Juvenile Crime Statistics

Juvenile Crime Statistics

Throughout history juveniles have been treated differently than adults when dealing with criminal behavior. Society recognized that those who have not reached a full maturity level need to be treated differently than adults when dealing with crimes that have been committed.

In the last decade it would appear that the juvenile crime rate has dropped. When thinking of juveniles and writing crime reports about juveniles, the term often refers to a person under the age of eighteen. Depending on the juvenile’s age and the brutality of the crime, the juvenile case may be heard in adult court (Charles Puzzanchera, 2009). It has been said that juveniles are getting more violent and therefore a large portion of crimes involving a person under the age of eighteen could be moved to adult court and have to face trial there. As time goes on, a juvenile in adult court is becoming more common than in was ten years ago. When juveniles are moved to adult court, it can appear that the crime statistics for juveniles is going down; often times this is not the case (Charles Puzzanchera, 2009).

Juveniles often experiment with using drugs; this trend has gone on for many generations. The world of drugs is changing in many ways and some feel the war on drugs is making a difference, while others feel the younger generations have just found more creative ways to get around the drug laws. New ways to get high are showing up all the time, and that means new opportunities to make money selling these new drugs are also increasing. In some ways it may appear that drug crimes are dropping with juveniles because there is a large variety of ways juveniles are getting a high with the methods that are not yet illegal. As with any age of innovation, the law has a difficult time keeping up. In the meantime, many juveniles are in a situation where selling drugs is the only opportunity to make money in order to survive.

When reviewing juvenile crime statistics, the number of females and members of ethnic groups seems higher than any other group (Charles Puzzanchera, 2009). The number of female criminals is rising due to females becoming more bold and outspoken as a society. Females are no longer standing back while