Juvenile Crime

JUVENILES HAVE BEEN OVERREPREsented

in virtually all major types

of traditional crime, including violent

and property offenses (Blumstein,

1995; Siegel, 1995; Weis, Crutchfield,

& Bridges, 1996; Winfree & Abadinsky,

1996). Although juveniles under the

age of 18 constituted about 8% of the

U.S. population in the 1990s, they accounted

for approximately one third of

the arrests for Uniform Crime Report

Index offenses (Adler, Mueller, &

Laufer, 1995). Of particular concern to

both social scientists and law enforcement

officials was the dramatic increase

from the mid-1980s to the 1990s in the

number of violent crimes committed by

juveniles. For example, while rates for

this type of crime for persons over 24

remained stable from 1985 to 1992, the

rate for 16-year-olds increased by 138%

(Blumstein, 1995). Analysts of this disturbing

trend are unsure of its root causes

but have hypothesized concerning the

influence of such factors as growing

percentages of dysfunctional childrearing

environments and/or declining economic

opportunities for young people.

A substantial number of children

engage in delinquency. Antisocial and/

or aggressive behaviors may begin as

early as preschool or in the first few

grades of elementary school (Dodge,

Pettit, & Bates, 1994). Such childhood

misconduct tends to be resistant to

change and often predicts continuing

problems during adolescence, as well as

adult criminality.

To explain the onset of juvenile deviance,

criminologists have developed

a number of theories, including