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Offending by Juveniles
Homicide
Q: What are the trends in victim-offender relationships for homicide offending by youth?
A: Victims of known juvenile homicide offenders were more likely to be acquaintances or strangers than family members.

Known juvenile homicide offenders by victim-offender relationship, 1980-2020

Year Family Acquaintance Stranger
1980 182 536 400
1981 199 602 457
1982 155 543 413
1983 182 516 285
1984 157 426 286
1985 167 544 319
1986 179 670 354
1987 204 680 355
1988 181 800 445
1989 174 884 547
1990 166 1,015 745
1991 166 1,190 807
1992 181 1,211 777
1993 184 1,325 937
1994 183 1,351 915
1995 162 1,056 814
1996 135 1,024 614
1997 122 846 511
1998 158 667 409
1999 128 568 299
2000 115 386 338
2001 104 368 285
2002 106 388 293
2003 96 391 277
2004 94 392 309
2005 88 399 354
2006 81 528 412
2007 87 481 433
2008 97 471 301
2009 90 428 304
2010 66 328 285
2011 68 308 246
2012 62 262 241
2013 62 262 194
2014 86 289 216
2015 68 307 205
2016 68 349 199
2017 90 365 200
2018 78 362 264
2019 77 369 178
2020 99 464 297

[ Graph version ]  [ CSV file ]

  • Annually since 1980, juvenile offenders killed more acquaintances than strangers. For example, in the ten year period from 2011-2020, 53% of known juvenile homicide offenders killed an acquaintance, 35% killed a stranger, and 12% killed a family member.
  • In the last year, the number of juvenile homicide offenders who killed a stranger increased 66%, compared with a 26% increase in homicides involving an acquaintance.
Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/offenders/qa03107.asp?qaDate=2020. Released on December 09, 2021.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C., Chamberlin, G. and Kang, W. (2021). Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports. Available on-line at: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/.

Data Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2020 [machine-readable data files]. Washington, D.C.: FBI.

 

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