Prevalence and Development of Child Delinquency.

Abstract

The number of child delinquents entering the juvenile justice system is increasing, as evidenced by rising arrest rates and court caseloads. Compared with adolescents who become involved in delinquency in their teens, child delinquents between the ages of 7 and 12 have a two-to threefold greater risk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic offenders. Child delinquents consume a disproportionately large amount of the resources of schools, the juvenile justice system, and child welfare and mental health agencies. To better determine the prevalence of child delinquency, information about the types of delinquent acts committed, and how the juvenile justice system deals with child delinquency, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Study Group on Very Young Offenders (the Study Group) focused on two sources of data. The Study Group looked at a wide range of official reports, from juvenile arrest data to how the courts specifically handle child delinquency cases. It also studied selfreport data gathered from children and young adolescents to enhance the information obtained from official records and shed more light on what is believed to be a substantial number of offenses committed by child delinquents that never come to the attention of the police or the courts. The information presented in this Bulletin provides a basis for bringing some of the issues into focus. The longterm goal is to use this information to foster effective interventions that target very young children before they accumulate multiple offenses and develop a pattern of chronic offending.

When Systems Collide: Improving Court Practices and Programs in Dual Jurisdiction Cases

“…Programs targeting very young offenders. Compared with juveniles whose delinquent activity starts during the teenage years, child delinquents (young-er than age 13) face a greater risk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders (Snyder, Espiritu, Huizinga, Loeber, & Petechuk, 2003). Many of these children are involved in multiple systems and have histories of abuse and/or neglect.…”

Domain Specificity in Adolescents’ Concepts of Laws: Associations Among Beliefs and Behavior

“…Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by increased abstract reasoning abilities and more sophisticated social understanding (Smetana & Villalobos, 2009). During adolescence, youth also engage in higher levels of delinquency, have more frequent contact with law officers, and experience greater exposure to legal systems (Moffitt, 1993;Snyder, Espiritu, Huizinga, Loeber, & Petechuck, 2000). This coalescence of emerging and transforming social-cognitive reasoning and increased interactions with legal structures may prompt the formation of more nuanced beliefs about laws and government.…”

‘And what about residential…?’ Re‐conceptualizing residential treatment as a stop‐gap service for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders

“…In the past 20 years, admissions to RTCs specializing in treating youths with EBD have approximately doubled (Manderscheid & Sonnenshein, 1994;Tuma, 1989;Yelton, 1993), with the most recent report showing a 1998 year-end total of 30 370 youths across 462 RTCs nationally (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2000). Several factors have contributed to this influx, including: (i) an increasing prevalence of youths with EBD (Epstein et al, 1993;Walker, Colvin, & Ramsey, 1995); (ii) national and regional thrusts for de-institutionalization, which, in addition to promoting community-based treatment, have shifted children from psychiatric in-patient facilities to less restrictive residential facilities (Spreat & Jampol, 1997); and (iii) the increasing numbers of Juvenile Justice referrals, especially of very young offenders (Snyder, Espiritu, Huizinga, Loeber, & Petechuk, 2003).…”