Juvenile Justice, Chapter 2

1
Juvenile Crime, Criminals, and Victims
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Slide 2
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able
to

• Identify three main ways that juvenile crime is
  measured in the United States.
• Analyze strengths and weaknesses of victimization
  surveys and self-reports for juvenile crime.
• Demonstrate an understanding of juvenile crime
  and victimization in the United States.
• Describe the concepts of risk factor and
  protective factor.
• List the various risk and protective factors and
  explain how these relate to juvenile delinquency.

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Slide 3
2.1 Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Juveniles are more and more perceived by the
general public as potential offenders. Despite
the medias sharp focus on a recent string of
shootings at suburban schools, the nature and
extent of juvenile delinquency in the U.S.
remains elusive for several reasons
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Measuring total crime in the U.S. is extremely
difficult. Singling out juvenile crime presents
its own sent of unique problems.
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Slide 5
Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime

• The juvenile justice system is decentralized.
• Record-keeping in the juvenile justice system is
  still subject to confidentiality and sealing
  restrictions.

• There are many options available for juveniles
  who come into contact with the system, which
  makes it difficult to measure the true extent of
  delinquency.

confidentiality and sealing restrictions Laws
that keep juvenile records confidential to
prevent them from being viewed.
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Slide 6
Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
There are mechanisms in place to measure juvenile
delinquency.

• Each has its strengths and weaknesses.
• Each presents different issues in measurement and
  interpretation.

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Slide 7
Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
This chapter will examine

• Ways in which juvenile crime is measured
• The extent of juvenile crime and victimization
• Some of the correlates of juvenile delinquency

correlates Variables that are related to each
other and are said to be correlated. Correlates
should not be interpreted to imply causation.
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Slide 8
Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Research on delinquency has led to a variety of
conclusions about what causes, and what
correlates with, juvenile crime.

• There are many risk factors in juvenile offending

• There are also many protective factors that keep
  people from committing delinquent acts.

risk factors Variables that research has found
to be correlated with juvenile delinquency.
protective factors Variables that research has
found to protect or insulate a juvenile from
becoming a delinquent.
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Slide 9
SELF CHECK
What factors help explain the elusive nature of
juvenile delinquency in the United States?
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2.2 Measuring the Extent of Juvenile Crime
The question of how much juvenile crime exists is
typically answered through three main methods of
gathering crime statistics
official records Statistics and data collected
by law enforcement agencies, courts, and
correctional institutions.

• Official records

• Victimization surveys

• Self-report surveys

victimization surveys Survey research conducted
using victims or potential victims of crime.
self-report surveys Survey research conducted
with offenders or potential offenders.
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Slide 11
Official Records and Measures
Official statistics and measures are data
collected by city, county, state, or federal
governmental agencies. The primary storage agency
for juvenile records is typically the juvenile
probation agency.

• Typically, each county has its own system of
  record-keeping.
• Official records of juvenile crimes outside of
  the county or state itself are based almost
  exclusively on police records and counts of
  crimes.

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Slide 12
Law Enforcement Statistics
The most comprehensive official measure of crime
in the U.S. is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Statistical report
compiled by the FBI using reports from law
enforcement agencies across the country. The
report is broken into two main categories of
offenses Part I and Part II crimes.
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Slide 13
Law Enforcement Statistics
Part I Offenses Also known as the index
offenses. The counts of the most serious crimes
in the UCR (felonies), including murder, rape,
robbery, and aggravated assault.

• Part I Offenses

• Part II Offenses

Part II Offenses The less serious crimes counted
in the UCR, mainly misdemeanors.
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Slide 14
Law Enforcement Statistics
The UCR collects data from police agencies
throughout the U.S. that count the number of
crimes reported for each category of offense.

• The FBI then counts the number of crimes
  committed each year throughout the U.S. and the
  number of arrests.
• From the arrest data, the FBI estimates how many
  juvenile offender arrests the police have made.

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Slide 15
Law Enforcement Statistics

• The total number of juvenile arrests for Violent
  Crime Index offenses has been declining.

Violent Crime Index The violent crimes included
in the Part I offensesmurder, rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault.

• In contrast, the Property Crime Index rate has
  remained relatively constant over the last 16
  years.

Property Crime Index The property crimes
included in the Part I offenses burglary, motor
vehicle theft, larceny-theft, and arson.

