Juvenile Delinquency: The Core, 5th Edition solutions manual and test bank by Larry J. Siegel | Brandon C. Welsh INSTRUCTOR RESOURCE MANUAL and tb
CHAPTER TWO
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF DELINQUENCY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO1. Be familiar with the various ways to gather data on delinquency
LO2. Recognize the trends in the delinquency rate and the factors that influence and shape its direction
LO3. List and discuss the social and personal correlates of delinquency
LO4. Discuss the concept of the chronic offender
LO5. Be familiar with the factors that predict teen victimization
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Measuring Delinquency with the Uniform Crime Reports
A. Each year the U.S. Justice Department’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) compiles information, gathered by police departments, on the number of criminal acts reported by citizens and the number of persons arrested.
1. This information is published in the annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR), the most widely used source of national crime and delinquency statistics.
B. UCR is compiled from 17,000 police departments
1. Part I offenses are also known as index crimes (examples include homicide, forcible rape, robbery, burglary, and arson)
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3. Law enforcement agencies also report how many crimes were cleared. Crimes are cleared in two ways:
a. when at least one person is arrested, charged, and turned over to the court for prosecution; or
b. by exceptional means, when some element beyond police control precludes the physical arrest of an offender.
4. Nationwide in 2010, law enforcement cleared 47 percent of violent crimes and 18 percent of property crimes, by arrest or exceptional means.
C. UCR uses three methods to express crime data:
1. Number of crimes reported to police and arrests
2. Crime rates per 100,000 people are computed
3. The FBI computes changes in the number and rate of crime over time
D. Validity of the UCR
1. Victim surveys show that less than half of all victims report the crime to police
2. Arrest data counts only adolescents who have been caught
3. Victimless crimes, such as drug and alcohol use, are significantly
underreported and therefore are underrepresented
4. Arrest decision criteria vary among police agencies
E. UCR arrest statistics are disaggregated (broken down) by suspect’s age, so they can be used to estimate adolescent delinquency.
II. Measuring Delinquency with Survey Research
A. Another important method of collecting crime data is through surveys in which people are asked about their attitudes, beliefs, values, and characteristics, as well as their experiences with crime and victimization.
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B. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
1. To address the non-reporting issues, the federal government sponsors the NCVS: a comprehensive, nationwide survey of victimization in the U.S., conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
2. The NCVS collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not those crimes were reported to law enforcement, and the reasons for reporting or not reporting.
3. The survey provides information about victims, offenders, and the crimes
4. Questions also cover the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system, self-protective measures used by victims, and possible substance abuse by offenders
5. The greatest advantage of the NCVS is that it can estimate the total number of annual crimes, not just those that are reported to police
6. Validity of the NCVS
a. Among the potential problems of the NCVS are the following:
i. Over-reporting due to victims’ misinterpretation of events
ii. Underreporting due to the embarrassment of reporting crime
iii. Inability to record the personal criminal activity of those interviewed
iv. Sampling errors
v. Inadequate question format that invalidates responses
C. Self-Report Surveys
1. Self-report surveys are used to measure the extent of delinquency by asking adolescents about their recent and lifetime participation in criminal activity
2. Most self-report surveys contain questions about attitudes, values, and behaviors
3. By correlating the responses, criminologists can analyze the relationship between personal factors and criminal behaviors
4. Validity of Self-Reports
a. Critics argue that expecting adolescents to candidly admit illegal acts is unreasonable
b. The “missing cases” phenomenon is also a concern
i. It is unlikely that the most serious chronic offenders are willing to cooperate with criminologists administering self-report tests
c. One way to improve the reliability of self-reports is to use them in a consistent fashion with different groups of subjects over time
d. One important source of longitudinal self-report data is the Monitoring the Future study that researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (SR) have been conducting annually since 1978
III. Evaluating the Primary Data Sources
A. Each source of crime data has strengths and weaknesses
B. The UCR omits the many crimes that victims choose not to report to police, and relies on the reporting accuracy of individual police departments
C. The NCVS includes unreported crimes missed by the UCS and also contains important information on the personal characteristics of victims
D. Self-report surveys provide useful information yet, at their core, rely on the honesty of criminal offenders and drug abusers
E. Although their tallies of crimes are certainly not in sync, the crime patterns and trends that all three sources record are often quite similar.
IV. Crime Trends in the United States
A. In general, crime rates increased gradually following the 1930s, until the 1960s, when the growth rate became much greater
B.
