Title: Trends in Juvenile Violence in European Countries.
Series: Research Preview
Author: Christian Pfeiffer
Published: May 1998
Subject: Juvenile violence, international statistics and issues
7 pages
22,000 bytes

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Trends in Juvenile Violence in European Countries

Based on a presentation by Christian Pfeiffer, Kriminologisches
Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen (Hanover, Germany)

At the request of the government of the Netherlands, researchers studied
trends in juvenile crime and violence in member states of the European
Union. The study was organized around two key issues:

o Patterns and changes in juvenile crime--in particular, such violent crimes
as robbery, assault, rape, and homicide--as recorded by law enforcement
bodies in several European Union countries. The researchers solicited data
and analyses from responsible agencies in each country.

o The state of knowledge and research about the causes of juvenile crime
and violence. The researchers conducted a literature review and solicited
unpublished material from international colleagues in criminology and
related fields.

Comparing the data on juvenile crime rates was challenging because most
of the countries used different ways to define "juvenile," define "violent
crimes," classify crimes, and measure crime rates. Therefore, the
researchers generally restricted themselves to comparing trends based on
police figures of arrests and convictions. Also, historical data were not
uniformly available for every European Union country. Thus, most of the
research emphasized crime trends from the early or mid-1980s to the mid-
1990s.

Juvenile crime rates increased across the European Union

In every country studied, the rate of juvenile violence rose sharply in the
mid-1980s or early 1990s. In some countries, the official figures increased
between 50 and 100 percent. In England and Wales (counted together) in
1986, for example, approximately 360 of every 100,000 youths ages 14-16
were "convicted or cautioned by the police" for violent crimes; in 1994,
that figure had climbed to approximately 580 per 100,000. In Germany the
growth rate was even higher. In 1984, the number of 14- to 18-year-olds
suspected of violent crime in the former West Germany was
approximately 300 per 100,000; by 1995, that figure had more than
doubled, to approximately 760 per 100,000. Rates in the former East
Germany were between 60 and 80 percent higher.

Nonviolent crimes committed by juveniles also increased significantly.
For example, property crimes committed by juveniles (ages 14-17) in Italy
more than doubled between 1986 and 1993 (from approximately 320 per
100,000 to approximately 650 per 100,000). 

In general, the victims of violent crimes committed by juveniles were
other juveniles, as evidenced by victimization trends in the European
Union countries surveyed. For example, in the Netherlands in 1995, young
people ages 15-17 were four times more likely than adults (25 and older)
to be the victims of assault. Juveniles in Germany were also more likely to
be the victims of violent crime than were members of other age groups.
The victimization rates from 1984 to 1995 for young children (birth to age
14) and adults (ages 21-60 and age 60 and older) were relatively stable for
each age group. However, the victimization rates for teenagers (ages 14-
18) and young adults (ages 18-21) climbed precipitously, from
approximately 300 per 100,000 in each age group in 1984 to
approximately 750 per 100,000 in 1995.

The research revealed significant gender differences for both victims and
offenders. While data were not available for every country, the numbers
indicated that young men were far more likely than young women to be
crime victims. Offense rates also rose far more sharply among young men
than among young women. 

In most countries the crime rate among adults either remained stable
across the years or increased moderately. In no country did the increase in
the adult crime rate parallel that for juveniles. Thus, the increase in violent
crime among juveniles cannot simply be seen as part of an overall trend in
crime rates.
Socioeconomic conditions linked with rates of juvenile crime

It has become axiomatic over the past 20 years that neighborhoods with
depressed socioeconomic conditions--particularly in urban areas--suffer
higher crime rates than neighborhoods with a healthy economy. Since
crime in general has been correlated with socioeconomic conditions, it is
no surprise that juvenile crime is also connected to these factors. In most
of the European Union countries surveyed, the rising juvenile crime rate
accompanied rising unemployment and poverty rates. 

In some countries--France and Germany, for example--the problem of
unemployment was exacerbated in the early 1990s by an influx of
immigrants from countries that had been under Communist rule. With the
fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, thousands of people crossed the borders
into Western European nations. The researchers found that those
immigrants who could not overcome language and culture barriers in order
to find employment were more likely to engage in criminal activity than
were those who found jobs and became integrated into society. 

