NCJ Number
152439
Date Published
1993
Length
44 pages
Annotation
This report presents information and data on serious and violent juvenile offenders in Missouri.
Abstract
An opinion survey was sent to all juvenile officers and juvenile court administrators, all local law enforcement officials, and all middle and high school principals. Some of the questions contained in the survey pertained to whether juvenile- related violence is a problem, whether the extent of serious and violent offending by juveniles changed in the past 5 years, and reasons for changes in the types or levels of violence committed by juveniles. The majority of respondents did not believe there had been a significant change in the level of violent offending during the past 5 years. The Serious and Violent Juvenile Offender Project also examined juvenile court referral data for 1983-1990 to help determine the extent of serious and violent offending by juveniles. Over the period studied, violent incidents increased by over 200 percent; however, the total number of all law violations by juveniles referred to the court increased as well, although at a lower rate (77 percent). Other sections of this report provide census and demographic data on Missouri's at-risk youth population, national data on criminal victimization and the youth population, and national rates for violent crime committed by juveniles. Appended supplementary data regarding opinions of professionals who work with such youth, juvenile court referrals, census and demographic information on Missouri's at-risk youth population, criminal victimization and the youth population national data, and youth-committed violent crime national crime rates.