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C. The UCR finds that about 13 million arrests are now being made each year, or about 4,200 per 100,000 population
1. Of these, more than 2 million were for serious Part I crimes and 11 million for less serious Part II crimes
2. The number of people arrested has remained the same during the past decade
D. Official Delinquency: Patterns and Trends
1. In 2010, juveniles were responsible for about 14 percent of the Part I violent crimes arrests and about 23 percent of the property crime arrests
2. An additional 930,000 juvenile arrests were made in 2010 for Part II offenses
3. While juvenile offenders continue to be over-represented in the crime rate, the number and rate of juvenile offenses has been in a decade-long decline
E. Self-Reported: Patterns and Trends
1. Most self-report studies indicate that the number of children who break the law is far greater than official statistics would lead us to believe
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3. In fact, when truancy, alcohol consumption, petty theft, and recreational drug use are included in self-report scales, delinquency appears to be almost universal
4. Monitoring the Future (MTF) is an annual national self-report survey conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, which involves a sample of about 50,000 youths
5. If the MTF data are accurate, the juvenile crime problem is much greater than official statistics would lead us to believe
F. Future Trends
1. Some experts predict a significant increase in teen violence if current population trends persist
2. Economist Steven Levitt believes that even though teen crime rates may eventually rise, their influence on the nation’s total crime rate may be offset by the growing number of relatively crime-free senior citizens
3. Although the number of adolescents in the population may shape crime rates under current conditions, serious social and economic conditions can alter the trajectory of delinquency
V. Correlates of Delinquency
A. An important aspect of delinquency research is measurement of the personal traits and social characteristics associated with adolescent misbehavior
B. The Time and Place of Delinquency
1. Most delinquent acts occur during the warm summer months of July and August
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a. Large urban areas have by far the highest juvenile violence rates
b. Rural areas have the lowest
c. Typically, the western and southern states have had consistently higher delinquency rates than the Midwest and northeast
C. Gender and Delinquency
1. With a few exceptions, males are significantly more delinquent than females
2. The teenage gender ratio for serious violent crime is approximately 4 to 1 and for property crime approximately 2 to 1, male to female
3. The only exception to this pattern is arrests for being a runaway: girls are more likely than boys to be arrested as runaways
4. During the past decade, the number of arrests of male delinquents decreased about 27 percent, whereas the number of female delinquents arrested declined by 15 percent
a. If this trend continues as it has, there will eventually be gender convergence in delinquency
5. MTF data show that while males commit more serious crimes than females, such as robbery, assault, and burglary; gender ratios are narrowing
D. Race and Delinquency
1. Racial minorities are disproportionately represented in the arrest statistics
2. The official statistics show that minority youths are more likely to be arrested for serious criminal behavior
3. Self-report studies such as the MTF survey, for example, generally show similarity in offending differences between African American and European American youths for most crimes, but for some serious offenses, African American youth do in fact admit to more offences than white youth
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4. Bias Effects
a. One view is that it is a result of bias by the police and courts
b. According to racial threat theory, as the size of the African American population increases, the perceived threat to the European American population increases
c. Police routinely search, question, and detain all African American males in an area if a violent criminal has been described as “looking or sounding Black”; this is called racial profiling
d. African-American youths are more likely to get an official record, and more likely to be severely punished if they are picked up again and sent back to juvenile court
e. Institutional racism by police and the courts is still an element of daily life in the African American community
5. Race Matters
a. Another point of view holds that although evidence of racial bias does exist in the justice system, there is enough correspondence between official and self-report data to conclude that racial differences in the crime rate are real
b. Racial differentials are tied to the social and economic disparity suffered by African American youths
c. Racial differences in the delinquency rate would evaporate if African American kids could enjoy the same social, economic, and educational privileges enjoyed by children of the white majority
E. Social Class and Delinquency
1. While self-report data does in fact show that kids in all levels of society, and in all social classes, commit crime, recent evidence suggest that serious crime is more prevalent in socially disorganized, lower-class areas, whereas less serious offenses are spread more evenly throughout the social structure
2. Community-level indicators of poverty and disorder are all associated with the most serious violent crimes, including homicide and assault
F. Age and Delinquency
1. It is generally believed that age is inversely related to criminality: as people age, the likelihood that they will commit crime declines
2. Why Age Matters
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b. Evidence exists that age of onset of a delinquent career has an important effect on length: those who demonstrate antisocial tendencies at an early age are more likely to commit more crimes for a longer period of time (i.e., the developmental view of delinquency)
