In 1997, 26% of juvenile arrests were arrests of females
Law enforcement agencies made 748,000 arrests of females below the
age of 18 in 1997. Between 1993 and 1997, arrests of juvenile females
increased more (or decreased less) than male arrests in most offense categories.
| Percent Change
in Juvenile Arrests
1993-1997 |
Most Serious Offense |
|
Female |
|
Male |
Violent Crime Index |
| 12% |
| -9% |
Murder |
| -36 |
| -39 |
Robbery |
| -3 |
| 7 |
Aggravated assault |
| 15 |
| -10 |
Property Crime Index |
| 10 |
| -8 |
Burglary |
| -3 |
| -10 |
Larceny-theft |
| 14 |
| -1 |
Motor vehicle theft |
| -19 |
| -31 |
Simple assault |
| 30 |
| 12 |
Weapons |
| -8 |
| -24 |
Drug abuse violations |
| 117 |
| 78 |
Liquor laws |
| 41 |
| 30 |
Disorderly conduct |
| 52 |
| 25 |
Curfew and loitering |
| 102 |
| 81 |
Runaways |
| 0 |
| -4 |
|
Data source: Crime in the United States
1997, table 35. |
The juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate for females more
than doubled between 1987 and 1995, then fell in each of the next 2 years
|
In addition to overall violent crimes, female arrest rates in 1997 were substantially above their 1987 levels in many offense categories: robbery (52% increase), aggravated assault (101% increase), other assaults (142% increase), larceny-theft (22% increase), motor vehicle theft (36% increase), vandalism (42% increase), weapons law violations (100% increase), and drug abuse violations (131% increase). |
Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See data source note 1 for detail.] |
|
Juvenile Arrests 1997 |
Juvenile Justice Bulletin
· December 1998 |
|