• Status offenses have risen sharply over the last
  several years.

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Juvenile Arrest Rates 1981-1998
FIGURE 2-1
Note The Property Crime Index includes burglary,
larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
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Slide 17
Juvenile Arrest Rates for Curfew and Loitering
Violations 1981-1998
FIGURE 2-1 (continued)
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Juvenile Court Statistics
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) collects data from state and
local agencies.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) A component of the U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs. Primary federal agency responsible for
addressing the issues of juvenile crime and
delinquency and the problem of missing and
exploited children.
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Slide 19
Juvenile Court Statistics
The office collects both automated case-level
data and aggregate data from juvenile courts
around the country.
aggregate data Data collected by agencies on how
many crimes or dispositions they possess. No
individual-level data are collected, only summary
statistics and counts.
automated case-level data Data collected by
agencies at the individual case level containing
details on the offender, victim, disposition, and
other relevant items.
These statistics are estimates and should not be
viewed as a comprehensive count of court activity.
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Slide 20
Juvenile Court Statistics
These statistics reveal several interesting
patterns, including a demonstration of the funnel
effect in processing these cases.
funnel effect Way in which the number of cases
processed through the juvenile justice system
decrease at each successive step.
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Slide 21
MYTH
FACT
Juveniles are responsible for most crimes in the
United States.
According to arrest data, juveniles are only
involved in 18 of all crimes in the U.S.
Juveniles were involved in 17 of all violent
crime arrests and 33 of all property crime
arrests in 1998.
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Slide 22
Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases
1987-1996
FIGURE 2-3
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Slide 23
Juvenile Correctional Statistics

• Another official measure of delinquency in the
  U.S. is based on correctional statistics the
  tabulated number of juveniles committed to public
  and private facilities.

• These counts accurately indicate how many
  juveniles have been incarcerated for delinquency.

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Slide 24
Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
The chief strength of official records is that
they are reliable counts of juveniles who have
been arrested, processed, and incarcerated by the
justice system.

• Summary counts give a clear idea of the workload
  the system must handle.
• Official statistics present the national picture
  of juvenile crime and allow comparisons between
  jurisdictions.
• Official statistics can clearly show trends in
  arrests and processing.

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Slide 25
Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
These statistics are limited by the fact that
many juvenile dispositions occur outside formal
processing and very few juvenile offenders are
ever sent to a secure correctional facility.
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Slide 26
Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
The UCR depends on accurate counts from law
enforcement agencies.

• Yet not all enforcement agencies report to the
  UCR.
• Sometimes counts are inaccurate, and do not
  include the dark figure of crime.

dark figure of crime The phrase used to describe
the number of crimes committed but undiscovered
or unreported.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
The UCR underestimates crimes for several reasons

• Not all crimes are reported to police,
  particularly victimless crimes.

• Crimes go unreported because incidents are
  handled informally.
• The UCR uses a hierarchy rule.

• The broad discretion and variety of dispositional
  options leave incidents undocumented or
  unreported.

hierarchy rule Rule used in collecting data for
the UCR that states only the most serious crime
in any one criminal event will be counted. For
example, if a person kidnaps, rapes, and then
murders another person, the crime is counted as
one murder.
victimless crimes Crimes in which the victim is
often a willing participant, for example in
crimes of prostitution and drug use.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
Victimization surveys document that less than 40
of all serious crime is reported to the police.
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Slide 29
Percentage of Crime Reported by Juveniles Aged
12-17
Percentage of Violent Percentage of
Theft Crime Reported To Reported To Victims
Age Police Others Police Others 12 20 28
7 36 13 22 23 8 35 14 26 17 12 32 1
5 31 13 11 30 16 33 9 10 23 17 38
6 14 17 SOURCE Snyder, Howard N. and Melissa
Sickmund. 1999. Children as Victims, Juvenile
Justice Bulletin May 2000. Washington, DC Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.c
FIGURE 2-5
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and
Measures
A new system of data collection that solves many
of the problems with official statistics is the
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
Data collection system implemented to collect
individual-level data on offenders, victims, and
crime from police departments. It is designed to
address many of the problems with the UCR.
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Slide 31
Victimization Statistics and Measures
Another way juvenile crime is measured is through
victimization surveys.

