Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Four Kids, Four Crimes?(Links to an external site.), which follows four cases and examines how and why two defendants were

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5 Relationships Between Age and Crime Across the Life Course

Gallo Images/Contributor/Gallo Images Editorial/Getty Images

Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Explain differences between a juvenile and an adult and between juvenile delinquency and crime.

• Analyze the connection between age and criminal victimization among the elderly.

• Apply psychological and biological theories to help explain connections between age and crime.

• Critically analyze how and why age influences juvenile delinquency.

• Differentiate between juvenile justice and criminal justice.

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In March 2011, 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez killed his 2-year-old half brother, David, in Jacksonville, Florida. Cristian and David were reportedly fighting, and Cristian pushed David into a bookcase. David was hospitalized with a fractured skull and brain hemorrhaging, and he remained unconscious until his death. When questioned by police, Cristian admitted to beating his brother, and police also discovered that Cristian had broken David’s leg in January 2011 as they wrestled.

Their 25-year-old mother, Biannela Susana, originally lied to law enforcement about the inci- dent, claiming she had been home during the fight even though she was not present. Cristian originally told her that David had fallen off his bunk bed, and even though David remained unconscious, almost 8 hours passed before Susana took him to the hospital.

During their investigation, police found that on the day of the incident, Susana did not call 911 but instead searched the Internet for “when someone gets knocked out.” Susana then checked her bank account and downloaded music to her computer before searching for the hospital address. Doctors believed that if Susana had taken David to the hospital immediately, he would still be alive.

The case made national and international news when the state prosecutor decided to try Cris- tian as an adult, making him the youngest person ever in the state to be charged as an adult. Susana eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter for her role in David’s death and faces 13 to 30 years in prison.

Various media outlets have reported that Cristian, like his mother before him, was in and out of foster care. His grandmother was reportedly a drug addict. Reports indicated that Cristian had been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by his parents (Brumley, 2011). In a shocking twist, Cristian admitted to sexually abusing a 5-year-old half brother and will be tried separately for this crime.

Given the history of trauma, is Cristian a cold-blooded killer or a victim of a horrible upbring- ing incapable of sound judgment? Should Cristian have been tried as an adult, or should his case have been handled in the juvenile justice system, where the focus would have been on the best interests of the child, rather than punishment?

This chapter explores relationships between age and crime, including the impact of age on criminality as well as criminal victimization. The case of Cristian Fernandez is examined in further detail throughout the chapter.

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course At some point during our lives, we all violate rules and even break the law. Studies show that most of us commit crimes only occasionally, usually beginning in our teenage years (adoles- cence). Most people who commit crimes during adolescence do not continue to do so into adulthood; they are called adolescent-limited offenders because their criminality is limited to adolescence. Another term for people who commit crimes in adolescence is late starters, since they do not commit criminal acts as children (in most states any age prior to one’s 18th birthday). Some people start committing criminal acts much earlier—in childhood—and thus are known as early starters. Late and early starters who persist in regularly committing crimes into adulthood are called life-course-persistent offenders (Alltucker et al., 2006; Moffitt, 1993, 1997).

The life course is a term used by criminologists to describe the entire life span of a person, from birth until death (Laub & Sampson, 2006; Sampson & Laub, 1995). Studies show there are significant differences between early and late starters as well as between adolescent- limited and life-course-persistent offenders. These differences are discussed later in this chapter as they relate to the issue of age and crime.

Cristian Fernandez’s guilty plea classifies him as a juvenile who began his deviant behavior early. Studies suggest people like Cristian will generally continue to commit crimes into adult- hood unless they receive proper intervention. It is for this reason that Cristian’s fate in the criminal justice system was such an important issue for society.

Juveniles Versus Adults Legally speaking, there is a major difference between criminal acts committed by kids or ado- lescents and those committed by adults. Juveniles are people who have not yet reached the age of adulthood and thus are not usually tried as adults in court. An adult is a person who has reached a certain age at which they are presumed to be responsible for their behavior. The age of adulthood varies by state but is usually 18 years. At this age, people can generally drive, vote, join the military, become a police officer, and enjoy many other privileges of adulthood.

