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tazzygirl -> RE: Raising children? (4/19/2010 7:38:02 PM)
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Ah so now we need sources. Ok.
In 1996, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated 2.9 million arrests of persons under age 18.* According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), juveniles accounted for 19% of all arrests and 19% of all violent crime arrests in 1996. The substantial growth in juvenile violent crime arrests that began in the late 1980's peaked in 1994. In 1996, for the second year in a row, the total number of juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses -- murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault -- declined. Even with these declines (3% in 1995 and 6% in 1996), the number of juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests in 1996 was 60% above the 1987 level. In comparison, the number of adult arrests for a Violent Crime Index offense in 1996 was 24% greater than in 1987.
These findings are derived from data reported annually by local law enforcement agencies across the country to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Based on these data, the FBI prepares its annual Crime in the United States report, which summarizes crimes known to the police and arrests made during the reporting calendar year. This information is used to characterize the extent and nature of juvenile crime that comes to the attention of the justice system. Other recent findings from the UCR Program are:
Juveniles were involved in 37% of all burglary arrests, 32% of robbery arrests, 24% of weapon arrests, and 15% of murder and aggravated assault arrests in 1996.
About 1 in every 220 persons ages 10 through 17 in the United States was arrested for a Violent Crime Index offense in 1996.
Juvenile murder arrests declined 3% between 1993 and 1994, 14% between 1994 and 1995, and another 14% between 1995 and 1996. Juvenile arrests for murder in 1996 were at their lowest level in the 1990's, but still 50% above the number of arrests in 1987.
Between 1992 and 1996, juvenile arrests for burglary declined 7% and juvenile arrests for motor vehicle theft declined 20%.
Juveniles were involved in 14% of all drug arrests in 1996. Between 1992 and 1996, juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations increased 120%.
Juvenile arrests for curfew violations increased 21% between 1995 and 1996 and 116% between 1992 and 1996. In 1996, 28% of curfew arrests involved juveniles under age 15 and 29% involved females.
In 1996, 57% of arrests for running away from home involved females and 41% involved juveniles under age 15.
Arrests of juveniles accounted for 13% of all violent crimes cleared by arrest in 1996 -- more specifically, 8% of murders, 12% of forcible rapes, 18% of robberies, and 12% of aggravated assaults.
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/jjbulletin/jjbul_1197/jjb1197.html
The March 25, 1996, edition of U.S. News and World Report documents the escalating problem of juvenile crime and describes this issue as a potential "time bomb" for the 21st Century. The issue's articles enumerate a dramatic and exorbitant rate of growth in the level of juvenile violent crime over the course of the prior decade. Nationally, juvenile murder arrests have increased 150 percent since 1985, aggravated assault arrests have grown 97 percent, robbery arrests have expanded 57 percent, and arrests for weapon violations grew 103 percent. Reported drug use among high school seniors began to rise again during the early 1990's.
The authors noted that these increasing trends foreshadow an even greater explosion of juvenile crime which has been projected to hit the nation during the first decade of the 21st Century. Igniting this projected increase is a predicted rise in the sheer number of juveniles with demographers estimating a 31 percent increase in the juvenile population by 2010.
http://www.gcc.state.nc.us/juviol.htm
Official records underrepresent juvenile delinquent behavior. Many crimes by juveniles are never reported to authorities. Many juveniles who commit offenses are never arrested or are not arrested for all of their delinquencies. As a result, official records systematically underestimate the scope of juvenile crime. In addition, to the extent that other factors may influence the types of crimes or offenders that enter the justice system, official records may distort the attributes of juvenile crime.
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/chapter3.pdf
Girls have accounted for an increasingly higher proportion of juvenile
arrests, particularly for property crimes and in the “all other offenses”
category. In 2006, females accounted for approximately 29 percent of
the total juvenile arrests, a slight decrease from the percentage of total
arrests (approximately 30%) in 2004 and 2005. The percentage of total
juvenile arrests committed by females has remained constant at 29 to 30%
of total arrests over the past fi ve years. From 1997 to 2006, the percentage
increased by 11 percent for girls, while in comparison the percentage
of total arrests committed by males has decreased by approximately 4
percent from 1997 to 2006.
During 2006 females accounted for approximately:
• 29 percent of all juvenile arrests (a slight decrease from 2005).
• 29 percent of all juvenile arrests for drug and alcohol offenses (no
change from 2005).
• 32 percent of all juvenile arrests for property offenses (a slight decrease
from 2004).
