Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:THE DEFINITION AND

EXTENT OF DELINQUENCY

Juvenile Justice: An Introduction, 7th ed.

Chapter 1

What You Need to Know• Delinquency can be defined in terms of criminal

laws just like for adults; status offenses, which are applied only to youths; or sociological/criminological definitions, which take on a specific meaning depending on the interests of the individual or group studying delinquency.

• Defining delinquency requires one to define who is a juvenile. Most states outline minimum and maximum ages as well as exceptions in which the youth can be handled as an adult.

Chapter 1

What You Need to Know (cont’d)

• Measures of delinquency include official records of the juvenile justice and criminal justice system and self-report surveys.

• According to the UCR, roughly 15 percent of all arrests are of youths under the age of 18, with one-quarter of all property arrests being of youths.

• Court and correctional statistics also provide insight into the extent of delinquency, although the magnitude of the problem appears much less due to the funneling effect of system involvement.

Chapter 1

What You Need to Know (cont’d)

Self-report measures reveal that virtually all youths offend, although this is true only when status offenses are included. Otherwise, the results are remarkably similar to official figures when serious crimes are considered.

Regardless of the measure used, the trend in delinquency has been one of large increases since the 1960s, with some leveling off and decreases since the late 1990s.

Chapter 1

Juvenile Justice Beginnings

Prior to the late 1800s

• Youths who broke the law are handled in the same system and in the same ways as adults.

• Youthful offenders are seen as simply young “criminals.”

Late 1800s

• Crime and misbehavior by youths are redefined as separate and distinct from adult offending.

• New mechanisms of social control are developed to address problem children.

• “Delinquency” is born.• Youthful offenders are seen as

“delinquents.”

Juvenile justice is a relatively recent invention

Chapter 1

Defining Delinquency

• A number of different meanings– Criminal Law Definition– Status Offense Definition– Social/Criminological Definitions

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencyCriminal Law Definitions

• Activity that is illegal regardless of the age of the offender.

• “Delinquency” is simply a substitute label for criminal behavior by a juvenile.

• Typically define a delinquent as someone who violates the criminal laws of the jurisdiction.

• Explicitly extend the criminal statutes to the juvenile population.

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencyCriminal Law Definition Example

• "Delinquent minor" means any minor who prior to his or her 18th birthday has violated or attempted to violate, regardless of where the act occurred, any federal, State, county or municipal law or ordinance.

705 ILCS 405/5-105

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencyStatus Offense Definition

• Behaviors are only illegal if they are committed by persons of a particular “status.”

• Juvenile status offenses are acts that are illegal only for juveniles.

• Common terms:– Status offender– Unruly– Dependent– Incorrigible– PINS (person in need of supervision) and CHINS (child in

need of supervision) • Ambiguous and vague.• Allow intervention in the life of almost any youth.

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencyStatus Offense Definition Example

BOX 1.2 A Status Offense Definition of Delinquency

Ohio Chapter 2151.022 defines an “unruly child” as:

(A) Any child who does not submit to the reasonable control of the child’s parents, teachers,

guardian, or custodian, by reason of being wayward or habitually disobedient;

(B) Any child who is an habitual truant from school and who previously has not been

adjudicated an unruly child for being an habitual truant;

(C) Any child who behaves in a manner as to injure or endanger the child’s own health or

morals or the health or morals of others;

(D) Any child who violates a law . . . that is applicable only to a child.

Source: Ohio Revised Code (2008). Section 2151.022. Available at: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencyStatus Offenses

– Truancy– Smoking– Drinking– Curfew violations– Disobeying the orders of parents, teachers, or other adults– Swearing– Running away– Other acts that are allowable for adults

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencySocial/Criminological Definitions

• The definition often takes on a specific meaning depending on the interests of the group or individual examining juvenile misconduct.

• It is possible to define delinquency in terms of who is officially recognized as such (e.g. Cloward and Ohlin, 1960).– This means that the police, court officials, corrections

officers, and others determine which actions are to be considered delinquent when they decide to take action.

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencySocial/Criminological Definitions

• Continuum of Behavior (Cavan and Ferdinand, 1981) – ranges from extreme delinquency on one end

to extreme “goodness” on the other

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencySocial/Criminological Definitions

Contraculture Underconformity Normal Over Conformity(Delinquent) Conformity

Contraculture(Extreme Goodness)

Chapter 1

Defining DelinquencySocial/Criminological Definitions

• Bell curve represents the proportional distribution of juveniles along the continuum.

