Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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 Suggested Citation: Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund, Melissa 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 Additional statistics are available from OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book, located at:
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Juvenile courts handled four times as many delinquency cases in 2002 as in 1960
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Delinquency cases, by offense category
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Robbery cases peaked in 1995, near 40,000, then fell to levels of the late 1980s
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Aggravated assault cases peaked in 1995, at 84,400, then fell off sharply
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Simple assault cases climbed steadily through 1997, then leveled off at around 270,000 in 2001 and 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Burglary caseloads were relatively flat until 1997—since then, they have dropped to their lowest level since at least 1985
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Larceny-theft cases peaked in 1995 at nearly 426,000 and have also dropped to their lowest level since at least 1985
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Within the public order category, weapons offense cases peaked in 1994 at 51,100 and have dropped steadily since then
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Juvenile court caseload trends are different for males and females
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Juvenile court caseload trend differences for males and females vary by offense category
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The female share of delinquency cases increased steadily from 1991 through 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Compared with 1985, 2002 person offense rates were higher for all racial groups
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Case rates for drug offenses more than doubled from 1985 to 2002 for both white (118%) and black (128%) youth
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Delinquency case rates generally increase with age
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Between 1985 and 2002, trends in case rates were generally similar across age groups
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The number of cases involving detention was higher in 2002 than in 1985 for all but property cases
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Males accounted for most delinquency cases involving detention
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Males were consistently more likely than females to be detained
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report White youth accounted for the largest number of delinquency cases involving detention
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Although they accounted for the largest number, white youth were the least likely to be detained
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The number of petitioned delinquency cases increased 96% between 1985 and the peak in 1997, then declined 8% by 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Between 1985 and 2002, the petitioned caseload increased for each of the four general offense categories
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The number of cases in which the youth was adjudicated delinquent rose steadily from 1985 to 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Except for property cases, the offense-specific trends followed the same pattern as delinquency cases in general
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Trends in the number of adjudicated property offense cases ordered to residential placement or probation were different from trends for other offenses
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report In 2002, the most severe sanction ordered in 85,000 adjudicated delinquency cases (14%) was something other than residential placement or probation
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Adjudicated cases receiving sanctions other than residential placement or probation accounted for 53 out of 1,000 delinquency cases processed during the year
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing for males, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing for females, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing whites, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Person offense case processing for other races, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing for males, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing for females, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing for whites, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Property offense case processing for other races, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing for males, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing for females, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing for whites, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Drug offense case processing for other races, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing for males, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing for females, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing for whites, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing for blacks, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Public order offense case processing for other races, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The profile of waived cases has changed
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Juvenile courts waived 46% fewer delinquency cases to criminal court in 2002 than in 1994
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report For most of the period from 1993 through 2002, person offenses outnumbered property offenses among waived cases
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report 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
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report The volume of petitioned truancy, runaway, and ungovernability cases peaks at age 15
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Runaway case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Truancy case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Ungovernability case processing, 2002
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report Liquor law violation case processing, 2002