NCJ Number
66340
Date Published
1968
Length
36 pages
Annotation
QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION (INTERPOL) TO COLLECT INFORMATION ON DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY SINCE 1965.
Abstract
THE QUESTIONNAIRE COVERED THREE MAIN POINTS: (1) NATIONAL STATISTICS FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, INCLUDING THE SPECIFIC SIZE OF ADULT AND JUVENILE POPULATIONS AND THE AGE OF OFFENDERS IN EVERY STATISTICAL CATEGORY; (2) A PROFILE OF TRENDS IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND OF NEW SOCIOLOGICAL TENDENCIES IN YOUNG PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR; (3) AND NEW MEASURES INTRODUCED BY POLICE TO PREVENT AND OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND BRING YOUNG OFFENDERS TO JUSTICE. ANALYSIS OF THE REPLIES SHOWS THAT INCREASED JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS NOT UNIVERSAL. OF THE 41 COUNTRIES REPORTING, ONLY 21 INDICATED THAT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY HAD INCREASED, APPARENTLY MOST NOTABLY IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES. IN ALMOST ALL COUNTRIES, THE MOST PREVALENT OFFENSE AMONG JUVENILES WAS THEFT. ARTICLES STOLEN TENDED TO VARY ACCORDING TO THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND AGE OF THE JUVENILES. ONE-THIRD OF THE COUNTRIES REPORTED THAT VANDALISM WAS INCREASING, WITH HALF OF THESE COUNTRIES BEING EITHER EUROPEAN OR NORTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES. DURING THE LAST 3 YEARS, 10 COUNTRIES HAD EITHER NOTICED THE FIRST SIGNS OF JUVENILE DRUG USE OR ELSE AN EXTENSION OF AN ALREADY EXISTING PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM WAS MOST COMMON IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES; CANNABIS WAS THE MOST-USED-DRUG. SOME COUNTRIES REPORTED SPECIAL POLICE UNITS FOR JUVENILE WORK WHICH OPERATE ON VERY SPECIFIC CRITERIA; THE ADVANTAGE OF THESE WAS CITED AS BEING THE ACCOMPANYING LIBERALIZATION OF METHODS OF PREVENTION AND CONTROL, SUCH AS PARENTAL AND SOCIAL WELFARE INVOLVEMENT. NEVERTHELESS THE GREAT MAJORITY OF COUNTRIES DID NOT REPORT NEW ACTIVITIES IN THIS AREA. SUMMARIES OF THE REPLIES OF INDONESIA, SWEDEN, AND VENEZUELA ARE APPENDED AS THEY WERE RECEIVED AFTER THE FINDINGS WERE COMPILED. (PRG)