Juvenile Crime Statistics

Juvenile Crime Statistics
Student:
Professor:
Course title:
Date:
Juvenile Crime Statistics
This paper provides a summary of the Juvenile Arrests 2009 article. The paper addresses whether or not juvenile crime is decreasing or increasing, and identifies the crimes that are experiencing an increase in juvenile offending rates. Moreover, the differences between male offending and female offending are also addressed.
Juvenile crime is decreasing. According to the National Centre for Juvenile Justice and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (NCJJ & OJJDP), in the 10 year period from the year 2000 to 2009, the number of cases that juvenile courts throughout the United States handled declined for virtually all offences (2012). In the period between 2008 and 2009, the number of juvenile arrests made by the FBI that involved people under the age of 18 years charged with Violent Crime Index offences fell 10 percent. In the same period, the volume of juvenile court cases that involve Property Crime Index offences comprising arson, larceny-theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft dropped by 5 percent (NCJJ & OJJDP, 2012). The FBI stated that arrests for juveniles for Property Crime Index offences declined by 4 percent. The delinquency caseload declined by 20 percent between 1997 which was its peak year, and 2009. The total case rate for delinquency rose by 46 percent from 1985 to 1996, and then dropped 23 percent to the level in 2009. Accordingly, the overall care rate in the year 2009 was 12 percent above the level of 1985 (NCJJ & OJJDP, 2012).
The crimes which are experiencing an increase in juvenile offending rates include robbery. It is of note that in the year 2009, juvenile courts in the country handled 35 percent more robbery cases compared with the year 2000. The rate of juvenile robbery arrest dropped significantly – by 62% – from the year ’95 to 2002. Nonetheless, from the year 2002, the rate of...