Juvenile Justice Bulletin -- October 2000 -- Offenders in Juvenile Court, 1997

Age, Sex, and Race of Delinquent Youth

Delinquency case rates rose substantially between 1988 and 1997 for most age groups
In 1997, juvenile courts handled 61.1 delinquency cases for every 1,000 juveniles in the U.S. population—i.e., youth subject to original juvenile court jurisdiction (see Note). The 1997 delinquency case rate was 30% greater than the 1988 rate.

Juveniles age 15 and older accounted for more than 6 in 10 delinquency cases in 1997
Juveniles age 15 and older made up 63% of the delinquency caseload in 1997, juveniles ages 13 and 14 were involved in 26% of delinquency cases, and juveniles age 12 and younger accounted for 10%. There was some variation in age profiles across offense. Juveniles age 12 and younger accounted for greater proportions of person (13%) and property (12%) cases than of drug (2%) or public order (6%) cases. These proportions were not substantially different from those in 1988.

Caseloads generally increased between 1988 and 1997 across the four major offense categories

Why did juvenile courts handle more 16- than 17-year-olds in 1997?
Although comparable numbers of 17- and 16-year-olds were arrested in 1997, the number of juvenile court cases involving 17-year-olds (282,400) was lower than the number involving 16-year-olds (414,100). The explanation partly lies in the fact that, in 13 States, 17-year-olds are excluded from original juvenile court jurisdiction (see Note). In these States, all 17-year-olds are legally adults who face prosecution in criminal rather than juvenile court. Thus, far fewer 17-year-olds than 16-year-olds are subject to original juvenile court jurisdiction in the United States.

Across all ages in 1997, property offense case rates were highest, but drug offense case rates had the greatest percentage of increase with age

Even after controlling for this, the case rates for 16-year-olds were still slightly greater than the rates for 17-year-olds. One reason may be State legislation that targets certain older juveniles for processing directly in criminal courts (via either statutory exclusion or concurrent jurisdiction provisions). In these situations, when a youth of juvenile age is arrested, the matter goes before a criminal court rather than before a juvenile court.

Males are involved in about 8 in 10 delinquency cases each year
Although they constitute only half of the juvenile population, males were involved in well over 70% of person, property, and public order offense cases and in 85% of drug law violation cases handled by the courts in 1997. The male proportions were somewhat higher in 1988.

Percentage of delinquency cases involving males 1988 and 1997

Compared with caseloads of males, female delinquency caseloads grew at a faster pace
The number of delinquency cases involving females rose 83% between 1988 and 1997, compared with 39% for males. The growth in cases involving females outpaced the growth in cases involving males for all offense categories.

Percent change in delinquency for males and females 1988-97

Case rates for females are much lower than those for males, but rate increases have been sharper for females

The offense profiles of caseloads of white juveniles differed from caseloads of black juveniles
Caseloads of black juveniles contained a greater proportion of person offenses than did caseloads of white juveniles and those of other races. Property offense cases accounted for the largest proportion of cases for all racial groups, although among black juveniles, property cases accounted for fewer than half of the cases processed in 1997. For all races, drug offense cases accounted for the smallest proportion of the 1997 caseload.

Most serious offense for 1997 and 1988, by race

Caseload offense profiles for 1997 differed from offense profiles for 1988 for all racial groups. Regardless of race, the proportion of cases involving person offenses was greater in 1997 than in 1988. Among black juveniles, person offenses increased by 3 percentage points. Among white juveniles, person offenses increased by 6 percentage points.

Black juveniles were involved in a disproportionate number of delinquency cases in 1997

Delinquency case rates were higher in 1997 than in 1988 for all racial groups

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Offenders in Juvenile Court, 1997	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • October 2000