NCJ Number
157411
Date Published
1994
Length
23 pages
Annotation
After examining overall crime patterns for the United States from 1970 through 1994, this study focuses on violent crimes by youth, the involvement of guns in these crimes, and their relationship to the illicit-drug industry; policy implications are drawn.
Abstract
The statistical analysis identifies three major changes that have occurred in the period between 1985 and 1992. First, homicide rates by youths ages 18 and under have more than doubled, while there has been no growth in homicide rates by adults 24 years old and older. Second, the number of homicides juveniles commit with guns has more than doubled, while there has been no change in non-gun homicides. Third, the arrest rate for nonwhite juveniles on drug charges has more than doubled, while there has been no growth in the rate for white juveniles. One explanation for this array of changes involves a process that derives from the nature of illegal drug markets. They recruit juveniles and arm these recruits with the guns that are standard tools of the trade in drug markets, and then guns and mores on their use diffuse into the larger community. One policy response would involve aggressive actions to confiscate guns from juveniles carrying them on the street. The need is particularly salient in those communities where the homicide rates have increased dramatically, probably coincident with the location of drug markets. A reduction in the size of the illegal drug market could be pursued through a greater investment in treatment, through more effective prevention, or through finding other means of providing drugs to certified addicts. There continues to be a need to enlist in the legitimate activities of society the large numbers of people who currently see no role for themselves, and so resist efforts to become socialized into the larger society's norms. 13 figures