• 17 percent of all juvenile arrests for violent offenses (no change from
2005).
•29 percent of all juvenile arrests for all other offenses (no change
from 2005).
Girls accounted for approximately 31 percent of the juvenile arrests for
property crimes in 2006, while the percentage of total arrests of females
for property crimes decreased by 3 percent from 2005 to 2006. Girls represented
41 percent of all juvenile arrests for larceny (theft) in 2006.
Girls accounted for approximately 27 percent of the total juvenile arrests
for drug and alcohol offenses, a decrease from 2005. The percentage
of total arrests for “all other offenses” committed by females increased
slightly (by 2 percent) from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, girls represented approximately
37 percent of the arrests for “other assaults”; 41 percent of the
juvenile arrests for larceny-theft; 35 percent of the total juvenile arrests for
forgery and counterfeiting; approximately 42 percent of all juvenile arrests
for fraud and embezzlement; 92 percent of the total juvenile arrests for
prostitution and commercial vice; and 32 percent of the juvenile arrests
for liquor law violations.
Thus, while the total number of juvenile arrests for committing crimes has
decreased substantially over the past ten years (from 51,940 arrests in
1997 to 34,432 in 2006—a 34 percent decrease), the female juvenile arrest
trend differs from the male trend (the number of juvenile arrests for boys
decreased by 36 percent from 1997 to 2006, compared to only a 26 percent
decrease for girls). This is consistent with the national trend in the rise
in the proportion of females entering the juvenile justice system—“in 1980,
20 percent of all juvenile arrests were female arrests; in 2003, this percentage
had increased to 29 percent--with the majority of this growth since
the early 1990s” (Source: Snyder, Sickmund, “Juvenile Offenders and
Victims: 2006 National Report,” OJJDP, OJP, March 2006.)
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/gjjac/DataAnalysis-11-Arrests.pdf
Official data from law enforcement sources suggest that girls comprise between 8 and 11 percent
of the youth in gangs. A number of recent studies that survey gang youth, however, suggest that females
make up 20 to 46 percent of gang members (Miller, 2001). Law enforcement data tend to underestimate
the extent of female gang membership for a variety of reasons, including a lack of common definition of a
gang member and the consistent underreporting of female participation in gangs. The high number of
female gang members recorded in self-report surveys may reflect the younger ages of survey
respondents compared to the youth who appear on police rosters: females tend to drop out of gang life
earlier than males, often because of pregnancy (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001). Although the percentage
of girls who are involved in delinquency and crime have increased significantly in the past two decades, it
is still far below the level of boys’ involvement and the nature of the activity differs significantly (Weiler,
1999).
The reasons for any juvenile joining a gang are complex and personal. Though most females join
gangs for friendship and self-affirmation, recent research has begun to shed some light on economic and
family pressures motivating many young women to join gangs (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001). Many of the
impulses that propel youth into gangs are social and understandable – the need for safety, security, and a
sense of purpose and belonging. It is the behaviors of the youth in the gang that are viewed by the larger
community as disruptive and harmful to the gang members themselves as well as to the community.
Ironically, the sense of solidarity achieved from sharing everyday life with similarly situated people has the
unintended effect of drawing many youth into behaviors that ultimately create new problems for them (Joe
and Chesney-Lind, 1995). The reasons most frequently cited in the literature for joining a gang include
abuse and family problems at home, poverty, boredom, and family or community connection to gang
members. Independently, these reasons do not necessarily lead to gang membership. It is the
combination of the four reasons that lead to an increased probability of gang membership.
Problems at home or within the family are one reason that youth join gangs. One aspect of
female gang life does not appear to be changing – the gang serves as a refuge for girls who have been
abused at home. For many, the gang serves as an alternate family. Problems such as weak supervision,
family violence, lack of attachment to parents, and drug and alcohol abuse by family members have been
suggested as factors that contribute to the likelihood that girls will join gangs. Young women begin
spending more time away from home as a result of the dangers and difficulties there, and seek to meet
their social and emotional needs elsewhere (Miller, 2001). In some families, parents are working several
jobs to make ends meet. Unfortunately, while parents are struggling to stay afloat, supervision is absent
at home. Older gang members take on the role of father and mother in many young kids’ lives. To some,
the gang becomes a closer family than their biological family because the gang is there every day, unlike their parents (Joe and Chesney-Lind, 1995).
http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/gangs/murrish_girlsgangs.pdf
The statistics show the article, and Dr Michele Borba is quite on track.
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