Historically, juveniles were processed in a separate system of justice called the juvenile justice system, which deals with three major kinds of cases. These include delinquency cases (when a young person is suspected of a violation of the criminal law), dependency cases (when a family is unable to care for a child and thus the child is placed in the custody of the juvenile court), and neglect or abuse cases (when a family member or caregiver is accused of either not prop- erly caring for or physically harming a child). Juvenile courts still handle dependency, neglect, and abuse cases, yet kids who are accused of violating the criminal law are now increasingly being processed in the adult criminal justice system, as in the case of Cristian Fernandez from the beginning of the chapter.

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Juvenile Delinquency Technically, juveniles do not commit crimes. When a juvenile violates the law, it is referred to as an act of delinquency. Delinquency is an act committed by a young person that would be a crime if the person was an adult (Siegel & Welsh, 2011). When a person is alleged to have violated the criminal law, state law dictates whether the offender is treated as a juvenile or as an adult. In most states and at the federal level, people are automatically handled as adults when they are 18 years old. In other states a juvenile is someone aged 17 and under, whereas in others it is someone aged 16 and under.

Criminologists rely on various measures of data to establish the amount of delinquency in society. These include the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and Supplementary Homicide Reports. Table 5.1 shows some of the findings from these data.

Web Field Trip: Four Kids, Four Crimes

Efforts in recent years to “get tough on crime” have not excluded children. In the 1990s almost every single state passed laws making it easier to try juveniles in adult criminal courts. In most states no minimum age is stipulated for a juvenile’s transfer to criminal court. Of those states that do, only two set a minimum age of higher than 14. Up until 2018 California had five criteria that had to be considered to certify a child up to the adult system for trial: previous delinquent history, the level of the offender’s criminal sophistication, whether they can be rehabilitated in the time the court has to work with them, the success of prior rehabilitation attempts, and the seriousness or gravity of the crime. The state has since changed its law, now barring any child under age 16 from being transferred to adult court or facing a life sentence, regardless of the severity of the crime.

Four kids, four crimes: Two were sent to adult court, and two were treated as juveniles. Did the court make the right decision? Read their stories and decide for yourself:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile.

Critical Thinking Questions 1. Do you agree with the punishments of Manny, Shawn, Marquese, and José? 2. Do you think that because Shawn is White and from an affluent background, he received

a more lenient punishment than he otherwise would have? 3. Do you think any kid ever belongs in adult court? 4. Can juvenile criminals be rehabilitated instead of locked up? How?

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Table 5.1: Estimated number of juvenile arrests, 2018

Most serious offense Number of juvenile arrests

All offenses 728,280

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 920

Robbery 17,290

Aggravated assault 27,940

Burglary 22,250

Larceny-theft 92,630

Motor vehicle theft 14,780

Arson 1,850

Simple assault 125,030

Forgery and counterfeiting 1,040

Fraud 4,710

Embezzlement 580

Stolen property (buying, receiving, possessing) 9,320

Vandalism 30,600

Weapons (carrying, possessing, etc.) 17,170

Prostitution and commercialized vice 260

Drug abuse violations 90,670

Gambling 180

Offenses against the family and children 3,340

Driving under the influence 5,450

Liquor laws 26,350

Drunkenness 3,270

Disorderly conduct 57,760

Vagrancy 680

All other offenses (except traffic) 140,500

Curfew and loitering 22,030

Property Crime Index 131,500

Violent crimes* 46,140

Note. The Property Crime Index includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. * The violent crimes category includes the offenses of murder, robbery, and aggravated assault and is presented as an alternative to the Violent Crime Index, which is not available as a result of the change to the definition of rape in 2013. In any given year prior to the change in the rape definition, these three offenses accounted for more than 95% of arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses. Source: From Law Enforcement & Juvenile Crime, by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2019 (https:// www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/qa05101.asp?qaDate=2018&text=yes).

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Specifically, these data show the number of juveniles arrested in 2018 for various crimes. This should be seen as a very conservative estimate of the number of delinquent acts committed by juveniles. Indeed, most delinquent acts do not lead to arrests, because victims and wit- nesses do not come forward. Still, the data show us that property crimes, violations of the law that lead to property loss, are far more common among juveniles than violent crimes and that nonviolent crimes are far more common than violent crimes. Violent crimes are viola- tions of the law intended to produce physical harm to a victim.