3. Why Does Crime Decline with Age?
a. Delinquency experts have developed a number of reasons for the aging-out process:
i. Growing older means having to face the future
ii. With maturity comes the ability to resist the “quick fix” to their problems
iii. Maturation coincides with increased levels of responsibility
iv. Personalities can change with age
v. Young adults become more aware of the risks that accompany crime
vi. Changes in human biology
VI. Chronic Offending: Careers in Delinquency
A. Although most adolescents age out of crime, a relatively small number of youths begin to violate the law early in their lives and continue to do so at a high rate well into adulthood
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delinquent and criminal activity, and many of these same offenders grow up to become chronic adult criminals
B. Delinquency in a Birth Cohort
1. The concept of the chronic career offender is most closely associated with the research efforts of Marvin Wolfgang
2. Wolfgang, Figlio and Sellin (1972) followed the delinquent careers of a cohort of 9,945 boys, born in Philadelphia, from birth until they reached age eighteen
3. They found that:
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b. 54% (1,862) of the sample’s delinquent youths were repeat offenders
c. 627 boys labeled chronic recidivists were arrested 5 times or more
d. 6% of the total sample were responsible for 52% of all offenses
e. Two factors stood out as encouraging recidivism:
i. seriousness of the original offense
ii. severity of the punishment
4. Wolfgang and his colleagues conducted a second cohort study with children born in 1958, and substantiated the finding that a relatively few chronic offenders are responsible for a significant portion of all delinquent acts
C. Stability in Crime: From Delinquent to Criminal
1. One study that followed a 10 percent sample of the original Pennsylvania cohort to age thirty found that 70 percent of the “persistent” adult offenders had also been chronic juvenile offenders
2. Severity of offending, rather than frequency of criminal behavior, had the greatest impact on later adult criminality
3. Studies indicate that chronic juvenile offenders continue their law-violating careers as adults, a concept referred to as the continuity of crime
D. What Causes Chronic Offending?
1. Research indicates that chronic offenders suffer from a number of personal, environmental, social, and developmental deficits
2. Other research studies have found that involvement in criminal activity, relatively low intellectual development, and parental drug
involvement were key predictive factors for future
chronic offending
3. Measurable problems in learning and motor skills, cognitive abilities, family relations, and other areas also predict chronicity
E. Policy Implications
1. Rather than simply asking why youths become delinquent or commit antisocial acts, theorists are charting the onset, escalation, frequency, and cessation of delinquent behavior
2. One approach is to identify persistent offenders at the beginning of their offending careers and provide early treatment
VII. Juvenile Victimization
A. Juveniles are also victims of crime
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B. Young Victims
1. NCVS data indicate that young people are much more likely to be the victims of crime than adults
2. The chance of victimization declines with age
3. Teens are fifteen times more likely to become victims than older adults (age 65 and over)
4. Male teenagers have a significantly higher chance of becoming victims of violent crime than females
5. African American youth have a greater chance of becoming victims of violent crimes than European American youth
C. The Victims and Their Criminals
1. In general, teens tend to be victimized by their peers
2. Victims of violent crime report that a disproportionate number of their attackers are young, ranging in age from 16 to 25
3. Victimization is interracial
4. Most teens are victimized by people with whom they are acquainted, and their victimization is more likely to occur during the day
5. Sexual victimization: about 2 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 have been sexually assaulted, and 4 million have been severely physically assaulted
a. A significant number of these youth suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, and are more prone to antisocial behaviors, such as substance abuse, in adulthood
CHAPTER SUMMARY
There are a variety of ways to measure and record juvenile delinquency. The Federal Bureau of Investigation collects data from local law enforcement agencies and publishes them yearly in their Uniform Crime Report (UCR). The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a nationwide survey of victimization in the United States. Self-report surveys ask people to describe, in detail, their recent and lifetime participation in criminal activity.
Many serious crimes are not reported to police and therefore are not counted by the UCR. The NCVS may have problems due to victims’ misinterpretation of events, and underreporting due to the embarrassment of reporting crime to interviewers, fear of getting in trouble, or simply forgetting an incident. Self-report studies have problems because people may exaggerate their criminal acts, forget some of them, or be confused about what is being asked. These data sources show that crime rates peaked in 1991, when police recorded almost 15 million crimes. Since then, the number of delinquent acts has been in decline. Teenagers have extremely high crime rates. Crime experts view changes in the population age distribution as having the greatest influence on crime trends. There is general agreement that delinquency rates decline with age.
