NCJ Number
151644
Date Published
1993
Length
8 pages
Annotation
FBI data indicate that the rate of homicides of juveniles has increased from 1976 to 1991.
Abstract
During that period, nearly 29,000 juveniles were murdered in the United States. The risk of being murdered has increased since the 1980's for white and black youths as well as for both males and females. The increase in juvenile homicide has been most significant in cities with populations of more than 250,000. The risk of homicide victimization decreases until age 6, remains low and stable until age 10, and then, especially for males, increases throughout adolescence. Overall, most children are killed by adults. Only 24 percent of juvenile victims are murdered by other juveniles. Eighty percent of perpetrators are males. Victims under age 10 are typically killed by parents with brute force. Victims ages 10-17 are overwhelmingly male and typically killed by a friend or acquaintance with a gun. Fifty-four percent of juvenile homicide victims are white, but black juveniles are more than four times more likely than white juveniles to be the victim of homicide. Victims and perpetrators are usually of the same race. Among homicides in which the victim-offender relationship was known, 40 percent were committed by a family member, 45 percent by a friend or acquaintance, and 15 percent by a stranger. Figures and tables