NCJ Number
236106
Date Published
July 2011
Length
150 pages
Annotation
This report from the National Center for Juvenile Justice presents an analysis of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2008 and describes trends in delinquency cases processed between 1985 and 2008.
Abstract
Highlights from this report include: an estimated 1,653,300 delinquency cases were handled by juvenile courts in 2008; between 1985 and 2008, the number of delinquency cases processed by juvenile courts increased 43 percent, with public offense cases accounting for 52 percent of the increase; compared to 1999, increases were seen in cases involving liquor law violations, disorderly conduct, and robbery, while decreases were seen in cases involving motor vehicle theft, stolen property, larceny theft, and aggravated assault; in 2008, more than 31 million youth were under juvenile court jurisdiction; of these youth, 79 percent were between the ages of 10 and 15, 12 percent were aged 16, and 9 percent were aged 17; and cases involving juveniles age 15 or younger varied by offense category, with 76 percent of juvenile arson cases involving juveniles younger than 16. This report from the National Center for Juvenile Justice presents an analysis of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2008 and describes trends in delinquency cases processed between 1985 and 2008. Data for this report were obtained from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. The Archive uses data in two forms: detailed case-level data and court level aggregate statistics. Data in this report are presented in three chapters: national estimates of delinquency cases, national estimates of delinquency case processing, and national estimates of petitioned status offense cases. Information is presented on case rates, age at referral, intake decisions, adjudication, dispositions, and case processing by offense category. Tables, figures, and appendixes
Date Published: July 1, 2011