Chapter II
The Extent of Delinquency (Measuring Delinquency)
What is Crime?
FBI Crime Classifications: The Uniform Crime Reports
– Index Crimes (like the Dow Jones Index)
• There are 8 of these
– Part II Crimes
• There are 21 of these, with the largest category being “All other offenses.”
Index Crimes Include
– Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
– Robbery
– Aggravated Assault
– Forcible Rape
– Burglary
– Larceny/theft
– Motor Vehicle theft
– Arson
Status Offenses
– Running away
– Truancy
– Curfew law violations
– Liquor law violations (technically in most states these laws apply to those under 21)
– Incorrigible, unmanageable, beyond control, etc. which are often lumped together under a general heading, such as CHINS (Children in Need of Supervision) or PINS (Persons in Need of Supervision), etc.
Sources of Data on Delinquency
– Asks respondents to tell about their criminal activities.
– Measures the “dark figure of crime”.
– Reveals that crime is a very common activity.
– Demonstrates youth crime is spread throughout the social classes.
– Is probably a reliable measure of trends over a period of time.
The Importance of Alcohol & Drugs
Visibility, class and race
– the transgressions of lower-class persons are much more visible than are the transgressions of middle-class persons. Crowded living conditions create an environment in which most behavior, even that which occurs in one’s own home, is susceptible to screening by the neighbors and by law enforcement officials. Domestic disputes, drinking to excess and other quasi-illegal acts are much more likely to be seen in the lower classes than in the middle classes
• The “war on drugs” is particularly relevant here, as the drug enforcers are under constant pressure to make arrests and engage in very visible “drug busts” – they often make the headlines
• Incidentally, the most recent estimate of the illegal drug market worldwide ranges between $45 and $280 billion.
• I bring this up only to illustrate the fact that these so-called “drug busts” barely put a dent in this huge market.
How Much Delinquency and Crime?
Why so much hidden crime?
– These and other so-called "victimless crimes" often do not involve a complaining victim.
Given this huge “dark figure” several alternatives have been created
– Asks respondents to tell about their criminal activities.
– Measures the “dark figure of crime”.
– Reveals that crime is a very common activity.
– Demonstrates youth crime is spread throughout the social classes.
– Is probably a reliable measure of trends over a period of time.
– Data is gathered by the Bureau of Census and compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
– Sample includes 100,000 people in 50,000 households.
– Respondents are over the age of 12.
– Respondents queried every six months about household and personal victimizations.
What do self report studies tell us?
– This is an annual report from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research that surveys around 3,000 youths selected randomly.
– Most youths committed at least one delinquent act during the previous year, but few got caught.
– Representative sample of 9,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 16
– Results shown in Table 2.7
– Few racial differences found.
• While several criticisms have been made, several methods have been devised to combat these problems, so that such surveys are highly reliable.
• Perhaps the most important findings of these surveys is that they show few racial differences as far as illegal drug use is concerned
– Yet the racial differences in arrests rates are huge, with black youth at least 5 times more likely to be arrested
Children as Victims
– Physical abuse - these are acts that caused or could have caused physical injury;
– Sexual abuse - includes sexual activities that could provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator (e.g., prostitution, pornography, etc.);
– Emotional abuse - verbal or emotional assault or omissions that caused or could have caused conduct, cognitive, affective, or other mental disorders;
– Physical neglect - abandonment, expulsion from home, failure to seek medical care, inadequate supervision, inadequate food, clothing, shelter, etc.
– Emotional neglect - inadequate nurturance or affection, permitting deviant behavior and other developmental or emotional needs;
– Educational neglect - permitting chronic truancy or other ignoring other educational needs.
Long-term effects of Child Abuse
– results in low self-esteem, guilt, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, significant weight gain or loss, numerous illnesses, poor social relationships among others
– two words - running and away - and the important word is “away” for they are not so much running to somewhere, but running away from what is often an unbearable situation
– language deficiencies, learning problems, conflict with peers and teachers and the school itself (e.g., fights, vandalism, arson), poor academic performance and dropping out
– often used to block the pain (especially for sexual abuse victims)
– promiscuity, prostitution and early pregnancy
– sometimes severe violence (e.g., children killing parents)
– gender difference (boys turn it outward, while girls go inward)
Juvenile Victims of Crime
– fourth leading cause of death among children between 1 and 4
– third leading cause of death for those between the ages of 5 and 14
– the second leading cause of death for those between 15 and 24.
– the leading cause of death among black teenagers
• Black youth are far more likely to be homicide victims than whites (about a 5 to 1 ratio).
• Recent study found that among the 3,000 counties in the country, one-fourth of the juvenile homicides occurred in the five counties surrounding Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, Philadelphia and Chicago (representing only 9% of the population)
• Guns
– United States has a rate of firearm homicides for children (ages 0-14) was 16 times greater than the combined rates of 15 other countries
The National Crime Victimization Survey
– Most chronic juvenile
– Journal of the American Medical Association study found that during the school years 1992-1993 and 1993-1994, a total of 63 students were reportedly murdered in school.
– During the calendar years 1992 and 1993, a total of 7,294 youngsters between 5 and 19 were murdered away from school
Delinquent Careers
OJJDP report (Denver, Rochester and Pittsburgh