NCJ Number
130477
Date Published
1990
Length
288 pages
Annotation
Information from about 12,000 juvenile delinquency cases processed in 11 New York counties in 1987, from official records on juvenile justice, and from interviews with juvenile justice practitioners formed the basis of a description and comparative analysis of case processing in the State.
Abstract
The 2-year study tracked family court cases involving children ages 7-15 from probation intake to disposition. Cases of children ages 13-15 arrested under the Juvenile Offender Law were not examined. The study sites included the five counties of New York City as well as Nassau, Erie, Monroe, Albany, Dutchess, and Clinton counties. Results showed that the New York City cases differed significantly from those in other sites with respect to both offense seriousness and case processing styles. Juvenile arrests were relatively stable from 1983 through 1987 and declined from 1987 through 1989, but arrests for violent offenses and drug offenses increased substantially during this 2-year period. New York City probation intake cases were more serious overall than cases in other study sites and were more likely to be male and older. Minorities made up a disproportionate percentage of intake cases. For volume II, see NCJ-130478. Tables, figures, appended methodological information and tables, and 38 references