• The largest group of youths would fall into the middle category of “normal” conformity.

• Left-hand portion of the curve represent youths who run the risk of being apprehended and labeled delinquent.

• Right side represents individuals who do not become involved in delinquency.

• Few juveniles appear in either of the “contraculture” categories of extreme delinquent or extreme goodness.

Chapter 1

Defining A Juvenile• Definition of a juvenile varies from jurisdiction to

jurisdiction.• Majority of states recognize juveniles as individuals

below the age of 18. • Some states set a lower age limit for who can be

treated by the juvenile justice process — typically range from 6 to 10.

• Many states allow juvenile system supervision and intervention past the maximum age limit — typically age 20.

• Waiver or transfer provisions may send a youth to adult court for adjudication.

Chapter 1

Defining A Juvenile

• Waiver is a process by which an individual who is legally a juvenile is sent to the adult criminal system for disposition and handling.

• Recent years have seen legislative changes allowing those as young as age 11 to be tried in the adult system.

Chapter 1

The Extent of Delinquency

• Definition of delinquency affects the measurement of delinquency.

• Various ways to measure delinquency.– Official Records– Self-report Surveys

• Each produces a different picture of delinquency.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency

• Based on the records of various justice system agencies.

• Reflects both the activity of juveniles and the activity of the agency.

• Degree of detail in the records varies by agency.

• Official agency data differ from one another.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

• Provides information on:– the number of offenses coming to the attention of the

police– the number of arrests police make– the number of referrals by the police to the juvenile court

• Collected annually by the FBI• Most widely known and cited method of collecting

information on crime • Began in 1931• 29 categories of offenses• Reflect only crimes known to the police.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports• Two offense subgroups:

1. Part I crimes or Index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson).

2. Part II crimes (all other offenses)

• For Part I offenses: collects information on the victim and offender (if known), circumstances of the offense, the use of a weapon, and the time and place of the offense.

• For Part II offenses, only information on offenses for which a suspect has been arrested are tabulated.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Age Distribution• More than 10.7 million arrests were reported to the FBI in

2009. • 1,515,586 or 14.1 percent of the total were of juveniles under

the age of 18.• For the violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated

assault), youths comprised 15 % of the total arrests (68,074 offenses).

• Youths were arrested for more than 330,000 property offenses (25% of all property offense arrests).

• Youths ages 10 to 17 make up less than 12 % of the population.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Sex Distribution• Juvenile females made up 30 % of all juvenile

arrests.• 30% of female arrests were for Part I offenses. • Roughly 25% of the male arrests were for Part 1

crimes. • Males are arrested more often for every Index

offense category and most Part II offenses. • Females are more often arrested only for

prostitution and running away.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Race Distribution• White youths make up 67% of all arrestees.• Black youths are overrepresented in murder, rape,

robbery, and aggravated assault. • Blacks comprise roughly 15 percent of the youthful

U.S. population.• Offending by black youths far surpasses their

population representation for all Part I offenses.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Trends in Delinquency• Arrests for both murder and rape remained relatively

stable, while robbery and aggravated assault arrests increased from 1986 to 1995, dropped until 2003, and have risen again in recent figures.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Trends in Delinquency• Data on property crimes show general declines since

1986, except for an increase in larceny arrests in 1995 and again since 2006.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

Trends in Delinquency• Juvenile arrest rates

– Steady increase throughout the 1960s and mid-1970s– Leveled off and showed some decline in the late-1970s and

1980s– Increased in the late 1980s and early 1990s

– Abated since the mid-1990s • Official juvenile offending is higher today than 40

years ago, although the recent trend has been toward lower arrest levels.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Uniform Crime Reports

A Critique of the UCR• Reflects only those offenses known to the police.• Unreported crimes are typically referred to as the dark figure

of crime. • Focuses on more serious offending.• Fails to consider the vast array of status offenses committed by

youths.• Voluntary and relies on the individual agencies to report their

data accurately.• Counts offenses and not offenders.• Lacks information on offenders in much of the data.

– less than 20 percent of all crimes are cleared by an arrest

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Juvenile Court Statistics

• Numbers of juveniles in these records is smaller than in police data.– Most juveniles reach the court through contact with the

police. – Few youth referred to court directly by families, schools, or

others.• More insight to status offending.• In 2007:

– Approximately 1,666,100 youths reached the juvenile court for delinquent offenses.

