Juvenile Reports

Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report
Graphs from Chapter 6:
Juvenile Offenders in Court
Copyright 2006
National Center for Juvenile Justice
3700 S. Water Street, Suite 200
Pittsburgh, PA 15203-2363
Suggested Citation: Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund,

Melissa. 2006. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006
National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
More information is available online. The full report, report

chapters, and data files for the graphs can be downloaded
from http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/index.html
Additional statistics are available from OJJDP's Statistical

Briefing Book, located at:
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/index.html
Juvenile courts handled four times as many delinquency cases
in 2002 as in 1960
Delinquency cases, by offense category
Robbery cases peaked in 1995, near 40,000, then fell to levels
of the late 1980s
Aggravated assault cases peaked in 1995, at 84,400, then fell
off sharply
Simple assault cases climbed steadily through 1997, then
leveled off at around 270,000 in 2001 and 2002
Burglary caseloads were relatively flat until 1997—since then,
they have dropped to their lowest level since at least 1985
Larcenytheft cases peaked in 1995 at nearly 426,000 and have
also dropped to their lowest level since at least 1985
Within the public order category, weapons offense cases
peaked in 1994 at 51,100 and have dropped steadily since then
Juvenile court caseload trends are different for males and
females
Juvenile court caseload trend differences for males and
females vary by offense category
The female share of delinquency cases increased steadily from
1991 through 2002
The delinquency case rate rose from 1985 to 2002 for all races,
but the rate for blacks remained well above the rates for other
groups
Compared with 1985, 2002 person offense rates were higher for
all racial groups
Property case rates dropped for all races between 1985 and
2002—down 28% for whites, 17% for blacks, and 27% for youth
of other races
Case rates for drug offenses more than doubled from 1985 to
2002 for both white (118%) and black (128%) youth
Compared with 1985, 2002 public order offense rates were
higher for all racial groups—up 66% for whites, 125% for
blacks, and 52% for youth of other races
Delinquency case rates generally increase with age
Between 1985 and 2002, trends in case rates were generally
similar across age groups
The number of cases involving detention was higher in 2002
than in 1985 for all but property cases
Despite the growth in the volume of delinquency cases
involving detention, the proportion of cases detained was
about the same in 2002 as in 1985
Males accounted for most delinquency cases involving
detention
Males were consistently more likely than females to be
detained
White youth accounted for the largest number of delinquency
cases involving detention
Although they accounted for the largest number, white youth
were the least likely to be detained
Each year from 1985 through 2002, delinquency cases
involving youth age 16 or older were more likely to be detained
than were cases involving youth age 15 or younger
The number of petitioned delinquency cases increased 96%
between 1985 and the peak in 1997, then declined 8% by 2002
Between 1985 and 2002, the petitioned caseload increased for
each of the four general offense categories
The number of cases in which the youth was adjudicated
delinquent rose steadily from 1985 to 2002
Except for property cases, the offensespecific trends followed
the same pattern as delinquency cases in general
Trends in the number of adjudicated property offense cases
ordered to residential placement or probation were different
from trends for other offenses
Between 1985 and 2002, the number of cases in which the
youth was adjudicated delinquent and ordered to formal
probation increased for all offense categories
In 2002, the most severe sanction ordered in 85,000
adjudicated delinquency cases (14%) was something other
than residential placement or probation
Adjudicated cases receiving sanctions other than residential
placement or probation accounted for 53 out of 1,000
delinquency cases processed during the year
Person offense case processing, 2002
Person offense case processing for males, 2002
Person offense case processing for females, 2002
Person offense case processing whites, 2002
Person offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Person offense case processing for other races, 2002
Property offense case processing, 2002
Property offense case processing for males, 2002
Property offense case processing for females, 2002
Property offense case processing for whites, 2002
Property offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Property offense case processing for other races, 2002
Drug offense case processing, 2002
Drug offense case processing for males, 2002
Drug offense case processing for females, 2002
Drug offense case processing for whites, 2002
Drug offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Drug offense case processing for other races, 2002
Public order offense case processing, 2002
Public order offense case processing for males, 2002
Public order offense case processing for females, 2002
Public order offense case processing for whites, 2002
Public order offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Public order offense case processing for other races, 2002
The profile of waived cases has changed
Juvenile courts waived 46% fewer delinquency cases to
criminal court in 2002 than in 1994
For most of the period from 1993 through 2002, person
offenses outnumbered property offenses among waived cases
Between 1985 and 2002, person offense cases were the
most likely type of case to be waived to criminal court;
except 1989–1991, when drug offense cases were most likely
Both whites and blacks experienced sharp increases between
1985 and 1994—and substantial drops between 1994 and 2002
—in the number of person offense cases waived
For most of the period from 1985 to 2002, the likelihood of
waiver was greater for black youth than for white youth
regardless of offense category
The degree of racial disparity in the juvenile justice system
declined between 1992 and 2002, especially at two decision
points: arrest and waiver to criminal court
The volume of petitioned truancy, runaway, and
ungovernability cases peaks at age 15
Runaway case processing, 2002
Truancy case processing, 2002
Ungovernability case processing, 2002
Liquor law violation case processing, 2002

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Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report

Suggested Citation: Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund,

More information is available online. The full report, report

Additional statistics are available from OJJDP's Statistical

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