NCJ Number
67693
Date Published
1978
Length
0 pages
Annotation
THE GENERAL UNRELIABILITY OF JUVENILE CRIME STATISTICS, AND THE MANIPULATION OF THESE BASICALLY INACCURATE DATA BY SPECIAL INTERESTS, SUCH AS POLICE OFFICIALS SEEKING FUNDS AND CAMPAIGNING POLITICIANS, ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
PART OF AN AUDIOCASSETTE SERIES CONTAINING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1978 JUVENILE JUSTICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE, THIS CASSETTE DISCUSSES THE CREDIBILITY, OR LACK THEREOF, OF CURRENT PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF JUVENILE CRIME. JUVENILE CRIME STATISTICS, GENERALLY DERIVED FROM THE FBI UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS, ARE BASED ON OFTEN SUBJECTIVE AND UNVERIFIABLE VARIABLES, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGES. ALARMING FIGURES, SUCH AS THE 300-PERCENT INCREASE IN JUVENILE COURT CASES SINCE 1957, AND THE 45-PERCENT FIGURE OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS OUT OF THE OVERALL OFFENDER POPULATION, ARE OFTEN MISLEADING, DUE TO SEVERAL REASONS. THESE REASONS INCLUDE A SIZABLE INCREASE IN THE JUVENILE (10-17) GENERAL POPULATION, STATISTICS THAT REFLECT THE NUMBER OF OFFENSES (NOT OFFENDERS), AND A LIKELY INCREASE IN APPREHENSION RATES. OTHER STATISTICAL UNCERTAINTIES CONCERN THE NUMBER OF UNDETECTED JUVENILE OFFENSES AND UNRELIABLE DATA FROM VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS. WHETHER UNDERRATED OR OVERRATED, JUVENILE CRIME RATES, LIKE OTHER CRIMINAL STATISTICS, GIVE AN UNCERTAIN PICTURE OF A COMPLEX PHENOMENON. NO WRITTEN TEXT IS PROVIDED WITH THE CASSETTES. FOR RELATED CASSETTES, SEE NCJ 67692.