• People are randomly selected throughout the
  country to be surveyed about any criminal
  victimizations they have experienced over the
  last 6 to 12 months. The statistics gathered are
  then used to generate estimates of the amount of
  crime that occurs.

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Slide 32
Victimization Statistics and Measures
The longest and most well-known victimization
survey presents a better picture of the dark
figure of crime. It is the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS).
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) A
national survey of households on the subject of
victimization, conducted by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics.
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Slide 33
Victimization Statistics and Measures
A better measure of juvenile crime comes from
data taken from self-reported victimization at
schools.
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Slide 34
Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization
Statistics and Measures

• Victimization studies do capture the dark figure
  of crime.

• They also tend to show a more realistic picture
  of the total number of crimes committed annually.

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Slide 35
Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization
Statistics and Measures

• The main drawback in the measurement of juvenile
  crime is that victimization surveys are sent to
  homes, asking that the head of household complete
  the survey.

• Because juveniles rarely report victimization, it
  is unlikely that the head of household knows the
  true extent of victimization affecting their
  children.

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Slide 36
Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization
Statistics and Measures

• For victimization studies to be accurate measures
  of juvenile crime, the victim must know the
  offender was a juvenile.

• For most crimes reported in the NCVS, the
  offender is unknown.

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Slide 37
Self-Report Statistics and Measures

• Self-report statistics are gathered from surveys
  of youths who volunteer information about their
  criminal and drug histories. These are the only
  research projects specifically targeted at
  juveniles.

• These probably provide the most accurate picture
  of juvenile crime.

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Slide 38
Self-Report Statistics and Measures
An important self-report research endeavor is the
Causes and Correlates of Delinquency Program, a
combination of three surveys

• Denver Youth Survey
• Pittsburgh Youth Study
• Rochester Youth Development Study

Denver Youth Survey, Pittsburgh Youth Study, and
Rochester Youth Development Study Three
interrelated studies designed to assess the level
and correlates of juvenile crime.
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Slide 39
Self-Report Statistics and Measures

• The study is designed to improve the
  understanding of serious delinquency, violence,
  and drug use by examining how youth develop
  within the context of family, school, peers, and
  community.

• It constitutes the largest shared-measurement
  approached ever achieved in delinquency research.

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Slide 40
Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report
Statistics and Measures

• Self-report data has shown that individuals
  commit many more offenses than those for which
  they are arrested.

• Self-reports allow researchers to probe
  juveniles backgrounds for reasons they may have
  for committing delinquent acts.
• The data allow an examination of trends in
  juvenile offending and juvenile risk-taking
  behavior.
• Self-reports give a detailed picture of juvenile
  crime and offenses.

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Slide 41
Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report
Statistics and Measures

• One common criticism of self-report research is
  that the data may not be exact because of
  inaccurate memory, exaggeration, confusion over
  definitions, and lying.

• Another problem is that chronic truants and
  habitual delinquents are excluded from surveys
  taken in schools.

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Slide 42
Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report
Statistics and Measures
Questionnaires can cause problems with
self-report research

• Questionnaires focus on non-serious offenses
• People confuse crimes, such as robbery and
  burglary
• Responses such as often, sometimes,
  occasionally, and never can be interpreted
  differently.

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Slide 43
Comparison of the Three Methods
Notable differences between self-report data and
official statistics are

• Self-report data show that nearly all juveniles
  break the law at one time or another. However,
  only a small percentage go on to become serious
  or habitual delinquents.

serious or habitual delinquents Juveniles who
persist in delinquency. Research has shown that a
small number of habitual delinquents commit a
disproportionate amount of crime.
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Slide 44
Comparison of the Three Methods

• Self-reports show less impact on juvenile
  offending of gender, race, and social class than
  official statistics show.
• The best measure of juvenile crime and juvenile
  offending comes from self-reports. Victimization
  surveys are probably the worst.

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Slide 45
SELF CHECK

• Explain the concept of victimless crime.
• Why do you think the report percentage for crimes
  involving juveniles is low compared to that of
  crimes involving adults?

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Slide 46
2.3 Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
Determining the level of juvenile victimization
is as difficult as determining the amount of
juvenile crime.
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Slide 47
Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends

• Juveniles are more likely to be victims than to
  commit crime.

• Recently, the number of serious violent
  victimizations involving juveniles has decreased.