In 2018 there were 73.4 million people younger than 18 in the United States (OJJDP, 2019a), and only 131,500 juvenile arrests were made for acts of serious delinquency against property and 46,140 for acts of serious violent delinquency, meaning that fewer than 1% of juveniles in the United States were arrested for serious delinquent acts. This shows how rare serious juvenile delinquency is in society.

Demographic Factors of Delinquency Data from the FBI’s Crime in the United States 2018 report show that in 2018 the following groups were more heavily involved in acts of delinquency: males, juveniles ages 15–17, and minorities (FBI, 2019a, 2019b; OJJDP, 2019b). Figure 5.1 shows that the rate of male delin- quency is much higher than the rate of female delinquency. In fact, in 2017, 73% of delin- quency cases in courts were of male juveniles (Hockenberry, 2019).

Figure 5.1: Juvenile arrest rates by gender, 1980–2018

The rate of delinquency is consistently higher for males than females.

From Law Enforcement & Juvenile Crime, by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2019 (https://www.ojjdp.gov /ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05230&selOffenses=1).

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16 ‘18

R a

te

Male Female

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

The issue of gender is relevant for a chapter on age, because young males pose the greatest risk of serious acts of delinquency. Figure 5.2 shows that as young people move from age 10 to 17, their risk of delinquency involvement rises for property offenses, public order offenses, offenses against other persons, and drug offenses. The term initiation defines when a person begins committing delinquent behaviors. Its implications for behavior are discussed later in this chapter.

Figure 5.2: Delinquency rates by age

The risk of delinquent behavior rises from ages 10 to 17 years.

Based on data from Juvenile Court Statistics 2008, by C. Puzzanchera, B. Adams, and M. Sickmund, 2011, National Center for Juvenile Justice (http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/jcsreports/jcs2008.pdf ).

5

10

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45

0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Property

Person

Drugs

Public order

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Figure 5.3: Juvenile arrest rates by race, 1980–2018

Rates of juvenile arrest are highest for Black Americans.

From Juvenile Arrest Rate Trends, by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2019 (https://www.ojjdp.gov /ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05260&selOffenses=1).

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16 ‘18

R a

te

White Minority Black American Indian Asian

Finally, Figure 5.3 shows involvement in delinquency by race. According to OJJDP (2019b) statistics, Black youths are the most involved in delinquency, followed by American Indians, Whites, and Asians. This is similar to statistics from police, courts, and corrections about the relationship between race and adult criminality. Yet there are at least two important caveats to these data. First, because there are more White juveniles in the population, they actually commit more acts of delinquency than any other racial group. However, the rate of offending is higher for Blacks because they commit a disproportionate amount of delinquency based on overall population. For example, the rate of delinquency for Black juveniles in 2018 was 4,618.3 per 100,000, versus 2,251.2 for American Indian juveniles, 1,792.7 for White juve- niles, and 457.6 for Asian juveniles (OJJDP, 2019b). Second, these data pertain to processing of delinquency in juvenile courts, meaning they may not accurately reflect who actually com- mits delinquency but instead who is arrested and processed through the system.

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135

Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Serious Crimes Committed by Juveniles Homicide is the most serious crime in America and occurs when one person kills another person in a way that violates the criminal law. Figure 5.4 illustrates trends in homicides (i.e., murder) committed by juveniles from 1980 through 2016. The data show that juvenile mur- ders rose in the 1980s but then fell in the 1990s. Over the past decade, juvenile murders have been relatively constant. These trends are consistent with adult homicide trends as well.

The largest portion of juvenile murders are committed by adolescents aged 16 and 17, as shown in Figure 5.4. Generally speaking, the likelihood of committing a murder rises through adolescence but then sharply declines thereafter, a reality of crime referred to as the age– crime curve, which will be addressed later in the chapter. From 1984 to 1994, homicide arrest rates for all juvenile age groups increased; the most significant was among youths aged 15 to 17, with an average increase of 199%. From 1994 to 2016, however, arrest rates declined for all juvenile age groups, with rates dropping an average of 69% for youths aged 15 to 17.

Figure 5.4: Homicides committed by juveniles by age, 1980–2016

The likelihood of homicide increases during adolescence.

From Offending by Juveniles, by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2018 (https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb /offenders/qa03104.asp?qaDate=2016).