Social integration and socioeconomic status are not the sole determinants
for an individual's involvement in violent crimes, however. German
officials recorded an increase in the use of alcohol and other drugs in the
last decade, and firearms became somewhat more available after the fall of
the Berlin Wall than they had been in the past. However, the researchers
attached greater significance to the findings from interviews with 100
young German men who were arrested for violent crimes. While many
came from low-income households, the most common thread in the their
life histories is that they came from families where violence was common:
They were beaten, their siblings were beaten, or one of their parents was
beaten. 

Directions for future research: Individual responses to violence

Recognizing that violence may breed further violence, the researchers are
undertaking an ambitious project in German jails. They are interviewing
500 to 700 young men who are being imprisoned for the first time.
Followup interviews will be conducted 1 week before they leave prison, 3
months after release, 1 year later, 2 years later, and so on. The researchers
hope to develop biographies of these individuals that will explore their
responses to prison and identify how they cope with the culture of
violence. 

In a separate effort, the researchers are conducting a victimization study of
11,000 young people (ages 15 and 16) in four large German cities, asking
whether the teenagers have ever been victimized and, if so, how they
responded to the attack. The researchers hope to amass a bank of data
describing where the attacks occurred, where the victims turned for help,
and what effect the attacks had on the victims. They will also attempt to
isolate any connections between victims and their attackers, identifying
possible relationships and reasons for the attack. This study should yield
information about the origins of juvenile violence and possible ways to
address the growing problems associated with such violence.

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This Research Preview is based on a presentation by Christian Pfeiffer,
Ph.D., the director of the Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut
Niedersachsen in Hanover, Germany. As part of NIJ's Research in
Progress Seminar Series, Dr. Pfeiffer discussed his study with an audience
of researchers and criminal justice professionals and practitioners. A 60-
minute VHS videotape, Trends in Juvenile Violence in European
Countries, is available for $19 ($24 in Canada and other countries). Use
the order form on the next page to obtain this videotape, NCJ 167029, and
any of the others available in NIJ's Research in Progress Seminar Series.

-------------------------------

The Latest Criminal Justice Videotape Series from NIJ:

Research in Progress Seminars

Learn about the latest developments in criminal justice research from
prominent criminal justice experts.

Each 60-minute tape presents a well-known scholar discussing his or her
current studies and how they relate to existing criminal justice research
and includes the lecturer's responses to audience questions.
In addition to Trends in Juvenile Violence in European Countries, reported
on in this Research Preview, the other tapes available in VHS format are:

NCJ 152235--Alfred Blumstein, Ph.D., Professor, Carnegie Mellon
University: Youth Violence, Guns, and Illicit Drug Markets.

NCJ 152236--Peter W. Greenwood, Ph.D., Director, Criminal Justice
Research Program, The RAND Corporation: Three Strikes, You're Out:
Benefits and Costs of California's New Mandatory-Sentencing Law.

NCJ 152237--Christian Pfeiffer, Ph.D., Director, Kriminologisches
Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen: Sentencing Policy and Crime Rates in
Reunified Germany.

NCJ 152238--Arthur L. Kellermann, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Center for
Injury Control, and Associate Professor, Emory University: Understanding
and Preventing Violence: A Public Health Perspective.

NCJ 152692--James Inciardi, Ph.D., Director, Drug and Alcohol Center,
University of Delaware: A Corrections-Based Continuum of Effective
Drug Abuse Treatment.

NCJ 153271--Marvin Wolfgang, Ph.D., Director, Legal Studies and
Criminology, University of Pennsylvania: Crime in a Birth Cohort: A
Replication in the People's Republic of China.

NCJ 153730--Lawrence W. Sherman, Ph.D., Professor, University of
Maryland: Reducing Gun Violence: Community Policing Against Gun
Crime.

NCJ 153272--Cathy Spatz Widom, Ph.D., Professor, State University of
New York-Albany: The Cycle of Violence Revisited Six Years Later.

NCJ 153273--Wesley Skogan, Ph.D., Professor, Northwestern University:
Community Policing in Chicago: Fact or Fiction?

NCJ 153850--Scott H. Decker, Ph.D., Professor, University of Missouri-
St. Louis, and Susan Pennell, San Diego Association of Governments:
Monitoring the Illegal Firearms Market.

