Introduction

 Myths & Realities

 n      Myth 1: Today’s Youth are more criminal than ever

·        Youth crime declined dramatically during the 1990s

·        the arrest rates for Index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson) went down by 15 percent for those under 18, but went up for those in their 30s by 36 percent and by 20 percent for those in their 40s.

·        Some criminologists predicted an “explosion” of “superpredators” in the 1990s – it never happened

 n      Myth 2: As the number of teenagers rise so does the crime rate

•              The proportion of teenagers in so-called “crime-prone years” has little to do with overall crime.  In fact, quite often just the opposite is true.          

•                 For example, homicides in Los Angeles in the late 1980s rose rapidly as the young male population decreased.

  n      Myth 3:  Youth of today are using more guns and committing more violent crime than ever.  

• During a ten-year period from 1993 to 2002, arrests rates for violent crime among juveniles went down by one-third, led by a drop of 69% for murder.  Arrests for possession of weapons dropped by more than 50 percent during this time

• Juveniles are far more likely to be killed by their own parents at home than killed by one of their peers at school by a ratio of 15 to 1

 n      Myth 4:  Teenagers are the biggest part of the drug problem.

 ·             Between 1995 and 1996, for instance, only 3.7 percent of all drug emergency cases in the nation’s hospitals were under 18, while this age group accounted to merely one percent of drug-related deaths (excluding alcohol and prescription drugs).

·        In contrast, the 26-34 age group accounted for almost 36 percent of drug emergency cases and 24 percent of drug-related deaths.  Fully two-thirds of drug-related deaths were among those between 35 and 44.

·        Despite the fact that adults use drugs at a higher rate than youths under 18, the arrest rates are much higher for kids

n      Myth 5:  Youths who commit murder and other serious crimes need to be treated as an adult.

·                    Every major study has found that certifying children as adults does more harm than good.  The overall “get tough” approach has backfired as a social policy.

·                    A closely related myth says that tougher laws will reduce juvenile crime.  This is not true.  One example of getting tough is curfew laws, periodically touted as a cure-all for juvenile crime. Enforcement of curfew laws has no impact on juvenile crime.

·                    This is because most juvenile crime is committed during hours not covered by curfew laws.                                                                

Exploding Youth Crime?