Chapter II

 The Extent of Delinquency (Measuring Delinquency) 

• This is the subject of chapter 2
• Here we consider some of the sources of data researchers and policy makers use
• We also consider some of the problems inherent in these sources
• A special section is devoted to child abuse and neglect
• Then we examine how much delinquency there is, including racial and gender differences

What is Crime? 

• Popular conceptions of crime are distortions of reality, like a “carnival mirror.”
• Ask most people to describe a typical crime and typical criminal and they will describe things like murder, assault, robbery, etc. and a lower class black male.
• Examine prime-time television to see this.  No Enron-type crimes ever portrayed, yet these are the worst crimes.
• There are many behaviors that exact a great deal of harm to millions of people but are not usually defined as crimes – such as a multitude of human rights violations both here and abroad.
• A topic rarely discussed is that of “state crime” – this involves harmful behavior committed by the US and other nations, causing the deaths of millions and serious property damage.
• Corporate and white collar crime costs Americans at least $1 trillion each year.
• This said, we do need to consider in some detail the more traditional crimes youth commit that end up in the juvenile justice system.
• Note the difficulties measuring “gangs” in chapter 2

FBI Crime Classifications: The Uniform Crime Reports 

• Each year the FBI publishes a report called Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which you can get on the Internet. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
• Crimes known to the police and Persons Arrested are the two major sections of this report.
• Two Major Crime Categories:

–        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.”

• It should be noted that many of these offenses are not specific crimes per se, but rather are categories of different kinds of crimes.
• The category of “other assaults” is important, since arrest rates for this offense have increased a great deal in recent years (mostly fights on school grounds and domestic disputes)

 Index Crimes Include

• Violent Crimes

–        Murder and non-negligent manslaughter

–        Robbery

–        Aggravated Assault

–        Forcible Rape

• Property Crime

–        Burglary

–        Larceny/theft

–        Motor Vehicle theft

–        Arson

Status Offenses 

• Acts applying only to those under a certain age, normally 18

• These are:

–        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 

• FBI Uniform Crime Report (already mentioned)
• Juvenile Court Statistics
• Self-reported Crime Data

–        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.

• victimization surveys

 The Importance of Alcohol & Drugs 

• When looking at arrest figures, notice how prominent a role drugs and alcohol play, both directly and indirectly, in most crimes
• Those directly related include drug-abuse violations, driving under the influence, drunkenness, and liquor law violations, Add disorderly conduct (which usually involves drinking and/or drug use), the percentage is even greater
• the connection between crime and drugs or alcohol may be even greater, for about one-half of all murders are drug or alcohol related and at least the same proportion of other crimes of violence have a similar relationship with drugs or alcohol
• There is really no way of knowing how many of these offenses are being committed – how many people in Las Vegas leave one of the hundreds of bars who are legally drunk on any given night?
• Likewise, how many people possess some illegal substance on any given night?

Visibility, class and race 

• Arrests for these offenses are more of a measure of police activity, and
• of the visibility of certain groups of people, than a measure of criminal behavior itself.
• The term visibility is important, as one criminologist noted many years ago:

–        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? 

• There is what many refer to as the “Dark Figure” of Crime, meaning crime that never gets reported and does not end up with an arrest

 Why so much hidden crime? 

• There are literally hundreds of acts that are prohibited by law.  Many of these acts lack precise definition, such as "disorderly conduct" and "disturbing the peace.”
• Many illegal acts are committed out of public view, such as possession and/or sale of illegal drugs. 

–        These and other so-called "victimless crimes" often do not involve a complaining victim.  

• In order to know the true extent of crime each individual would have to be monitored 24 hours a day which would be an admittedly horrible and unlikely state of affairs.
• Therefore, the only realistic sources of knowledge are crimes that come to the attention of local police or other authorities  and those admitted by perpetrators and/or victims to sources other than criminal justice practitioners (that is, those administering victimization surveys).

 Given this huge “dark figure” several alternatives have been created 

• Self-reported Crime Data

–        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.

• National Crime Victim Survey

–        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? 

• Monitoring the Future

–        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.

• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

–        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 

• Types of Child Abuse and Neglect

–        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 

• emotional trauma

–        results in low self-esteem, guilt, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, significant weight gain or loss, numerous illnesses, poor social relationships among others

• running away

–        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

• school problems

–        language deficiencies, learning problems, conflict with peers and teachers and the school itself (e.g., fights, vandalism, arson), poor academic performance and dropping out

• drug and alcohol abuse

–        often used to block the pain (especially for sexual abuse victims)

• sexual problems

–         promiscuity, prostitution and early pregnancy

• Violence and Abuse toward others

–        sometimes severe violence (e.g., children killing parents)

–        gender difference (boys turn it outward, while girls go inward)

 Juvenile Victims of Crime 

• Most of the perpetrators are adults

• Homicide is

–        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 common crime reported by victims is “simple assault.”  See Table 2.9
• Fighting is the true “all-American crime.”
• Note in Table 2.9 few racial differences
• The victim of today is the offender of tomorrow

–        Most chronic juvenile

• A comment on school violence:

–        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 

• Information is based upon longitudinal research, where a sample of youths is examined over a given period to explore the extensiveness of their involvement in delinquent behavior.
• A longitudinal approach also tells us what age a "career" actually begins.  In other words, we need to know information about the "onset, duration and termination" of delinquent careers.
• Factors Related to Delinquent “Careers” (Figure 2)

 OJJDP report (Denver, Rochester and Pittsburgh 

• Most juveniles who exhibit problem behaviors do so only during a single year and this is a pattern that holds true for all problem behaviors. 
• The next most common pattern this report notes is that it lasts for only two years
• These surveys also illustrate the fact that most acts kids commit are relatively minor delinquencies
•  My own study of 1,000 cases in Clark County in the late 1980s showed that only about 6% were “chronic delinquents”