In 1998, law enforcement made approximately 2,100 juvenile arrests for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter. There was a 48-percent decline in juvenile arrests for murder between 1994 and 1998. After increasing substantially between 1987 and 1993, the juvenile arrest rate for murder declined each year through 1998. Aside from the preponderance of acquaintance-victims, males and females tended to kill different types of victims. Females were more likely than males to kill family members, whereas males were more likely than females to kill strangers.
Juveniles also are victims of homicide.
Between 1980 and 1994, murders of juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 increased 95 percent, resulting in an average of 7 juvenile homicides each day. Not all of these murders were perpetrated by other juveniles. However, nearly half of the victims murdered by juvenile offenders were between ages 15 and 24. In 1993, nearly 75 percent of the juvenile victims were male, and the rate of homicide for African American youth was six times greater than the rate for White youth. In fact, the highest murder rate was that of African American male victims killed by African American male perpetrators.