NCJ 154277--Terrie Moffitt, Ph.D., Professor, University of Wisconsin:
Partner Violence Among Young Adults.

NCJ 156923--Orlando Rodriguez, Ph.D., Director, Hispanic Research
Center, Fordham University: The New Immigrant Hispanic Populations:
Implications for Crime and Delinquency in the Next Decade.

NCJ 156924--Robert Sampson, Ph.D., Professor, University of Chicago:
Communities and Crime: A Study in Chicago.

NCJ 156925--John Monahan, Ph.D., Professor, University of Virginia:
Mental Illness and Violent Crime.

NCJ 157643--Benjamin E. Saunders, Ph.D., and Dean G. Kilpatrick,
Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina: Prevalence and
Consequences of Child Victimization: Preliminary Results from the
National Survey of Adolescents.

NCJ 159739--Joel H. Garner, Ph.D., Research Director, Joint Centers for
Justice Studies: Use of Force By and Against the Police.

NCJ 159740--Kim English, Research Director, Colorado Division of
Criminal Justice: Managing Adult Sex Offenders in Community Settings:
A Containment Approach.

NCJ 160765--Michael Tonry, Ph.D., Professor, University of Minnesota:
Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration.

NCJ 160766--David M. Kennedy, Ph.D., Professor, Harvard University:
Juvenile Gun Violence and Gun Markets in Boston.

NCJ 161259--Robert Crutchfield, Ph.D., Professor, University of
Washington: Labor Markets, Employment, and Crime.

NCJ 161836--Geoff Alpert, Ph.D., Professor, University of South
Carolina: Police in Pursuit: Policy and Practice.

NCJ 163056--Dan Brookoff, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Director, Medical
Education, Memphis Methodist Hospital: Drug Use and Domestic
Violence.

NCJ 163057--Marcia Chaiken, Ph.D., Research Director of LINC,
Alexandria, VA: Youth Afterschool Programs and the Role of Law
Enforcement.

NCJ 163058--Eric Wish, Ph.D., Director, Center for Substance Abuse
Research, University of Maryland: Dependence and Drug Treatment
Needs Among Adult Arrestees.

NCJ 163059--Jeffrey Fagan, Ph.D., Professor, Columbia University:
Adolescent Violence: A View From the Street.

NCJ 163921--Patricia Tjaden, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Center for Policy
Research: The Crime of Stalking: How Big Is the Problem?

NCJ 164262--Andrew Golub, Ph.D., Principal Research Associate,
National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.: Crack's Decline:
Some Surprises Across U.S. Cities.

NCJ 164725--Ronald Huff, Ph.D., Professor, Ohio State University:
Criminal Behavior of Gang Members and At-Risk Youths.

NCJ 164726--James Austin, Ph.D., Executive Vice-President: National
Council on Crime & Delinquency: Sentencing Guidelines: A State
Perspective.

NCJ 165585--Garen Wintemute, M.D., Director, Violence Prevention
Research Program, University of California-Davis: Predicting Criminal
Behavior Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns.

NCJ 167027--Lorraine Green Mazerolle, Ph.D., 
Director, Center for Criminal Justice Research, University of Cincinnati:
Using Gunshot Detection Technology in High-Crime Areas.

NCJ 167028--Stephen Mastrofski, Ph.D.; Roger B. Parks, Ph.D.; Albert J.
Reiss, Jr., Ph.D.; Robert E. Worden, Ph.D.: Community Policing in
Action: Lessons From an Observational Study.

NCJ 167882--Dennis Kenney, Ph.D., Research Director, Police Executive
Research Forum: Crime in the Schools: A Problem-Solving Approach.

NCJ 168626--Pamela Lattimore, Ph.D.; Kevin Jack Riley, Ph.D., National
Institute of Justice: Homicide in Eight Cities: Trends, Contexts, and
Responses.

NCJ 169597--Adele Harrell, Ph.D.; Urban Institute: Drug Courts and the
Role of Graduated Sanctions.

To order any of these tapes, please write to the National Criminal Justice
Reference Service, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000, 
Call 800-851-3420, or e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org.

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Points of view in this document do not necessarily reflect the official
position of the U. S. Department of Justice. 

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