– Rate of 53 out of every 1,000 youths.– 150,700 youths reached the court for status offenses (a

rate of roughly 5 per 1,000 youths).

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Juvenile Court Statistics

• Most prevalent form of offending is property crimes, followed by public order offenses (e.g. disorderly conduct and liquor law violations) and personal offenses.

• Males dominate.• Dominated by white youths (78% of all petitions).

– Blacks overrepresented given their proportion in the population.

– Rate for white youths is 43.8 per 1,000.– Rate for black youths is two and a half times as high at

110.6.– Rate for Native American youths was 54.5. – Rate for Asian youths was 15.9.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Juvenile Corrections Statistics

• Numbers are smaller than the UCR and court figures.• Most youths come from the juvenile court .• Average 1-day count for 2007:

– Public facilities handled more than 60,000 youths.– Private institutions dealt with an additional 26,000.– Most offenders are male.– 41 % of all committed youths are black.– 34% of all committed youths are white. – 21% of all committed youths are Hispanic.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyOfficial Measures of Delinquency:

Juvenile Corrections Statistics

TABLE 1.3 Characteristics of Juveniles in Correctional Facilities: Average One-Day Count—2007

Characteristic Public Facility Private Facility

Number of Juveniles 60,737 26,190

Reason for Admission:

Person Offense 22,985 (38%) 8,174 (31%)

Property Offense 14,835 (24%) 6,247 (24%)

Drug Offense 4,166 (7%) 2,940 (11%)

Public Order Offense 7,645 (13%) 3,382 (13%)

Status Offense 1,003 (2%) 2,049 (9%)

Technical Violation 10,103 (17%) 3,038 (12%)

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencySelf-report Measures

• Ask individuals to tell of their participation in deviant activity.

• Measures both actions “known to the police” and those that are not known by official agents of social control.

• Possible to gather information on all offenders and not just those few who are arrested.

• Can ask a variety of questions designed to elicit information useful in understanding why an individual violates the law.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencySelf-report Measures

• Well-known early measures– Short-Nye– Dentler-Monroe– Dominated by minor property and status offenses

• Recent surveys– Monitoring the Future– National Youth Survey– Panel design- same set of individuals are interviewed

repeatedly over an extended number of years– Include many more serious offenses and elicit significantly

fewer positive responses

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencySelf-report Measures

Typical Items in Modern Self-report SurveysArgued or had fight with either of your parentsHit an instructor or supervisorGotten into a serious fight in school or at workTaken part in a fight where a group of your friends were against another groupHurt someone badly enough to need bandages or a doctorUsed a knife or gun of some other thing (like a club) to get something from a personTaken something not belonging to you worth under $50Taken something not belonging to you worth over $50Taken something from a store without paying for itTaken a car that didn’t belong to someone in your family without permission of the ownerTaken part of a car without permission of the ownerGone into some house or building when you weren’t supposed to be thereSet fire to someone’s property on purposeDamaged school property on purposeDamaged property at work on purposeBeen arrested and taken to a police station

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencySelf-report Measures

• The majority of subjects confine their activity to minor offenses.

• When major, serious offenses are included, there is a great decrease in the level of reported offending.

• Age distribution of offending generally mirrors that of official data.

• Most differences in offending by race are modest in size.

• Sex differences are similar to those found in official data.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencySelf-report Measures

• New Issues Emerging in Self-report Studies– Ability to identify new topics easier than in official data.– Sexting — the sending of sexually explicit texts, or nude or

partially nude images of minors, by minors.

• Problems– Typically one-shot studies.– No second sample with which to compare the results, and

no repeat measurements.– Studies of validity of the self-report data show that the

figures are fairly accurate.– Most self-report research has been carried out on youths

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyComparing the Measures

• All show that delinquency is a widespread problem.• Similar trends in the data over time.• Self-reports show more offending, especially in minor

acts and status offenses.• Official figures show a much larger number of

minority black offenders.• Males dominate in magnitude of offending.• Official figures show the sexes commit different types

of offenses; self-report figures do not.

Chapter 1

The Extent of DelinquencyWhich Measure is Best?

• No single method of measuring delinquency should be considered better.

• Usefulness of the measures depends on the question being asked.

• Official records– Useful for studying official processing and handling of youths.– Allows the inspection of changes over time.

• Self-report data– Measure delinquency based on the offender’s viewpoint.– Capable of addressing behaviors not resulting in arrests and official

processing.– Rich in data on minor crimes, the number of offenses an individual

commits, demographics on offenders, and why an individual acts in a certain way.