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Juvenile Focus

NCJ Number
185841
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 64 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 73-75
Author(s)
Alvin W. Cohn
Date Published
June 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes 18 studies regarding educationally disadvantaged juveniles, juvenile court waivers, juvenile executions, drug treatment availability, alcohol and domestic violence, and other issues.
Abstract
The Applied Research Center reports that black, Hispanic, and Native American Indian students are suspended or expelled disproportionately to white students. The number of youths under the age of 18 who are sentenced to adult State prisons increased from 3,400 to 7,400 between 1985 and 1997. Juvenile dispositions were traditionally based on the offender's individual characteristics and situation, now dispositions increasingly rest on offense than on the offenders. A proposed Food Stamp Program allows States to require food stamp recipients to cooperate with child support as a condition of eligibility. Fifteen of the 607 people executed since capital punishment was restored in 1976 were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. Data from the FBI indicate that 57 percent of all violent crimes by juveniles occur on school days and that 19 percent of all juvenile violent crimes occur between 3 and 7 p.m. The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment reports that a collection of surveys, studies, and demographic analysis consistently points to a gap between the demand for drug treatment and its availability. Other research findings relate to revenues of street gangs, victimization of adolescent females, justice expenditures, the impact of the California three-strikes law, and the relationship between adolescent alcohol use and sexual behavior.