NCJ Number
69319
Date Published
1979
Length
82 pages
Annotation
THE MINNESOTA JUVENILE COURT POPULATION WAS SURVEYED IN ORDER TO SUPPLY ACCURATE INFORMATION FOR THE USE OF VARIOUS CLIENTS AND TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC TYPES OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS.
Abstract
PRODUCED BY THE RESEARCH AND EVALUATION UNIT OF THE MINNESOTA CRIME CONTROL PLANNING BOARD, THIS 1979 STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION ACT OF 1974, TO PROVIDE DATA FOR THE MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE STUDY COMMISSION, AND TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION TO STATE GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRACTITIONERS. TO FACILITATE FURTHER STUDY OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AND CONSIDERATIONS, OF DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT AND DISPOSITION STANDARDS, THIS STUDY ALSO COMPILED A COMPOSITE PROFILE OF THE MINNESOTA JUVENILE COURT POPULATION, ISOLATING CERTAIN GROUPS AND TYPES OF OFFENDERS. THE QUESTION OF WHETHER JUVENILE STATUS OFFENDERS EVOLVE INTO SERIOUS ADULT CRIMINALS WAS ALSO ADDRESSED AND ANSWERED IN THE NEGATIVE. A SURVEY OF 1,129 JUVENILE COURT REFERRALS DURING 2 MONTHS IN 1975 IN 10 MINNESOTA COUNTIES COLLECTED DEMOGRAPHIC AND OFFENSE INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECTS. THE MAJOR FINDINGS INDICATED THAT 78 PERCENT OF THE JUVENILES REFERRED TO COURT WERE MALE; OVER 50 PERCENT OF THE FEMALES REFERRED TO COURT WERE STATUS OFFENDERS; 40.6 PERCENT OF ALL JUVENILE PETITIONS WERE FELONY CHARGES, 30.5 PERCENT WERE MISDEMEANORS, AND 28.7 PERCENT WERE STATUS OFFENSES. A SMALL CORE OF DELINQUENTS ACCOUNTED FOR A DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH NUMBER OF OFFENSES (I.E., 28 PERCENT OF THE JUVENILES SAMPLED COMMITTED 62.0 PERCENT OF THE SUSTAINED OFFENSES. AGE AT FIRST ADJUDICATION WAS THE BEST SINGLE PREDICTOR OF REPEAT DELINQUENT ACTIVITIES (I.E., YOUNGER JUVENILES, AGE 13 OR 14, HAD A 73.0 RETURN RATE TO COURT COMPARED TO 52 PERCENT OF THE OLDER JUVENILES). INCLUDED IN THE TEXT ARE 12 TABLES AND 2 FIGURES. APPENDIXES GIVE TABULAR AND NARRATIVE DATA, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES RREFLECTING DEMOGRAPHIC AND OFFENSE RELATED INFORMATION. A BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTAINING 28 REFERENCES IS APPENDED.