BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES

Biological and Psychological Theories

Biological and Psychological Theories

In 1999, U.S. juvenile courts processed an estimated 1,673,000 delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations. The number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts increased 27% between 1990 and 1999. During this time, the number of drug law violation cases increased 169%, public order offense cases increased 74%, person offense cases increased 55%, and property offense cases decreased 9%. These estimates are based on data from nearly 2,000 courts with jurisdiction over 70% of the U.S. juvenile population. In this Fact Sheet, each case represents one youth processed by a juvenile court on a new referral, regardless of the number of individual offenses contained in that referral. A youth can be involved in more than one case during the calendar year.

More than three of every four (76%) delinquency cases in 1999 involved a male, a decline from 81% in 1990. In 1999, males accounted for 84% (160,800) of drug law violation cases, 76% (537,900) of property offense cases, 75% (293,000) of public order offense cases, and 73% (282,800) of person offense cases.

However, between 1990 and 1999, the number of delinquency cases involving females increased 59% (from 250,100 to 398,600), compared with a 19% increase (from 1,066,900 to 1,274,500) for males. The growth in cases involving females outpaced the growth in cases involving males in all offense categories. For both males and females, simple assault cases increased more than any other person offense (136% for females and 80% for males). In the public order offense category, the greatest increase for both males and females was in the obstruction of justice caseload (148% for females and 105% for males).

Fifty-seven percent of the juvenile delinquency cases processed in 1999 involved a juvenile younger than 16 years old at the time ...