CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS

    Victims and offenders are similar in many ways.  Some meaningful variables are the age of both victim and offender, which are often similar.  The typical violators are not usually someone who is a distant relative or lives outside the household.  They usually stay with the victim, and are a son, daughter or spouse of the victim.

LITERATURE REVIEW

    There has been an ongoing debate about the relative ability of self-report studies and official statistics to describe juvenile crime and victimization. Self-report studies can capture information on behavior that never comes to the attention of juvenile justice agencies. Compared with official studies, self-report studies find a much higher proportion of the juvenile population involved in delinquent behavior. Self-report studies, however, have their own limitations. A youth's memory limits the information that can be captured. This, along with other problems associated with interviewing young children, is the reason that the National Crime Victimization Survey does not attempt to interview children below age 12.

    Some victims and offenders are also unwilling to disclose all law violations. Finally, it is often difficult for self-report studies to collect data from large enough samples to develop a sufficient understanding of relatively rare events, such as serious violent offending. Official statistics describe the cases handled by the justice system. Official records under represent juvenile delinquent behavior. Many crimes by juveniles are never reported to authorities. Many juveniles who commit offenses are never arrested. Or, if they are arrested, they are not arrested for all of their delinquencies. As a result, official records may systematically underestimate the scope of juvenile crime. In addition, to the extent there is bias in the types of crimes or offenders that enter the justice system, official records distort the attributes of juvenile crime.

Official statistics are open to multiple interpretations

    Juvenile arrest rates for drug abuse violations in recent years are substantially above those of a decade ago. One interpretation of these official statistics could be that juveniles have been breaking the drug laws more often in recent years. National self-report studies (e.g., Monitoring the Future), however, find that illicit drug use is substantially below the levels of the mid-1980's. If drug use is actually down, the higher arrest rates for drug crimes may represent a change in society's tolerance for such behavior and a greater willingness to bring these youth into the justice system for treatment or punishment. The proportion of violent crimes committed by juveniles that victims reported to law enforcement has changed little since 1980.

    Note: Serious violent crime includes incidents involving rape and other sexual assaults, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crime includes simple assault in addition to the serious
violent crime offenses. Data are collected through personal interviews with persons
age 12 and older; thus, murder is not included for obvious reasons. Data collected prior to 1992 were adjusted to be consistent with newer data collection procedures. Although official records may be inadequate measures of the level of juvenile offending, they do monitor
justice system activity. Analysis of variations in official statistics across time and jurisdictions provides an understanding of justice system caseloads.

Carefully used, self-report and Official statistics provide insight into crime and victimization

    As Delbert Elliot has argued, to abandon either self-report or official statistics in favor of the other is "rather shortsighted; to systematically ignore the findings of either is dangerous, particularly when the two measures provide apparently contradictory findings." He argued that a full understanding of the etiology and development of delinquent behavior is enhanced by using and integrating both self-report and official record research.

RESEARCH METHODS

    While youth of all races contributed to the growth in homicides by juveniles, black youth were responsible for the majority of the increase between 1986 and 1994-and the majority of the decline thereafter. Source: Authors' analyses of the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980-1997 [machine-readable data files].

    Between 1980 and 1986, there were roughly equal numbers of white and black juvenile homicide offenders; but after 1986, blacks have outnumbered whites.

    All of the increase in homicides by juveniles between the mid- Whom do juveniles kill?
Between 1980 and 1997, most victims in homicides involving juveniles were male (83%). Slightly more victims were white (50%) than black (47%). In 27% of homicides by juveniles, the victim was also a juvenile. Victims in 70% of homicides by juveniles were killed with a firearm. Of all victims killed by juveniles, 14% were family members, 55% were acquaintances, and 31% were strangers.

    Who are the juvenile murderers? Between 1980 and 1997, the large majority (93%) of known juvenile homicide offenders were male. More than half (56%) were black. Of known juvenile homicide offenders, 42% were age 17, 29% were age 16, and 17% were age 15; 88% of juvenile homicide offenders were age 15 or older.

    Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report 54 Between 1980 and 1987, firearms were used in just over half (54%) of all homicides involving a juvenile offender. Then firearm-related homicides began to increase, so that, by 1994, most homicides by juvenile offenders (82%) involved the use of a firearm.

    The sharp decline in homicides by juveniles between 1994 and 1997 was attributable entirely to a decline in homicides by firearm. Source: Authors' analyses of the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980-1997 [machine-readable data files].

    Murders by the very young are rare  Annually between 1980 and 1997, fewer than 10 juveniles age 10 or younger were identified as participants in murders-a figure that has remained essentially constant over the time period. The majority of these young homicide offenders were male (88%), and more than half (54%) were black. In these cases, the victim was equally likely to be either a family member or an acquaintance (43%). A firearm was involved in 50% of the murders committed by these young offenders.

    Boys and girls tend to kill different types of victims Between 1980 and 1997, 54% of male juvenile homicide offenders killed an acquaintance, 37% killed a stranger, and 9% killed a family member. In comparison, the victims of females were more likely to be family members (39%) and far less likely to be strangers (15%). Between 1980 and 1997, about 1% of male offenders killed persons under age 6, while 18% of the female offenders killed young children. Because there were so many more male offenders than female offenders, however, roughly equal numbers of male and female juvenile offenders were involved in the murder of young children. Annually between 1980 and 1997, about 25 male and 25 female juvenile offenders were tied to the death of a child under age 6. Males were far more likely than females to kill with a firearm. Between
1980 and 1997, 73% of male juvenile homicide offenders used a firearm, while 14% used a knife. In contrast, 41% of female juvenile homicide offenders used a firearm and 32% used a knife. While 27% of females used other means to kill (e.g., hands or feet, strangulation, drowning, or fire), only 13% of males killed by these means.

In 1997, juvenile offenders were known to be involved in about 1,400 murders in the U.S. From the peak year of 1994, the number of murders known to involve juvenile offenders dropped 39%.

Between 1980 and 1997, 28% of all murders involving a juvenile offender also involved an adult offender. Source: Authors' analyses of the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980-1997 [machine-readable data files].

    Of all persons murdered by juveniles, 6% were under age 13, 21% were ages 13-17, 30% were ages 18-24, and 10% were age 50 or older. Source: Authors' analyses of the FBI's Supplementary

    Black juveniles were more likely to commit murders with firearms than were youth of other races In the U.S. in 1997, about 1 of every 16,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 17 was identified as participating in a homicide. This is a rate of 56 known offenders for every 1 million youth in the U.S. population ages 10-17. This rate was greater for black youth than youth of other races: black (194), Asian/Pacific Islanders (44), American Indians (34), and whites (30).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

        Throughout the whole paper we have been discussing the characteristics between victims and their offenders.  It talks about how many juveniles commit crimes but never arrested or, if arrested, never charged for all their delinquencies.

        To an extent there is a bias between what enters the Justice System.  The survey states that white males fall victim to homicides than any other race.  Of all victims killed by juveniles, 14% were family members, 55% were acquaintances, and 31% were strangers. 

        Almost all the time juvenile murderers are male.  More than 56% are black.  Of known juvenile homicide offenders, 42% were age 17, 29% were age 16, and 17% were age 15; 88% of juvenile homicide offenders were age 15 or older.  Every year it increases for a juvenile to kill rather than an adult.  Juveniles are often looked over because of their age but often times they are the one committing the crime.

REFERENCES

Brown, Stephen E., Esbensen, Finn-Aage, and Gilbert Geis. (2001).  Criminology: Explaining Crime and Its Context.  Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Co.

Doerner, William & Lab, Steven (1995) Victimology. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing.

Juvenile Offenders and Victims." 1999 National Report. (www.ncjrs.org).

"Bureau of Justice Statistics Victim Characteristics." (www.ojp.usdoj.gov).

"Characteristics." (web.uccs.edu/nhetz/characteristics.htm).

O’Brien, R.M. (1985).  Crime and Victimization Data.  Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.