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DELINQUENCY 1975 - UNITED STATES ESTIMATES OF CASES PROCESSED BY COURTS WITH JUVENILE JURISDICTION

NCJ Number
62922
Author(s)
D D SMITH; T FINNEGAN; H SNYDER; J CORBETT
Date Published
1979
Length
132 pages
Annotation
FIRST IN A SERIES, THIS ANNUAL REPORT ON DELINQUENCY PRESENTS 1975 NATIONAL ESTIMATES OF YOUTHFUL LAW VIOLATORS AND DATA ON HOW THEY ARE PROCESSED BY THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Abstract
INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT WILL AID DECISIONMAKERS, PLANNERS, AND RESEARCHERS TO CHART THE FUTURE COURSE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES. DURING 1975, THERE WERE 66,250,000 YOUNG PEOPLE BELOW THE AGE OF 18 INVOLVED IN SOME WAY WITH THE JUVENILE COURT. OF THIS POPULATION, AN ESTIMATED 63,942,000 CAN BE DEFINED AS LOW RISK (0 TO 9 YEARS) OR RELATIVELY HIGH RISK (AGES 10 AND ABOVE). THIS LATTER GROUP, REFERRED TO AS THE CHILD POPULATION AT RISK, NUMBERED 30,720,490 DURING 1975. BASED ON THE CHILD POPULATION AT RISK, AN ESTIMATED 1,406,100 OF THE JUVENILE CASES WERE DISPOSED OF BY THE COURTS WITH YOUTH JURISDICTION. THE RATE OF CASES TO INDIVIDUALS, A GENERAL MEASURE OF BOTH COURT ACTIVITY AND DELINQUENT ACTIVITY, IS 45.8 CASES PER 1,000 YOUTH POPULATION AT RISK. DATA INDICATES THAT MALES ARE THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE PROCESSED BY THE COURTS THAN FEMALES AND THAT CASES INVOLVING MEMBERS OF RACIAL MINORITIES ARE PROPORTIONATELY MORE LIKELY TO BE HANDLED BY THE COURTS THAN ARE CASES INVOLVING MEMBERS OF THE RACIAL MAJORITY. CONCERNING THE EFFECT OF AGE AT TIME OF REFERRAL AND COURT PROCESSING, DATA SHOW THAT AS AGE INCREASES SO DOES THE LIKELIHOOD OF A COURT DISPOSITION. REASONS FOR REFERRAL INCLUDE OFFENSES INVOLVING PROPERTY, STATUS OFFENSES, OFFENSES INVOLVING PERSONS, AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL OFFENSES. THE REPORT DISCUSSES METHODS USED TO GENERATE THE DATA AND LIMITATIONS ON THE DATA AND IN BIVARIATE DISTRIBUTION TABLES. AN EVALUATION AND UNDERSTANDING THE INFORMATION PRESENTED. UNIVARIATE TABLES COVER THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS FOR 12 VARIABLES WHILE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES ARE PRESENTED IN BIVARIATE DISTRIBUTION TABLES. AN EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK FORM IS INCLUDED BUT NO REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (PRG)