Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1986-1995
Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet
Author: Anne L. Stahl
Published: April 1998 (#77)
Subject: case processing
3 pages
6,000 bytes

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Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1986-1995

by Anne L. Stahl

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Person Offenses up 98% From 1986

In 1995, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated 377,300 delinquency
cases in which the most serious charge was an offense against a person.
Person offenses include assault, robbery, rape, and homicide. The 1995
person offense caseload was 98% greater than in 1986. Person offense
cases accounted for 22% of all delinquency cases in 1995, compared with
16% in 1986. 

The number of person offense cases disposed by juvenile courts in 1995
was equivalent to 13.4 cases for every 1,000 juveniles in the United States
age 10 or over who were potentially under the jurisdiction of a juvenile
court in the State where the offense was committed. The person offense
case rate increased 82% between 1986 and 1995. The case rate for
property offenses, in contrast, increased 13% between 1986 and 1995,
while the drug offense case rate grew 102% and the rate for public order
offenses increased 36%. 

In 1995, homicide was the most serious charge in 2,800 cases. This was
less than 1% of all person offense cases handled by juvenile courts. The
vast majority of person offense cases involved charges of simple assault
(205,500) or aggravated assault (93,200). Together, these two offenses
accounted for 79% of all person offense cases processed in 1995. 

Juvenile courts handled 99% more cases involving offenses included in the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Crime Index in 1995 than in
1986. Four offenses make up the Index: homicide, forcible rape, robbery,
and aggravated assault. Homicide cases increased 87%, aggravated assault
cases grew 136%, robbery cases were up 53%, and cases of forcible rape
climbed 48%. 

Characteristics of Offenders

Compared with 1986, juveniles involved in person offense cases in 1995
were younger and slightly more likely to be female. In 1995, 64% of person
offense cases involved juveniles under age 16, compared with 59% in 1986.
Females were involved in 24% of person offense cases in 1995, compared
with 20% in 1986. More than half (59%) of person offense cases in 1995
involved white youth, 38% involved black youth, and 3% involved youth of
other races. 

Use of Detention

Nearly one-quarter (23%) of the person offense cases processed by juvenile
courts in 1995 involved the use of detention at some point between referral
and disposition. Approximately the same proportion of drug cases involved
detention (24%). In comparison, youth were detained in a smaller
proportion of property cases (15%).

Case Processing

Of the 377,300 person offense cases disposed by U.S. juvenile courts in
1995, 58% were handled formally (that is, a petition was filed requesting a
hearing). Of the individuals involved in petitioned cases, 2% were waived
to the criminal court system where they were subject to conviction as
criminals, 53% were formally adjudicated as delinquents in the juvenile
court, and 45% were petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent. 

In 31% of the 116,400 person offense cases that were formally adjudicated
by juvenile courts in 1995, the most severe disposition imposed by the
court was placement out of the home in a residential facility. Probation was
ordered in 53% of the cases, while 11% resulted in other sanctions,
including referral to an outside agency, fines, community service, and
restitution. Approximately 6% of formally adjudicated person offense cases
were released for various reasons with no sanctions imposed. 

In 1995, of the estimated 98,200 person offense cases formally petitioned
by the court but not adjudicated, most (63%) were dismissed. However, in
21% of these cases the juvenile agreed to informal probation and in 14% to
other dispositions. About 3% of nonadjudicated person offense cases
resulted in voluntary out-of-home placement.

More than half (52%) of the 158,100 person offense cases handled
informally (no petition was filed) by juvenile courts in 1995 were
dismissed. The remainder resulted in voluntary probation (31%) or other
dispositions (17%), while a small number (1%) resulted in out-of-home
placements. 

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For Further Information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming report, Juvenile Court
Statistics 1995. Copies will be available from the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse,
800-638-8736. OJJDP also supports distribution of a PC-compatible
software version of the data analyzed in Juvenile Court Statistics. For a
free copy of the software, Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, call the
National Juvenile Court Data Archive at the National Center for Juvenile
Justice, 412-227-6950. This software can also be downloaded from
OJJDP's home page: www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.

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Anne L. Stahl is the Manager of Data Collection for the National Juvenile
Court Data Archive, which is supported by an OJJDP grant.