TEXAS - JUVENILE COURT STATISTICS FOR 1975 - AN ANALYSIS OF JUVENILE COURT CASES

• NCJ Number: 55844
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: Texas Youth Cmssn
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

STATISTICS ON JUVENILE COURT CASES IN TEXAS IN 1975 WERE OBTAINED BY SENDING QUESTIONNAIRES TO EACH JUVENILE COURT AND JUVENILE PROBATION DEPARTMENT IN THE STATE.

Abstract

RESPONSES TO THE STUDY, COMMISSIONED BY THE TEXAS YOUTH COUNCIL, WERE RECEIVED VOLUNTARILY FROM 132 COUNTIES THAT CONTAIN APPROXIMATELY 76.9 PERCENT OF ALL JUVENILE COURT AGE YOUTH IN THE STATE. INFORMATION ON CHILDREN IN NEED OF SUPERVISION AS WELL AS DELINQUENT CHILDREN WAS COLLECTED. IN 1975, THE 132 REPORTING COUNTIES HAD 1,407,265 YOUTH BETWEEN 10 AND 17 YEARS OF AGE. OF THESE YOUTH, 58,804 INDIVIDUALS WERE PROCESSED IN 76,549 REFERRALS FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. THIS REPRESENTED A REFERRAL RATE OF 42 YOUTH PER 1,000 YOUTH POPULATION, AN INCREASE FROM THE 1974 RATE OF 33 PER 1,000 AND THE 1973 RATE OF 31 PER 1,000. IN ORDER TO ESTIMATE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DEVIANT YOUTH WITHIN THE THE STATE, THE RATE FOR REPORTING COUNTIES WAS APPLIED TO THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF JUVENILE COURT AGE YOUTH LIVING IN NONREPORTING COUNTIES, AND THE RESULT WAS ADDED TO THE REPORTED NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS PROCESSED. THIS COMPUTATION REVEALED THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ADDITIONAL 18,068 YOUTH REFERRED TO JUVENILE AUTHORITIES IN THE 122 NONREPORTING COUNTIES, FOR AN ESTIMATED TOTAL REFERRAL TO TEXAS JUVENILE AUTHORITIES OF 76,872 YOUTH IN 1975. POPULATION DENSITY AND THE INCIDENCE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY WERE POSITIVELY RELATED. ABOUT 84 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF YOUTH REFERRED WERE BETWEEN 13 AND 16 YEARS OF AGE; 71 PERCENT OF ALL REFERRALS WERE MALE AND 29 PERCENT WERE FEMALE. REASONS FOR REFERRAL, AS CATEGORIZED BY THE TEXAS YOUTH COUNCIL, INCLUDED STEALING, DISOBEDIENCE, DRUG VIOLATIONS, MALICIOUS MISCHIEF, ALCOHOL VIOLATIONS, VIOLENCE, IMMORAL CONDUCT, TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, AND OTHER OFFENSES (RESISTING ARREST, SLANDER, ETC.). MOST REFERRALS WERE MADE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL. DISPOSITIONS WERE REPORTED IN 86 PERCENT OF ALL CASES BY JUVENILE JUDGES AND COUNTY PROBATION OFFICERS. DATA RESULTING FROM THE TEXAS YOUTH COUNCIL STUDY AND FROM THE FINDINGS OF OTHER AGENCIES ARE TABULATED. (DEP)