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Slide 48
Juvenile Homicide and Serious Violent
Victimization in the U.S.
FIGURE 2-7
49

Slide 49
Juvenile Homicide and Serious Violent
Victimization in the U.S.
FIGURE 2-7 continued
50
Slide 50
Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends

• Juveniles were the victims in 25 of all violent
  crimes and 20 of all family violence incidents
  in 1998.

• 66 of the violent crime committed by juveniles
  was committed against juvenile victims.
• Juveniles were twice as likely as adults to be
  victims of serious violent crime and three times
  as likely to be the victim of a simple assault.

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Slide 51
Juvenile Victimization by Type of Crime,
Percentage of All Crimes Against Juveniles
FIGURE 2-9
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Slide 52
Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
Many crimes committed by and against juveniles
occur at school.

• In a recent survey, nearly 75 of students
  reported being aware of a crime being committed
  at school.

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Slide 53
FIGURE 2-10
Juvenile Victimization at School (Physical
Attacks, Robbery, Bullying)
Proportion of Students in Grades 6-12
Reporting Victim of Aware of Witnessed Worried
About Crime Crime Crime Crime Total 12 70
57 25 Gender Male 14 71 58 25 Female
9 70 54 26 Race/Ethnicity White 12 72 57
24 Black 12 69 56 27 Hispanic 11 65 51 3
0 Other Race 12 64 48 26 SOURCE
Poe-Yamagata, Eileen. 1993. Student Victimization
by Sex and Race. Washington, DC Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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Slide 54
Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
There are few differences based on race or gender
in awareness, witnessing a crime, or being
worried about crime.
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Slide 55
MYTH
FACT
Most crimes committed against juveniles are
reported to police.
Only a small percentage of crimes against
juveniles are ever reported.
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Slide 56
SELF CHECK
Between 1985 and 1995, what was the percentage of
juveniles in the number of victims of violent
crimes?
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Slide 57
2.4 Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
Whats wrong with kids today?
Its a question that adults have asked for
generations.
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Slide 58
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
In the U.S., the answers have typically been
simplistic

• rock and roll, rap, and punk music
• pornography
• the Internet
• television violence
• violent video games
• media coverage of crimes
• crime and violence in movies

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Slide 59
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency

• The fact is that juveniles have always been
  crime-prone. However, in recent years, the trend
  toward violent juvenile crime has increased.

• Juvenile crime should be considered multivariate
  there is no single variable, such as music and
  television, that causes a juvenile to commit
  crime.

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Slide 60
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency

• A new area of research focuses on risk and
  protective factors, as well as causal factors.

causal factor A factor that is said to cause
another factor or outcome.

• A risk factor is a variable that, by its presence
  or absence, is correlated with the youths
  becoming delinquent, but does not cause the
  delinquency.
• A protective factor is a variable or
  characteristic that correlates with not
  committing delinquent acts.

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Slide 61
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
It is important to remember that

• Risk factors do not cause delinquency.

• Protective factors do not prevent delinquency.

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Slide 62
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
Research has attempted to identify risk and
protective factors in an effort to design a
delinquency prevention program. These factors may
be

• Variables out of the childs control race,
  gender, socio-economic status, school district
• Behaviors juveniles display when very young
  hyperactivity, lying, acting out
• Activities juveniles engage in substance abuse,
  unprotected sex, dangerous driving

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Slide 63
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
An at-risk youth may be defined in several ways.
Boys Town has this definition Any youth who is
in danger of placement outside of the home has
had negative contact with law enforcement,
schools, churches, or other agencies or who has
been impacted directly by substance abuse, sexual
promiscuity, or physical abuse.
at-risk youth A youth who is in danger of
becoming a delinquent.
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Slide 64
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency

• Researchers are not able to say that certain
  factors cause or prevent delinquency.

• For every at-risk youth who becomes a delinquent,
  another does not.
• Risk and protective factors are best understood
  as being interrelated.

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Slide 65
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
In general, risk and protective factors can be
categorized into six areas
biology and genetics A set of hereditary factors
correlated with juvenile delinquency.

• Biology and genetics

• Personality

personality A set of factors focusing on
psychological make-up and attitudes correlated
with juvenile delinquency.

