DATA FROM 2,110 COURTS, SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE (NCJJ) BY STATE AGENCIES, PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR NATIONAL ESTIMATES. THE NCJJ USED METHODOLOGY DEVELOPED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, FROM WHICH IT TOOK OVER THE JUVENILE COURT DATA COLLECTION RESPONSIBILITY IN 1975. DATA PRESENTED REPRESENT CASES DISPOSED RATHER THAN THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN INVOLVED, BECAUSE SOME CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED IN MORE THAN ONE CASE. IN 1976, AN ESTIMATED 1.237 MILLION DELINQUENCY CASES WERE HANDLED BY THE COURTS. CASES DECREASED 6.1 PERCENT FROM 1975, COMPARED TO A 1.6 PERCENT DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN AGED 10 TO 17 IN THE SAME PERIOD. ABOUT HALF THE CASES WERE HANDLED JUDICIALLY ON THE BASIS OF A PETITION OR MOTION. THE OTHER HALF WERE HANDLED NONJUDICIALLY BY AN INTAKE OFFICER, PROBATION OFFICER, JUDGE, OR COURT OFFICER AND WITHOUT USE OF A PETITION OR MOTION. CASES HANDLED JUDICIALLY DECREASED 9 PERCENT IN URBAN COURTS AND 3.8 PERCENT IN SEMIURBAN COURTS, BUT INCREASED BY 7 PERCENT IN RURAL COURTS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR. THREE QUARTERS OF THE OFFENDERS WERE MALES, A PROPORTION WHICH HAS REMAINED CONSTANT SINCE 1970. THE DELINQUENCY RATE WAS 38.1 PER 1,000 CHILDREN IN 1976, COMPARED TO 39.9 IN 1975 AND 20.1 IN 1960. DEPENDENCY AND NEGLECT CASES TOTALED 155,000 IN 1976, AN INCREASE OF 7.7 PERCENT OVER 1975. ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF THESE CASES RECEIVED JUDICIAL DISPOSITIONS. DEFINITION OF TERMS, DESCRIPTION OF DATA SOURCES, EXTENSIVE TABLES IN BOTH THE TEXT AND APPENDIXES, A LIST OF NCJJ PUBLICATIONS, AND A FORM ON WHICH TO EVALUATE THIS REPORT, ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)
JUVENILE COURT STATISTICS, 1976
NCJ Number
62182
Date Published
1976
Length
67 pages
Annotation
THIS STATISTICAL REPORT IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A QUANTITATIVE INDICATION OF THE GENERAL NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE PROBLEMS BROUGHT BEFORE JUVENILE COURTS IN THE U.S. AND TO STIMULATE RESEARCH ON DELINQUENCY CAUSES.
Abstract