Title: Juvenile Arson, 1997

Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet #91

Author: Howard N. Snyder, Ph.D.

Published: February 1999

Subject: Juvenile Justice -- general

2 pages

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Juvenile Arson, 1997

by Howard N. Snyder, Ph.D.



Half of all persons arrested for arson are

juveniles



The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program

defines arson as any willful or malicious burning

or attempt to burn, with or without intent to

defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor

vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another,

etc. In 1997, 110,000 incidents of arson were

reported to law enforcement agencies in the United

States -- 41 reported arsons for every 100,000

U.S. residents. The arson rate in 1997 was highest

in large cities (87 per 100,000 inhabitants) and

lowest in rural areas (18 per 100,000

inhabitants). The average financial loss in arsons

reported to law enforcement in 1997 was $11,300.



Eighteen percent of reported arsons were cleared

by law enforcement, generally by arrest. Of those

arsons cleared by arrest, 46% involved a juvenile

(i.e., a person under age 18).



In 1997, a total of 20,000 arrests were made for

which the most serious offense was arson. In 50%

of these arrests, the person arrested was under

age 18. In fact, arson was the criminal offense

with the greatest portion of juveniles in the

arrestee population. Eighty-nine percent of

juvenile arson arrests involved males, 79%

involved white juveniles, 67% involved juveniles

under age 15, and 35% involved children age 12 or

younger.



About 3 in 10 youth adjudicated for arson are

placed in a residential facility



When an arson case is referred to a court with

juvenile jurisdiction, an intake officer,

prosecutor, or judge determines whether the case

should be handled formally or informally. This

decision is often based on the severity of the

offense, the youth's law-violating history, and

the ability of the parties involved to come to a

mutually agreeable response. Informal case

handling occurs without the filing of a petition,

without the need for an adjudicatory or waiver

hearing, and without a formal court order

requiring the youth to comply with specified

sanctions.



More than half (53%) of juvenile arson cases

disposed by the courts in 1996 were formally

processed. About 1% of formally processed arson

cases were transferred to criminal court for

prosecution of their cases as if they were adults.

In about two-thirds (63%) of formally processed

juvenile arson cases, the youth were adjudicated

delinquent and the court ordered sanctions. Most

adjudicated youth (59%) were ordered to a term of

probation, 27% were placed in a residential

facility, and most of the others were ordered to

pay a fine and/or restitution.



In 1996, 47% of all arson cases processed by

juvenile courts were handled informally. Nearly

half (47%) of these cases were dismissed. In the

other half of these informally processed cases,

youth voluntarily agreed to comply with probation

conditions, pay fines or restitution, and/or enter

some form of residential treatment.



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Howard N. Snyder is Director of Systems Research

at the National Center for Juvenile Justice, which

is supported by OJJDP grant funding.



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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.



FS-9991