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

600

400

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0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16

Under 14 Age 14 Age 15 Age 16 Age 17

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Further, nearly all juvenile murderers are male. Female murderers have remained largely sta- ble (and extremely rare) for decades, whereas male homicides increased dramatically in the 1980s and then fell in the 1990s.

In terms of race, data show that Black youths are accused of murder more frequently than are White juveniles. Figure 5.5 shows that the number of homicides committed by Black youths was much higher than the number committed by White youths in the early 1990s, but since then the difference between the races has declined. From 2002 to 2007 the number of homicides by Black youths increased about 65%, and the number of homicides committed by White youths during this time remained fairly stable. Yet from 2007 to 2016, the rate of Black youth killings dropped about 35%.

Figure 5.5: Known juvenile homicide offenders by race, 1980–2016

The likelihood of committing homicide is highest for Black Americans.

From Offending by Juveniles, by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2018 (https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb /offenders/qa03101.asp?qaDate=2016).

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

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1,800

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600

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0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16

White Black Other

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Keep in mind that there are far more White juveniles in American society than Black juveniles. According to the OJJDP (2019a), 52.5% of people aged 0 to 17 years were White in 2018, fol- lowed by 25.5% Hispanic, 15.1% Black, 5.9% Asian, and 1% American Indian. Thus, Black youths are disproportionately involved in serious delinquency such as murder, and their rates of murder are thus significantly higher. Possible reasons for this are addressed later in the chapter, with special attention to how this relates to age.

In terms of how juveniles commit murders, guns are the predominant weapon of choice for juvenile murderers, just as with adult murderers. Most murders by juveniles in 2016 involved guns (about 80% of murders; OJJDP, 2019c). Data show that juvenile murderers usually kill people they know, either an acquaintance or a family member (OJJDP, 2019d). Yet Figure 5.6 shows juveniles also kill a large number of strangers; in 2016, 22% of juvenile murder victims were strangers, versus 39% who were acquaintances. Later in the chapter, potential explana- tions for why juveniles kill are addressed, and the link between age and use of guns is made explicit. Further, the interaction between age, race, and guns is an important issue that will be revisited later in the chapter.

Juveniles are often involved in serious crimes other than murder. Data from the OJJDP (2019f ) show that, on average, juveniles are involved in 20% of all serious violent crime in the country.

Figure 5.6: Homicides committed by juveniles by relationship, 1980–2016

Most juvenile homicides are committed by people who know each other.

From Offending by Juveniles, by by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2018 (https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb /offenders/qa03107.asp?qaDate=2016).

1,000

1,500

500

0 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96 ‘98 ‘00 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16

Family Acquaintance Stranger

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Drug Use Many young people also experiment with drug use. There are two primary sources of data on youth drug use. First, Monitoring the Future presents data from an annual survey of young people in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. Second, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) presents data from a national household survey of people to determine the preva- lence of drug use among people age 12 and older. Both Monitoring the Future and the NSDUH measure current use (i.e., any drug use in the past month), past-year use, and lifetime use so that we can learn the percentage of Americans who have used drugs in the past month, past year, and ever.

In the Field: An Expert Weighs In on Youths and Gun Violence

Joshua Gryniewicz

How does changing the environments in which shoot- ings and killings occur influence youths in communities impacted? How might working with youths prevent shoot- ings and killings before intervention is necessary?

CeaseFire focuses primarily on changing the thinking. While we put effort into changing conditions, mediat- ing conflicts, and providing support, the bottom line is that unless we can shift the thinking of the individual and the social norms around violence, a community will not make much progress. In a lot of ways this is why so many community redevelopment projects fail to take off in the way that they are initially posed, because the social norms around violence are still a large part of daily life. When our workers resolve a conflict or when they work one-on-one with a client, the effort isn’t limited to just the intervention but with a longer term strategy for actually changing the thinking, getting the participants to consider alternatives to conflict resolution without resorting to violence.

There are so many “prevention-based” programs that do great work with an after-school approach: art programs, social service programs, etc., but the program participants CeaseFire works with are often beyond the scope of these offerings. They are the “highest risk” for vio- lence and more often than not have exhausted conventional and even most unconventional social support systems. They are often no longer in school, averse to social services, and would not participate in a conventional model. So their next encounter with the system is probably going to be prison. Again, we are talking about a small subset of the population in our target communities, but by far the most volatile. So while prevention programs make an exceptional contribution to changing the overall social norms, they are incapable of reaching those youths most likely to be involved in the most dangerous behaviors. I should add the influence Cease- Fire workers have on these youths is astounding: When the U.S. Department of Justice evalu- ation was released in 2008, it found 99% of participants interviewed rated their CeaseFire Outreach worker as the second most important person in their life besides their parents.

