greater for arson (53%) and vandalism (41%). However,
Black and White juveniles were both responsible for
the same proportions (9%) of Black and White arrests
for murder in 2003. Although there has been some
discussion about the inequity in charges across race, it
is difficult to determine the specific causes of these
disparities.VViioolleenntt CCrriimmee TTrreenndd
As mentioned, the violent crime rate varied across
years, with the late 1980s to early 1990s evidencing
high rates of juvenile violent crime. The Violent Crime
Index for juveniles was generally stable from 1980 to
1988, but by 1994, it had increased to 61%. By 2003,
the Violent Crime Index for juvenile arrests had
dropped below its level in the early 1980s. The juvenile
male arrest rate, which was 8.3 times the rate for juve-
nile females in 1980, dropped to 4.2 times the female
arrest rate in 2003. From 1988 to 1994, the increase in
the arrest rate for juvenile females (98%) was larger
than it was for juvenile males (56%). Additionally, the
greater decline in the male than the female rate (51%
vs. 32%) from 1994 to 2003 was largely responsible for
the decline in the overall rate of juvenile violent crime.
While some of these statistics are encouraging, there
continue to be a large number of juvenile offenders.
Surprisingly, the murder arrest rate increased 110%
from 1987 to 1993. For juvenile males, the arrest rate
for murders increased 117% in this time period, which
accounted for the overall rise in the juvenile murder
arrest rate. The juvenile female arrest rate did not con-
tribute to the overall increase because this rate
increased only by 36% during this time period. In
2003, the murder arrest rate for both juvenile males
(78%) and juvenile females (62%) declined the most
since 1980 or earlier. The violent crime trend for sev-
eral minority groups, including Black, Asian, and
Native American, mirrored the trend for White juve-
niles, with each group’s arrest rate peaking in 1994.
The rate for Black juveniles declined the most, but
their violent crime arrest rate was still higher than the
rate for any other racial group in 2003. In 2003, the
violent crime arrest rate for Black juveniles, which
had decreased by 35%, was approximately four times
the rate for White juveniles, which was the next high-
est rate (800 arrests vs. 200 arrests per 100,000 juve-
niles, respectively). The large number of youths who
come into contact with the law, which affects their
own personal mental health, ability to excel in school,and other aspects of life that could lead to well-being,
has led researchers to attempt to better understand
youths with conduct problems. This research has led
to further efforts to understand juvenile offenders and,
thus, further subtyping of juvenile offenders and of
youths with conduct problems.Developmental Pathways
of Delinquent Behavior
and Juvenile Offending
CChhiillddhhoooodd-- VVeerrssuuss
AAddoolleesscceenntt--OOnnsseett AAnnttiissoocciiaall BBeehhaavviioorr
According to Terrie Moffitt, childhood-onset or
life-course-persistent antisocial behavior has a differ-
ent developmental pathway from adolescent-onset
antisocial behavior. Early-onset antisocial behavior is
the result of a child’s characteristics and a poor family
and social environment. Traits increasing a child’s risk
of antisocial behavior include a difficult temperament,
cognitive deficits, developmental motor delays, and
hyperactivity. Environmental influences include weak
or broken familial bonds, poverty, poor parenting,
and strained relationships with teachers and peers.
Childhood-onset antisocial behavior commonly per-
sists into adulthood, and these children have much
poorer prognoses than children with adolescent-onset
behavior. Additionally, the life-course-persistent
group of antisocial youth, which is much smaller than
the adolescent-limited group, is responsible for a dis-
proportionately large amount of crime. In contrast,
adolescent-onset antisocial behavior is considered
developmentally normal and occurs in otherwise
healthy children. Adolescent-onset antisocial behavior
is deemed normal because it is a means by which
youths establish independence from their parents, and
these children generally outgrow this behavior as they
progress into young adulthood. However, desistance
in adolescent-onset youths may be delayed if they
encounter problems, such as addiction.TTrriippllee--PPaatthhwwaayy MMooddeell
Rolf Loeber and David Farrington identified three
categories of troublesome behavior in children aged 7
to 12 years. These authors developed a triple-pathway
model to explain the links between various pathways
in the context of increasingly severe delinquency.
First, children exhibiting disruptive behaviors, such asJuvenile Offenders——— 433J-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 433