with others—adult or juvenile. Most victims of juvenile violence are juveniles, including 95% of the victims of sexual assaults. Nearly all victims of juvenile violence know the offender.

The authors of this Bulletin draw on these and other key findings derived from data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to develop a statistical profile of juvenile crime.

The tables, charts, and accompanying analysis offer useful perspectives on characteristics of offenders and victims such as age, gender, and relationship; types of offenses, including aggravated and simple assault, sexual assault, and robbery; the unlawful use of firearms; and injuries.

Although NIBRS is a relatively new tool whose data sources will expand with time, the experiences of more than 126,000 victims, analyzed in this Bulletin, provide beneficial information about the extent and nature of juvenile violence to those who share OJJDP's commitment to combat it.
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Acknowledgments

This Bulletin was written by Carl McCurley, Research Associate, and Howard N. Snyder, Director of Systems Research, National Center for Juvenile Justice, with funds provided by OJJDP to support the National Juvenile Justice Data Analysis Project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
  

Get the Latest Statistics Online From OJJDP

If you need statistics about juvenile justice, the Statistical Briefing Book on the OJJDP Web site is the place to look. Visit ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/index.html for reliable answers to the most frequently asked questions about juvenile offending, victimization, and involvement in the juvenile justice system.
Office of Justice Programs • Partnerships for Safer Communities • www.ojp.usdoj.gov

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