NCJ Number
128678
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1990) Pages: 265-292
Date Published
1990
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study covers a review of the literature on juvenile homicide and uses a data set of all criminal homicides committed in Baltimore City from 1974 through 1984 to examine two questions about juvenile homicides. The first question is whether juvenile involvement in homicide is increasing, and the second is whether homicides that involve juvenile offenders are different enough from homicides involving adult offenders to justify a rethinking of policy.
Abstract
The criminal justice policy toward juvenile crimes of violence has increasingly mirrored policy toward adult violent crime. The review of the literature does not indicate whether juvenile violent crime is different from adult violent crime. Using the data set from Baltimore to examine this question of difference, the analysis shows that juvenile involvement in homicide, as measured by the absolute number of juvenile homicides, the proportion of juveniles involved in homicide, and the juvenile homicide rate did not increase during the period of 1974 through 1984. The analysis also shows that juvenile homicides differ significantly from adult homicides on a number of dimensions. Three different analytical techniques confirm the significance of multiple-offender homicides and concurrent felony homicides in the juvenile homicide pattern. 7 tables, 6 footnotes, and 44 references