Courtesy of Joshua Gryniewicz Joshua Gryniewicz, former communication director for CeaseFire in Chicago, Illinois.

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

From these data sources, we know that about half of all Americans admit to having tried some illicit drug at least once by the 12th grade. Most of these people try only marijuana, and few ever move on to any other substance. Further, most people do not continue using illegal drugs into adulthood or become “current users” (i.e., do not report any drug use in the past month).

Most high school students are not current users of drugs. Among those who do use illicit drugs, drug use typically rises from 8th to 10th to 12th grades. The drug most likely used by students is alcohol, followed by marijuana and then cigarettes. There is almost no use of what scholars commonly refer to as “hard drugs” like cocaine and heroin (0.6% of students are cur- rent users of heroin; Johnston et al., 2020).

The data show that drug use among young people fell starting in the late 1970s, started ris- ing again in the early 1990s, then began leveling off and even declining in the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Over the past few years, youth drug use has again been rising. Just as with delinquency and criminal behavior, data from the NSDUH show that the risk of drug use rises in the teenage years, peaks at ages 18–20 years, then declines thereafter.

Web Field Trip: Juveniles and Vaping

A fairly recent trend among juveniles is “vaping” tobacco and other chemicals. Vaping is the use of an e-cigarette or similar device to inhale an aerosol version of liquids containing nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals into one’s lungs. E-cigarettes can look like normal cigarettes, while other vaping devices can look like common, everyday objects like pens or USB flash drives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). The health risks associated with these products and their effect on young users are just beginning to come into focus. Currently, all states restrict youth access to e-cigarettes (Public Health Law Center, 2020); however, 36.7% of students surveyed reported having vaped at some point (versus 41.5% for alcohol, 37.8% for marijuana, and 15.3% for cigarettes; National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2020).

Visit https://youtu.be/755Vmwgl0ZI to watch a video from the National Institute on Drug Abuse discussing the latest Monitoring the Future results on vaping.

Critical Thinking Questions 1. Do you think restricting juveniles’ access to vaping devices will help prevent them from

vaping nicotine and other chemicals? 2. Given the potential impacts of vaping on juveniles, what should be the minimum age for

access to such products?

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Section 5.1 Criminality Across the Life Course

Figure 5.7 demonstrates the types of drugs being used by juveniles aged 12 to 17. The main drug of choice is marijuana, followed by illegal use of psychotherapeutics (prescription drugs like pain relievers, stimulants, and sedatives or tranquilizers). Illegal prescription drugs pose a relatively new challenge to policy makers as well as law enforcement, because these sub- stances are utilized for legitimate medical purposes and are thus widely available, even in most American homes.

Figure 5.7: Monthly drug use by youths aged 12–17 years

Although marijuana is still the most widely reported drug used by young people, usage of all types of drugs has been declining among juveniles aged 12 to 17.

Based on data from Results From the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 (http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k10NSDUH/2k10Results.htm#2.1); Results From the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables Prevalence Estimates, Standard Errors, p Values, and Sample Sizes, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019 (https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report /2018-nsduh-detailed-tables).

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Illicit drugs Marijuana Psychotherapeutics Inhalants Hallucinogens

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141

Section 5.2 Victimization Across the Life Course

Status Offenses In addition to acts of delinquency, juveniles can also be held responsible for offenses that are unique to the status of juveniles—acts such as running away from home, being truant to school, being “incorrigible,” violating curfews, and so forth. These acts are called status offenses because they are unique to people with the status of juvenile, meaning adults can- not be charged with them (Act for Juvenile Justice, 2012). Status offenses are not viewed or treated as seriously as acts of delinquency, but status offense cases can be quite disruptive to families because they often lead to juvenile justice system intervention.

Data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice show that juvenile courts dealt with 87,900 status offense cases in 2017, down 48% since 2005 (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2019). The breakdown of status offense cases and how they have

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