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Dispelling the Myth: An Analysis of Youth and Adult Crime Patterns in California over the Past 20 Years
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Dispelling the Myth: An Analysis of Youth and Adult Crime Patterns in California over the Past 20 Years
Publication year:
2000
| Cataloged on:
Oct. 31, 2006
ANNOTATION: The movement for the abandonment of a separate juvenile justice system rests upon the misguided belief that there is a growing criminality among today's youths. Analysis of crime rate data reveals that juvenile crime is less frequent and less serious than 20 years ago. Felony arrest rates for youth declined 40% while the felony arrest rate rose 30% for adults. "Of the 68,200 children arrested for an offense in 1978-80, 34.9% were for felonies. Of the 56,700 children arrested in 1996-98 in a much larger child population, 30.6% were for felonies (p.12)." Crime rates are not escalating as the youth population grows.