• Family

family A set of factors focusing on parents,
siblings, extended family members, and the
inner-workings of the family, correlated with
juvenile delinquency.
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Slide 66
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency
social environment A set of factors focusing on
the juveniles peers, social class, and
activities and interests, correlated with
juvenile delinquency.

• Social environment

• Ecological environment

• Educational environment

ecological environment A set of factors focusing
on the community and neighborhood correlated with
juvenile delinquency.
educational environment A set of factors
focusing on the juveniles school, attitudes
toward education, and academic behavior and
performance, correlated with juvenile delinquency.
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Slide 67
Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile
Delinquency

• Research has shown that risk and protective
  factors are predictive of who will and who will
  not become delinquent.

• The model should be viewed as predictive and not
  causal.

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Slide 68
Biology and Genetics
Researchers are still studying biological and
genetic explanations for delinquency.

• Low IQ has been found to be related to
  delinquency independently of socioeconomic
  status, ethnicity, neighborhood, and impulsivity.
  How we develop IQ is not understood.

IQ Intelligence Quotient. Standardized test
score used for measuring intelligence.
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Slide 69
Biology and Genetics
Another area of contention has been the
connection between race and crime.

• Some research has shown that African-American
  boys are more likely to commit delinquency than
  Caucasian boys at age 6.
• Differences gradually developed as the boys aged,
  with African-American boys 8 more likely than
  Caucasians to be seriously delinquent.

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Slide 70
Biology and Genetics

• Gender is a genetic risk factor that is clearly a
  predictor of delinquency. Boys are more involved
  in more serious forms of delinquency than girls.

• However, in recent years there has been a marked
  increase in female involvement in delinquent acts.

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Slide 71
Family
A large body of research has assessed many family
characteristics and found that several are
related to delinquency and drug use, including

• Parental criminality
• Child maltreatment
• Poor family practices
• Absence of parental supervision
• Parental rejection
• Lack of parental involvement with the juvenile
• Parental marriage status and relations
• Parental discipline
• Parental health

72
Slide 72
Family

• The presence of a father reduces the chances of a
  delinquent son.

• First-born children are less likely to be
  delinquent.
• The larger the family size, the more likely it is
  that a child in the family will be delinquent.

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Slide 73
Family

• A large study found that there was a minimal
  impact from a broken home on delinquency.

broken home A home that is plagued by a variety
of serious problems such as abuse or neglect a
correlate of juvenile delinquency.

• The factor that best explained delinquency was
  poor supervision.

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Slide 74
Family
The Rochester Youth Study found that

• Children more attached to and involved with their
  parents were less involved in delinquency.
• Poor parenting increased the probability of
  delinquent behavior and delinquent behavior
  further weakened the relationship between parent
  and child.
• The impact of family variables appeared to fade
  as adolescents became older and more independent
  from their parents.

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Slide 75
Family
A link has also been found between childhood
victimization and delinquent behavior.
76
Slide 76
Family

• The overall effect of family on delinquency is
  difficult to assess definitively.

77
Slide 77
Personality
Most research is still in its infancy in the area
of personality characteristics and their
relationship to youths being at risk. Some
personality characteristics are common to
delinquents

• Hyperactivity
• Restlessness
• Risk-taking behavior
• Aggressiveness

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Slide 78
Social Environment
A young persons social environment includes
peers, social class, and activities and interests.

• Associating with delinquent peers is strongly and
  consistently related to delinquency.

• Accordingly, having peers who disapprove of
  delinquency is a protective factor.

peers Classmates, friends, and associates.
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Slide 79
Social Environment

• The idea that social class influences delinquency
  has been hotly contested.

social class The socio-economic level of a
juveniles family, typically sorted as
underclass, lower class, working class, middle
class, upper-middle class, upper class, etc.

• Findings from self-report research show that
  youths from all backgrounds participate equally
  in delinquency.

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Slide 80
Social Environment

• An old proverb says, Idle hands are the devils
  workshop. In other words, the more time
  juveniles are involved in extracurricular
  activities, the less time they have to be
  delinquent.

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Slide 81
Ecological Environment
There is a strong correlation between community
crime rates and delinquency. Particular risk
factors in delinquency are areas with

• High crime rates
• High poverty rates
• Easy access to drugs and firearms
• Social disorganization

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Slide 82
Education
There are three broad areas related to education
that are either risk or protective factors
related to delinquency

• The school itself
• The juveniles attitude toward education
• The juveniles behavior and performance at school

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Slide 83
Education
One study found that

• Weak school commitment and poor school
  performance were associated with increased
  involvement in delinquency and drug use.
• School success was associated with resilience.
• Involvement in delinquency reduced commitment to
  school.

