U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFF ICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

BJA NI J OJJDP BJS OVC

Shay Bilchik, Administrator April 1998 #77

Person Offenses in Juvenile Court,

1986–1995

by Anne L. Stahl

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.

Delinquency Cases Handled by U.S. Juvenile Courts,

1986–1995

Percent Change

Cases Disposed 1986 1991 1995 1986–95 1991–95

Person 190,300 277,500 377,300 98% 36%

Property 710,000 846,800 871,700 23 3

Drugs 72,400 65,100 159,100 120 144

Public order 207,300 223,900 306,300 48 37

Total delinquency 1,180,000 1,413,300 1,714,400 45 21

Case Rate

Person 7.3 10.6 13.4 82% 26%

Property 27.4 32.5 30.9 13 –5

Drugs 2.8 2.5 5.6 102 126

Public order 8.0 8.6 10.8 36 26

Total delinquency 45.5 54.2 60.7 33 12

Note: Percentages are calculated using unrounded numbers.

Delinquency Cases Involving FBI Violent Index Offenses,

1986–1995

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Aggravated Assault

Robbery

Rape

Homicide

Cases disposed
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

y Prevention Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquenc

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

BULK RATE

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

DOJ/OJJDP

Permit No. G–91

FS–9877 Fact Sheet

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

Characteristics of Person Offense Cases, 1986–1995

1986 1991 1995

Gender

Male 80% 80% 76%

Female 20 20 24

Age at Time of Referral

Under 16 years 59% 62% 64%

16 or older 41 38 36

Race/Ethnicity

White 58% 56% 59%

Black 40 41 38

Other 2 3 3

Predisposition Detention

Detained 25% 25% 23%

Not detained 75 75 77

Manner of Handling

Formal 55% 55% 58%

Informal 45 45 42

Outcome of Formal Handling

Adjudicated 58% 54% 53%

Not adjudicated 40 44 45

Waived 2 2 2

Disposition of Adjudicated Cases

Placed out of the home 33% 34% 31%

Probation or supervision 55 54 53

Other (fines, restitution, etc.) 7 8 11

Dismissed or released 5 4 6

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.

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.

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.

Anne L. Stahl is the Manager of Data Collection for the National

Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is supported by an OJJDP grant.

FS–9877