39% of Incarcerated Juveniles Found Jailed for Violence

In a grim portrait of youthful offenders, a federal study released Sunday indicated that nearly 39% of the 18,226 juveniles in long-term youth correctional institutions were jailed for violent crimes, and that nearly three out of five used drugs regularly.

The study, based on a survey of youthful offenders by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also revealed that more than half of those who used drugs said that they began at the age of 14. Nearly a quarter of the group reported using drugs such as heroin, cocaine, PCP or LSD.

“We found that many of these juveniles (boys and girls under the age of 18) had long criminal histories,” said Steven R. Schlesinger, director of the bureau, which is an agency of the Justice Department.

“Almost 43% of the juveniles had been arrested more than five times. Almost 60% said they had been committed to a correctional institution at least once before their current confinement.”

41% Used Weapons

The survey, which focused on the more than 25,000 juveniles and young adults in long-term, state-operated juvenile institutions, also found that nearly 41% of those convicted of a violent offense had used a weapon while committing their crime. Nearly one in five of those held for violent offenses used a gun. The majority of the violent crimes committed were robbery and assault.

Researchers found that many of the young adult offenders had criminal histories that were just as extensive as those of adults in state prisons. For example, more than half of the young adults surveyed--as well as a comparable sample of state prisoners--were found to be incarcerated for violent offenses.

Among the juveniles, 57.5% said that they had a current violent offense, had been on probation previously or were incarcerated at least once for a violent crime.

The report also painted a picture of broken homes and poor education: Nearly 72% of the juveniles interviewed said that they had not grown up with both parents, and more than half said that one of their family members had been imprisoned at least once.

By contrast, a 1986 bureau study found that nearly 73.9% of the nation’s estimated 62.8 million children were reported to be living with both parents.

Also, only 41.7% of the juveniles and young adults between the ages of 15 and 17 in correctional facilities had finished more than eight years of school. More than 76% of this age group in the general population had completed more than eight years of school.

Family Members Served Time

Schlesinger noted that more than half of the juveniles and young adults in these facilities reported that a family member had served time in jail or prison. Almost 25% said their fathers had been incarcerated at some time in the past year.

The young offenders were also influenced by their friends.

Many of these residents “reported that their friends had committed crimes such as smuggling, selling drugs, burglary, stealing cars, shoplifting and selling stolen property,” the report found. “An estimated 62% of the (offenders) were with others when they committed the offense for which they were currently incarcerated.”

The study was based on 1987 interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,621 residents in long-term, state-operated juvenile institutions. The interviews were conducted in 50 facilities in 26 states.

In the sample, 52.5% of the individuals were white, 41.4% black and an estimated 14.5% were Latino. The rest were American Indians, Asians, Alaskan natives or Pacific Islanders.