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Slide 84
Behavior and Lifestyle
Juveniles who possess risk factors tend to engage
in different behaviors than juveniles who possess
protective factors.
85
Slide 85
Behavior and Lifestyle
Pittsburgh Youth Study researchers identified
three developmental pathways in which
progressively more serious problem behaviors are
displayed

• Authority conflict Stubbornness prior to age 12,
  then defiance and avoidance of authority.
• Covert Minor covert acts, such as lying,
  followed by property damage and moderately
  serious delinquency,
• then by serious delinquency.
• Overt Minor aggression followed by fighting and
  violence.

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Slide 86
Behavior and Lifestyle

• The progression to more serious delinquency leads
  to a certain lifestyle.

lifestyle Pattern of individual behaviors,
attitudes, and outcomes.

• Once a juvenile has adopted a particular
  lifestyle, the lifestyle reinforces itself and
  leads to subsequent risky or protective behavior,
  depending on the lifestyle.

87
Slide 87
Behavior and Lifestyle

• The risk and protective factors involved in a
  lifestyle also relate to the odds of becoming the
  victim of crime.

• Juveniles who adopt a risky lifestyle also put
  themselves at greater risk of being victims of
  assault, robbery, rape, and murder.

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Slide 88
Drugs and Alcohol
The question of whether drug use or delinquency
comes first is still unanswered.

• Drug use has been found to be a risk factor in a
  variety of delinquent and violent behaviors.
• Drug use is a risk factor in becoming a victim of
  violent behavior at school.

89
Slide 89
Contact with the System
The early initiation of the juvenile into
criminal or drug-using behavior, accompanied by
early serious contact with the criminal justice
system, is one of the most predictive risk
factors associated with delinquency.
90
Slide 90
Social Behavior
How juveniles behavior in society and how they
interact with others is also a risk factor.

• Those who lie, cheat, and steal are at more risk
  than those who dont.
• Anti-social and aggressive behavior in young
  children is a risk factor for future delinquency.

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Slide 91
Social Behavior

• Youths who join gangs, regardless of the reasons,
  are substantially more at risk for becoming
  arrested or becoming a victim of crime.

• Those who remain in gangs for a long time have
  extraordinarily high rates of delinquency.

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Slide 92
Other Behaviors
Other risk factors include

• Sexual promiscuity
• Poor diet and health care, including smoking,
  drinking, and using drugs
• Unsafe conduct, including carrying a weapon

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Slide 93
Cumulative Effects of Risk Factors
It is not any one risk or protective factor that
determines delinquency. Instead, the cumulative
effect of risk or non-risk behavior, background,
and attitude is more important.
cumulative effect The total result of combined
risk factors.
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Slide 94
Cumulative Effects of Risk Factors

• The probability of delinquency increases as the
  number of risk factors increases.

• When the number of risk factors exceed the number
  of protective factors, the juveniles chance of
  having a delinquency-free adolescence will be
  small.

95
Slide 95
Outcomes and Opportunities
Engaging in risky behaviors or lifestyles
typically leads to certain outcomes and
opportunities or the lack of them.
outcomes and opportunities The consequences of a
persons particular lifestyle low-risk
lifestyles lead to different outcomes and
opportunities than high-risk lifestyles.
96
Slide 96
Outcomes and Opportunities
For juveniles already involved in risky behavior,
serious and bad outcomes may be likely

• Teenage pregnancy
• School failure
• Trouble with the criminal justice system
• Unemployability
• Poor self-concept
• Chemical dependency

Once a youth adopts a certain lifestyle, it tends
to either open or restrict access to
opportunities.
97
Slide 97
Outcomes and Opportunities

• Risk and protective factors do offer a partial
  explanation for delinquency.

• For this reason, identified risk and protective
  factors have found their place in programmatic
  interventions and initiatives designed to reduce
  juvenile delinquency and violence.

98
Slide 98
SELF CHECK
What is the difference between a causal factor
and a risk factor?
99

• END OF CHAPTER