Offenders in Juvenile Court, 1993

• NCJ Number: 160945
• Author(s): Jeffrey A. Butts Ph.D.
• Date Published: July 1996
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-JN-FX-0008
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Statistics

Annotation

This summary of "Juvenile Court Statistics 1993" provides data on the demographics and processing of juvenile delinquent and status offenders for 1993.

Abstract

The report shows that the number of criminal homicide cases handled in the U.S. juvenile courts increased 13 percent between 1992 and 1993; the 1993 homicide caseload was 45 percent higher than the caseload of 1989. Cases that involved offenses against persons increased 6 percent between 1992 and 1993, and the number of property offense cases decreased 3 percent. In 21 percent of the delinquency cases processed in 1993, the most serious charge was a person offense; in 54 percent, a property offense; in 6 percent, a drug law violation; and in 18 percent, a public order offense. The number of delinquency cases that involved female juveniles increased 31 percent between 1989 and 1993, and cases that involved males increased 21 percent. Juveniles were held in secure detention facilities at some points between referral and disposition in 20 percent of all delinquency cases disposed in 1993. The number of juvenile court cases transferred to criminal court increased 10 percent between 1992 and 1993. Of all delinquency cases processed by the juvenile courts in 1993, 61 percent involved a juvenile under age 16. Between 1989 and 1993, the number of delinquency cases that involved white youth increased 18 percent, and the number of cases that involved black youth and youth of other races increased 34 percent and 32 percent, respectively. 18 tables, 4 figures, 8 notes, a glossary, and supplementary discussions on the National Juvenile Court Data Archive and data-collection methods