1 Chapter 12: Violent Juveniles and Gangs

Much is written and reported about violent juvenile offenders and juvenile gang activities. Most everyone recalls Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris as the two students who devastated Columbine High School during the middle of a school day in April, 1999 with their shooting spree. Closer to home, few will forget the thirteen-year old Joplin, Missouri student who attempted to mimic the Littleton events at Memorial Middle School. The fortuitous jamming of the student’s Mac-90 assault rifle was the only thing that prevented another national tragedy (Fox News story, 2006). The news is rife with such shocking events involving juvenile perpetrators, school shootings, gang activities and youth on youth violence. The perception promoted by the press is that juveniles are primarily responsible for violent crimes. Coupled with the U.S. Census Bureau’s expectation that the teen population will increase 16 percent over a 15 year-period resulting in 21.5 million teens by 2010, many people fear that crime, particularly violent criminal activities caused by juveniles, will spiral out of control unless serious get- tough policies are instituted. In reality, OJJDP reports that only about one in five nonfatal violent victimizations actually involve a juvenile offender acting either alone or with others. Most victims of juvenile violence are juveniles, and many of the victims of juvenile violence know the offender (Flores, 2004). Franklin Zimring, an authority on juvenile justice concludes that the actual statistics “suggest that American youths are no more violent in the late 1990s than 20 years before ” (Gilmore, 1999). In fact, per Zimring’s book, “American Youth Violence, ” since 1980, arrest rates for juveniles, ages 13 to 17, accused of rape and robbery showed no identifiable trend either upward or downward and the overall rates for the late 1990’s were generally down. For example, the arrest rate for homicides by juveniles did rise sharply betwee