Psychopharmacological Treatment of Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings

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In 2008, there were 2.11 million arrests of persons younger than age 18 in the USA. (Puzzanchera 2009) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 2008 report “Crime in the United States” compiles the data reported within the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program which collects arrest statistics from law enforcement agencies across the USA. The data reflects the number of arrests, not the number of individuals arrested, and only records a count of the most serious charge for a particular arrest. Therefore it does not reflect the number of offenses resulting in a single arrest. Despite this limitation, the database offers information on the number of juvenile arrests, the number of individuals entering the justice system, the trends in these arrests and the ethnic and gender differences. For the period 1999–2008, there is a decline in all juvenile offenses leading to arrest, with the exception of robberies, which increased. Juveniles accounted for 16% of all violent crime arrests and for 26% of all property crime arrests in 2008. The violent crime index has fallen significantly from a high in 1994. There was a 10-year decline trend in the violent crime index for the period 1994–2004, reaching a 49% decrease in 2004, then a 12% increase for 2004–2006 and a new 5% decline for 2006–2008. Youth younger than 15 accounted for more than one-fourth of all juvenile arrests, 29% for violent crime offenses and 27% for property crime offenses. Only 1% of juvenile arrests are of youth younger than age 10. In 2008, the number of reported forcible rape offenses was at its lowest since 1980. In 2008, the juvenile arrest rate on murder charges was 3.8 arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10–17, a decline of 5% from 2007, and 74% down from a 1993 peak of 14.4. Between 1999 and 2008, juvenile arrests for aggravated assault decreased for males, more than for females (22% vs. 17%). During the same period, juvenile male arrests declined 6%, but female arrests increased 12% for simple assault. In 2008, females accounted for 17% of juvenile violent crime arrests, 36% of juvenile property crime arrests, and 44% of the juvenile larceny-theft arrests. In 2008, there were 629,800 arrests of females younger than age 18; accounting for 30% of the total juvenile arrests. Simple assaults, larceny-theft and driving under the influence, all increased in females from 1999 to 2008, while male arrests decreased in these categories. The data shows a downward trend in juvenile crime; but increase in crime committed by females, especially “petty” crime. This may mean that the population of female delinquents in detention is on the rise, gender ratios are changing and so are pathology and emotional issues encountered in juvenile justice settings, posing a new set of challenges for service programming.