CHAPTER TWO

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CHAPTER TWO

• JUVENILE CRIME, CRIMINALS VICTIMS

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Difficulties in Measuring Juvenile Crime

• Separating juvenile crime problematic
• Separate system
• Confidentiality and sealing
• More places to divert

3
Methods of Getting Statistics

• Official records
• Victimization surveys
• Self-report surveys

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Official Reports

• Sources
• Uniform Crime Reports (FBI)
• Juvenile Court Statistics (OJJDP)
• Juvenile Correction Statistics
• Problems
• Not all crimes reported
• Underestimates juvenile crime because handled
  informally
• Juvenile victims less likely to report crime

5
National Crime Victimization Survey

• 66,000 households
• 101,000 individuals
• Strengthmore realistic picture of crimes
  committed
• Weaknesses
• Juveniles have no input
• Age of offender not known

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Self-Report

• Targets juveniles
• Strengths
• Committing more offenses than caught for
• Discover reasons
• Can determine trends
• Weaknesses
• Exaggeration/lying
• Whos left out?

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Self-Reported Delinquent Activity2000
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Juvenile Victimization

• 8587 of juveniles are victims of violent
  offenses or theft
• 2X as likely as adults to be victim of serious
  violent crime
• Most violent crime by juveniles is against
  juveniles
• gt 70 of victims of sex offenses are juveniles

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Risk and Protective Factors

• Causal factorone that causes delinquency
• Risk factorvariable that correlates with a youth
  becoming delinquent
• Protective factorvariable that correlates with a
  youth not committing delinquent acts
• At-risk youthone who is in danger of becoming a
  delinquent

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Categories of Risk/Protective Factors

• Biology and genetics
• Family
• Personality
• Social environment
• Ecological environment
• Educational environment

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Biological and Genetic

• Risk factors
• Male
• 2nd or later born
• Low IQ

• Protective factors
• Female
• 1st born
• High IQ

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Arrests of Juveniles from 1990-1999
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Family

• Risk factors
• Parents with drug/alcohol problem
• Large family
• Parents arrested
• Child abuse
• Low parental involvement

• Protective factors
• Presence of father
• Smaller family
• Parental guidance and discipline
• Family members in college
• High parental involvement

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Impact of Family

• Crimes runs in the family
• Marital happiness
• Single parent homes
• Latchkey kids
• Police and judicial intervention

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Personality

• Risk factors
• Hyperactivity
• Risk-takers
• Aggressiveness
• Lack of religious beliefs

• Protective factors
• Good coping skills
• Independent thinking
• Cares about peoples feelings
• Strong religious beliefs

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Social Environment

• Peers
• Delinquent peers and later violence
• What do peers do?
• Social class
• Poverty predicts delinquency? v.
• Whos really committing delinquent acts?

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Ecological Environment

• Risk factors
• High poverty in area
• Easy access to drugs
• Adults involved in crime

• Protective factors
• Community activities
• Positive interaction with adults
• Strong schools

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Educational Environment

• School environment
• Truancy and delinquency rates
• Physical buildings
• Juveniles attitudes
• What do they internalize?
• Teachers expectations
• Juveniles behavior and performance in school
• How are their grades?
• Learning disabilities
• Ties to school

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Behavior and Lifestyle

• Pathways
• Authority conflict
• Covert
• Overt
• Reinforcement
• Drugs and alcohol
• Does it lead to delinquency or vice versa?
• Anti-social behavior
• Gangs

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Cumulative Effect

• More risk factors, more likely delinquent
• What are best predictors of not becoming a
  delinquent?
• Conventional friends
• Stable family
• Good parental monitoring
• Positive expectations of future
• Not having delinquent peers

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Review

• What are the 3 methods of obtaining statistics?
• What are the strengths?
• What are the weaknesses?
• What are causal, risk and protective factors?
• What are the statistics on juvenile
  victimization?
• What are examples of risk and protective factors?

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Review

• How is marital happiness connected to rates of
  delinquency?
• How are single parent homes connected to rates of
  delinquency?
• What are the reactions of police and the court to
  family connections?
• How do teacher expectations impact delinquency?
• What is the impact of dropping out of school or
  having learning disabilities?

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Review

• What is the cumulative effect of risk factors?
• What are the best predictors for not becoming a
  delinquent?

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JUVENILE CRIME, CRIMINALS VICTIMS

• END CHAPTER TWO