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The following statistics are derived from "Juvenile
Offender and Victims: A Focus on Violence," May 1995,
by Howard N. Snyder and Melissa Sickmund, National
Center for Juvenile Justice, Pittsburgh, PA and Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington,
D.C.
Between 1988 and 1992, juvenile arrests for
violent crime increased nearly 50 percent.
(Page iv)
In 1991, the National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS) found that victims age 12
and older reported that the offender was a
juvenile (under age 18) in approximately 28
percent of personal crimes (i.e. rape,
personal robbery, aggravated and simple
assault, and theft from a person). (Page 1)
In 1991, juveniles were responsible for 19
percent of all violent crimes (i.e., rape,
personal robbery, and aggravated and simple
assault). (Page 1)
Persons most likely to be victimized by
juveniles were individuals between ages 12
and 19 (NOTE: Crimes against children
below age 12 are not a part of NCVS). The
offender was a juvenile in nearly half of
these violent crimes. (Page 1)
Law enforcement agencies made nearly 2.3
million arrests of persons under age 18 in
1992. (Page 2)
In 1992, juveniles accounted for 13 percent
of all violent crimes reported to law
enforcement agencies and 18 percent of all
violent crime arrests. Based on 1992
clearance data, juveniles were responsible
for: 9 percent of murders; 12 percent of
aggravated assaults; 14 percent of forcible
rapes; 16 percent of robberies; 20 percent of
burglaries; 23 percent of larceny-thefts; 24
percent of motor vehicle thefts; and 42
percent of arsons. (Page 3)
The years between 1988 and 1991 saw a 38
percent increase in the rate of juvenile
arrests for violent crimes. (Page 6)
The number of violent juvenile crime arrests
is projected to increase 22 percent between
1992 and 2010. If current trends continue,
by the years 2010 the number of juvenile
arrests for murder is expected to increase
145 percent over the 1992 level; for forcible
rape, 66 percent; and for robbery, 58
percent. (Page 7)
Between 1987 and 1991, the risk that a
person between the ages of 12 and 17 would
become a victim of a nonfatal violent crime
increased 17 percent. (Page 17)
Black juveniles are four times more likely
than white juveniles to be homicide
victims...Young black males have the
highest homicide victimization rate of any
race/sex group. The rate for black males
was twice that of black females, five times
that of white males, and eight times that of
white females. (Page 19)
When juveniles commit homicide, most of
their victims are friends or acquaintances
(53 percent). Thirty-two percent of juvenile
murder victims are strangers, and 15 percent
are family members. (Page 24)
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