Juvenile homicide offenders: Why they were involved in serious crime

Abstract

The perpetration of murders by juveniles (individuals under age 18) has been a serious concern in the United States since the 1960s. As a result of four decisions by the United States Supreme Court during the 21st century, the likelihood that juvenile homicide offenders will be released back into society is substantially higher than it was in the year 2000. Given these changes in sentencing policies and practices, understanding why youths under 18 engage in homicidal behavior is more important than ever for two reasons: to prevent juveniles from killing in the first place and to determine whether their reasons for killing are related to post‐release outcome. This research is a part of a 35‐year follow‐up study of 59 boys, age 14 to 17, who were convicted of murder or attempted murder, and sentenced to adult prisons in a southeastern state. Twenty of these men discussed the reasons for their involvement in murder in person in a second interview conducted by the author 35 years after her first interview with them. These men's reasons for engaging in serious homicidal behavior reflected both psychological and sociological factors. Although the type of explanation for criminal involvement was not significantly related to post‐release outcome, some interesting patterns were discernible. The implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Violence Toward and by Youth: Part II: Recommendations for Violence Interventions in the School Setting

“…Parental relationships are the main source of support for young children (Yule et al, 2019). Therefore, providing children who do not have positive adult role models with positive influences may be beneficial to decrease negative behaviors (Heide, 2021). School personnel, including school nurses, can help fulfill this role.…”

Violence Toward and by Youth: Part I: Looking for the “Whys”

“…There is scant literature focused on why juveniles commit homicide. In a small study of teens involved in homicide, the two dominant themes included establishing an identity and coping with painful and angry emotions associated with family situations and trauma (Heide, 2021).…”

Juvenile Homicide Offenders: Factors in Desistance after Incarceration

“…In six of these studies, JHOs were released from juvenile correctional facilities [8,10,[27][28][29][30]. In the other seven studies, JHOs were released from adult prisons [9,[31][32][33][34][35][36]. Eleven of the studies were conducted with U.S. samples, and the remaining two studies were conducted in the Netherlands [10] and Canada [36].…”

“…In a subsequent study that focused on the JHOs' motivations for engaging in serious criminal behavior before incarceration, Heide [34] found that the psychological (e.g., search for identity) and sociological (e.g., subcultural values) factors identified by the men as influential in their decision to offend were evenly split for the 18 JHOs in the sample. The reasons for criminal involvement did not significantly differentiate between the JHOs who were reincarcerated and those who were not reincarcerated.…”