Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1988-

1997

Series: Fact Sheet

Author: Meghan C. Scahill

Published: May 2000

Subject: Juvenile courts, Adjudication, Juvenile

cases

3 pages

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Person Offense Cases in Juvenile Court, 1988-1997



by Meghan C. Scahill



Person offenses accounted for 22% of all

delinquency cases in 1997



In 1997, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated

390,800 delinquency cases in which the most

serious charge was an offense against a person.

Person offenses include assault, robbery, rape,

and homicide. The 1997 person offense caseload was

97% greater than in 1988. Person offense cases

accounted for 22% of all delinquency cases in

1997, compared with 17% in 1988. 



In 1997, juvenile courts handled 13.6 person

offense cases for every 1,000 juveniles in the

United States age 10 through the upper age of

juvenile court jurisdiction. The person offense

case rate increased 74% between 1988 and 1997. In

contrast, the case rate for property offenses

increased 5% between 1988 and 1997, while the drug

offense case rate grew 99% and the rate for public

order offenses increased 48%. 



Homicide was the most serious charge in 2,000

cases handled in 1997. This was less than 0.5% of

all person offense cases handled by juvenile

courts in 1997. The majority of person offense

cases involved charges of simple assault (248,800)

or aggravated assault (67,900). Together, these

two offenses accounted for 81% of all person

offense cases processed in 1997.



Characteristics of offenders



Compared with 1988, juveniles involved in person

offense cases in 1997 were younger and more likely

to be female. In 1997, 64% (248,700) of person

offense cases involved juveniles under age 16,

compared with 60% (119,200) in 1988. Females were

involved in 26% (102,800) of person offense cases

in 1997, compared with 20% (40,400) in 1988. Sixty

percent (235,900) of person offense cases in 1997

involved white youth, 37% (144,400) involved black

youth, and 3% (10,500) involved youth of other

races.



Case processing



Of the 390,800 person offense cases disposed by

U.S. juvenile courts in 1997, 58% (228,200) were

handled formally (that is, a petition was filed

requesting an adjudicatory or transfer hearing).

Of the individuals involved in petitioned cases,

slightly more than 1% (3,300) were waived to the

criminal court system, more than half (55% or

125,500) were formally adjudicated as delinquents

in the juvenile court, and 44% (99,400) were

petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent. 



In 30% of the 125,500 person offense cases that

were formally adjudicated by juvenile courts in

1997, the most severe disposition imposed by the

court was placement out of the home in a

residential facility. Probation was ordered in 56%

(70,800) of the cases, while 9% (11,700) resulted

in other sanctions, including referral to an

outside agency, fines, community service, and

restitution. Approximately 4% (5,600) of formally

adjudicated person offense cases were released,

i.e., no sanctions were ordered by the court at

the adjudicatory hearing. 



In 1997, an estimated 99,400 person offense cases

were formally petitioned by the court but not

adjudicated. Most (61% or 64,400) of these cases

were dismissed; in 22% (21,400) the youth agreed

to informal probation and in 15% (15,300) to other

dispositions. About 2% (2,300) of nonadjudicated

person offense cases resulted in voluntary

out-of-home placement.



Half (50%) of the 162,500 person offense cases

handled informally (no petition was filed) by

juvenile courts in 1997 were dismissed. The

remainder resulted in voluntary probation (31% or

50,900) or other dispositions (18% or 29,200),

while a small number (less than 1% or fewer than

900) resulted in out-of-home placement. 



For further information



This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report

Juvenile Court Statistics 1997. Copies will be

available from the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Juvenile

Justice Clearinghouse, 800-638-8736. OJJDP also

supports distribution of a PC-compatible software

version of the data analyzed in Juvenile Court

Statistics. For a free copy of the software, Easy

Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, call the

National Juvenile Court Data Archive at the

National Center for Juvenile Justice, 412-227-

6950. This software can also be downloaded from

OJJDP's home page: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.



Meghan C. Scahill is a Research Assistant with the

National Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is

supported by an OJJDP grant.