As a general rule, the crime rate follows the proportion of young males in the population. There is debate over the effect the economy has on crime rates. Drop in the delinquency rate has been linked to a strong economy. Some believe that a poor economy may actually help lower delinquency rates because it limits the opportunity kids have to commit crime. As the level of social problems increases—such as single-parent families, dropout rates, racial conflict, and teen pregnancies—so do delinquency rates. Racial conflict may also increase delinquency rates. Minority youth are overrepresented in the delinquency rate, especially for violent crime.
Some experts believe that adolescent crime is a lower-class phenomenon, whereas others see it throughout the social structure. Some experts believe this phenomenon is universal, whereas others believe a small group of offenders persist in crime at a high rate. The age–crime relationship has spurred research on the nature of delinquency over the life course.
Delinquency data shows the existence of a chronic persistent offender, who begins his or her offending career early in life, and persists as an adult. Marvin Wolfgang and his colleagues identified chronic offenders in a series of cohort studies conducted in Philadelphia. Early involvement in criminal activity, relatively low intellectual development, and parental drug involvement have been linked to later chronic offending. Measurable problems in learning and motor skills, cognitive abilities, family relations, and other areas also predict chronicity. Apprehension and punishment seem to have little effect on offending behavior.
Teenagers are much more likely to become victims of crime than are people in other age groups. A majority of teens have been victimized by other teens, whereas victims age 20 and over identified their attackers as being 21 or older. Teen victimization is intraracial. White teenagers tend to be victimized by white teens, and African American teenagers tend to be victimized by African American teens.
KEY TERMS
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Arm of the U.S. Department of Justice that investigates violations of federal law, gathers crime statistics, runs a comprehensive crime laboratory, and helps train local law enforcement officers.
Uniform Crime Report (UCR): Compiled by the FBI, the UCR is the most widely used source of national crime and delinquency statistics.
Part I offenses (also known as index crimes): Offenses including homicide and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson, and motor vehicle theft; recorded by local law enforcement officers. These crimes are tallied quarterly and sent to the FBI for inclusion in the UCR.
Part II offenses: All crimes other than Part I offenses; recorded by local law enforcement officers, arrests for these crimes are tallied quarterly and sent to the FBI for inclusion in the UCR.
Disaggregated: Analyzing the relationship between two or more independent variables (such as murder convictions and death sentence), while controlling for the influence of a dependent variable (such as race).
Self-reports: Questionnaire or survey technique that asks subjects to reveal their own participation in delinquent or criminal acts.
Dark figures of crime: Incidents of crime and delinquency that go undetected by police.
Aging-out process (also known as desistance or spontaneous remission): The tendency for youths to reduce the frequency of their offending behavior as they age; aging out is thought to occur among all groups of offenders.
Age of onset: Age at which youths begin their delinquent careers; early onset is believed to be linked with chronic offending patterns.
Chronic delinquent offenders: Youths who have been arrested four or more times during their minority and perpetuate a striking majority of serious criminal acts; this small group, known as the “chronic 6 percent,” is believed to engage in a significant portion of all delinquent behavior. These youths do not age out of crime but continue their criminal behavior into adulthood.
Chronic recidivist: Someone who has been arrested five times or more before age 18.
Continuity of crime: The idea that chronic juvenile offenders are likely to continue violating the law as adults.
Victimization: The number of people who are victims of criminal acts; young teens are fifteen times more likely than older adults (age sixty-five and over) to be victims of crimes.
Discussion Questions
1. What is the best way to gather data on juvenile delinquency? Can self-reports be trusted? Do police records reflect all the antisocial behaviors of adolescents? Why might victims not report?
LO 1
2. What are some reasons why males engage in more delinquent behaviors than females?
LO 2
3. What is the best way to handle a chronic offender? Support your response.
LO 4
Assignments
1. Have students complete a self-report on previous delinquent and truant behavior. Report the results in aggregate and have students write a 5-page essay on the strengths and weaknesses of the self-report, using the questions and responses as support.
LO 1
2. The vast majority of adolescents engage in some delinquent and truant behavior to a greater or lesser extent. Have students reflect and write a 3-5-page essay on the reasons they and/or their friends participated in behaviors such as alcohol or drug use, vandalism, shop lifting, etc.
LO 3
3. Divide students into groups and have them determine the factors they believe are most important in predicting teen victimization. After listing factors, have the groups provide potential solutions.
LO 5
Internet Links
1. How the Social Network Is Changing Teen Victimization
LO5
2. Stop Bullying
LO 5
3. Responding to Teenage Victims of Crime Part 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRtoqv0kPJo
LO5
4. Responding to Teenage Victims of Crime Part 2 of 2
LO5
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