NCJ Number
161789
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (February 1996) Pages: 95-98
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study was conducted in Northern Ireland during 1992 and 1993 as part of the International Self Reported Delinquency Study, an attempt by 13 countries to compare the cross-national prevalence and frequency of juvenile delinquency and to find explanations.
Abstract
A modified random walk method used to select the sample resulted in 883 young people between 14 and 21 years of age who were questioned face-to-face as to whether they had ever committed any of 33 status, youth-related, property, violent, and drug offenses. The sample consisted of 52 percent males and 48 percent females distributed fairly evenly across the age range. About 75 percent of the sample reported having committed at least one delinquent act at some time in their lives, and almost half had done so during the previous year. Most were not very diverse offenders, reporting between one and five offense types. The most prolific 5 percent were involved in between 15 and 33 different offense types. The use of soft drugs was the most frequent and the most prevalent offense, followed by carrying a weapon, spraying graffiti, and using hard drugs. The age at which offending first began averaged 14 years, and males appeared in official police and court statistics more often than females. In general, low educational status was associated with high frequency offending, apart from drug use. 3 references