Youth and homicide: An investigation of the age factor in criminal homicide

Abstract

With the perception that juvenile violent crime is increasing, criminal justice policy toward juvenile crimes of violence has increasingly mirrored policy toward adult violent crime. Neither the justification for this policy change nor the literature on the topic indicates whether juvenile violent crime is, in fact, different from adult violent crime. We use data from all homicides in Baltimore from 1974 through 1984 to examine this question. The analysis shows that juvenile involvement in homicide, as measured by the absolute number of juvenile homicides, the proportion of juveniles involved in homicide, and the juvenile homicide rate, did not increase during this period. Further, the analysis shows that juvenile homicides differ significantly from adult homicides on a number of dimensions. Three different analytical techniques confirm the particular significance of multiple-offender homicides and concurrent felony homicides in the juvenile homicide pattern.