CHAPTER 2 Defining Measuring Offenses by and Against Juveniles 1 Legal Definitions A Age Ambiguity Legal definitions with ambiguity in respect to age Questions What is the lower age limit to be considered delinquent At what age are children entitled to protection of juvenile Custom established lower limit at roughly 7 some states court higher lower 16 states have statutes that set minimum age of juvenile court delinquency jurisdiction In other states minimum not specified but governed by case common law 1 state has minimum at 6 years old 3 states minimum at 7 years old 1 states minimum at 8 years old 11 states minimum at 10 years old Age for children to have court protection changed with emergence of crack cocaine methamphetamines Illinois statutes Infant whose blood urine or meconium contains among of controlled substance is defined as neglected Upper limit on age 3 states maximum 15 years old 10 states maximum 16 years old 37 states and DC maximum at 17 years old may be higher limit on juveniles who were abused neglected dependent or in need of intervention Illinoi changed max age limit depending on if offense by juvenile would be felony 17 or misdemeanor 18 Frequently extends to age 21 Illinois Juvenile Court Act Established no lower age limit 17th birthday as upper limit limit at 18th for misdemeanors Possible to transfer juveniles over age 15 to adult court for certain violent offenses 18th as upper age limit for findings of abuse dependency neglect and minors requiring intervention Minors under 21 years old Adults above 21 years old Ex 19 year old still a minor but cannot be found delinquent dependent neglected abused or in need of intervention B Inaccurate Images of Offenders and Victims Legal definitions may lead to highly unrealistic picture of nature extent of delinquency abuse neglect and dependency Concentrate on only small portion of those actually involved as offenders and victims Dark figure of delinquent activity where a substantial amount of illegal behavior committed by youth is not detected Most juvenile offenders victims never come to attention of juvenile court legal definition of little value if interested in actual size of offender victim population Ex females less likely to be arrested but may be involved in just as much criminal activity Ex cops may search male gang members but not female this leads them to later allowing the females to hold the incriminating evidence because they won t be searched Ex Blacks over represented in official statistics because live Ex 2011 rates of juvenile arrests 65 7 whites 32 black in high crime areas 2 3 other C Ambiguity of Definitions of Abuse and Neglect Behavioral definitions difficulty Striking child on butt with open hand count as abuse What does beyond control of parents mean What is incorrigible All up to interpretation of parents practitioners Broader the interpretation greater number of juveniles offenders victims Focus on juveniles who offend or are victimized even if not officially adjudicated Relying on legal definitions would lead to overestimating lower social class children involved in delinquency abuse Broader perspective leads to more realistic programs 2 Behavioral Definitions 3 Official Statistics Sources and Problems A Official Delinquency Statistics Crime and violence by juveniles has declined over past decade Data indicates 11 1 decline in juvenile arrests from 2010 2011 8 6 decrease for violent offenses Similar trends across most offense categories for male female and white minority Children at greater risk of being victims of violent crime than perpetrators of violence Estimations Every 40 seconds a child is abused neglected 2007 794 000 children victims of abuse neglect 3 2 million children subjects of abuse neglect investigations 60 child victims suffered from neglect most common maltreatment 22 1 000 children under 1 were victims of abuse neglect only less than 60 receive services after initial investigation 2007 1 760 children died from abuse neglect 5 kids day More research For every 100 000 non Hispanic black juveniles 606 were in residential placement facility Hispanics 229 and non Hispanic whites 128 In all but 8 states custody rate for black juvenile offenders exceeded rate for all race groups Ratio of custody rate for minorities other than white was 2 8 to 1 Uniform Crime Reports UCR UCR Inaccuracies Reasons Published annually by the FBI Information on arrests of persons under 18 since 1964 Since 1974 have included police dispositions of offenders as well as urban suburban and rural arrest rates 2011 covered roughly 98 of total national population least from rural Based on reports from law enforcement agencies through the nation errors may be made between agencies Disproportionate number of serious juvenile offenses 85 of encounters may not become part of official stats Useful for finding specific serious offenses in given time period in specific locations Actual extent distribution of delinquency Not so much Many juveniles who commit crime never formally enter system Myers Puzzanchera 654 juvenile suspects involved in police encounters 84 or 13 actually arrested Factors that affect size of arrest rates Nonresidents being arrested Attitudes of citizens towards crime Policies of jurisdiction s law enforcement agencies Policies of other components of justice system National Incident Based Reporting System NIBRS B Official Statistics on Abuse and Neglect 15 states submit to NIBRS 32 state UCR programs are certified for NIBRS Developed to collect information on each crime occurrence Reports offenses known to the police not those cleared by arrest Victim survey research shows evidence that these stats still include fewer than 50 of offenses actually committed 52 of violent crime victimizations were not reported to police Criminal justice agencies allowed to customize NIBRS to meet agency stats needs and still meet requirements of UCR Terrorism whitecollar crime missing children hate crimes juvenile gang crimes parental kidnapping child adult porn DUI alcohol related offenses now included National Center for Juvenile Justice Collects publishes info on number of delinquent neglect and dependency cases processed by juvenile courts nationwide Office of Juvenile justice and Delinquency Prevention OJJDP Maintains publishes stats on juveniles Often out of date by time it is published though Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death serious