Youth Violence and Delinquency: Monsters and Myths, Volumes 1-3 Edited by Marilyn D. McShane Frank P. Williams III PRAEGER Youth Violence and Delinquency Recent Titles in Criminal Justice, Delinquency, and Corrections The Fragmentation of Policing in American Cities: Toward an Ecological Theory of Police-Citizen Relations Hung-En Sung Profiles from Prison: Adjusting to Life Behind Bars Michael Santos Racial Issues in Criminal Justice: The Case of African Americans Marvin D. Free, Jr. In the Adopted Land: Abused Immigrant Women and the Criminal Justice System Hoan N. Bui Peddling Poison: The Tobacco Industry and Kids Clete Snell Boys among Men: Trying and Sentencing Juveniles as Adults David L. Myers Youth Violence and Delinquency Monsters and Myths Volume 1 Juvenile Offenders and Victims Edited by MARILYN D. MCSHANE AND FRANK P. W ILLIAMS III Praeger Perspectives Criminal Justice, Delinquency, and Corrections Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Youth violence and delinquency : monsters and myths / edited by Marilyn D. McShane and Frank P. Williams III. p. cm. — (Criminal justice, delinquency, and corrections, ISSN 1535-0371) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-275-99112-8 (set : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-275-99113-5 (v. 1 : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-275-99114-2 (v. 2 : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-275-99115-9 (v. 3 : alk. paper) 1. Juvenile delinquency— United States. 2. Juvenile justice, Administration of—United States. 3. Victims of juvenile crime—United States. 4. Juvenile delinquency—United States—Prevention. I. McShane, Marilyn D., 1956- II. Williams, Franklin P. HV9104.Y6854 2007 364.360973—dc22 2007003047 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ' 2007 by Marilyn D. McShane and Frank P. Williams III All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007003047 ISBN-10: 0-275-99112-1 (set) 0-275-99113-X (vol. 1) 0-275-99114-8 (vol. 2) 0-275-99115-6 (vol. 3) ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99112-8 (set) 978-0-275-99113-5 (vol. 1) 978-0-275-99114-2 (vol. 2) 978-0-275-99115-9 (vol. 3) ISSN: 1535-0371 First published in 2007 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10987654321 Contents Preface vii Chapter 1 Myths and Realities: How and What the Public Knows about Crime and Delinquency 1 Marilyn D. McShane and Frank P. Williams III Chapter 2 Age, Gender, Race, and Rep: Trends in Juvenile Offending and Victimization 11 Richard McWhorter Chapter 3 Home Is Where the Hurt Is: Child Abuse and Delinquency 27 Robert L. Bing III Chapter 4 Youth Street Gangs 41 Lorine A. Hughes Chapter 5 Juvenile Sex Offending 61 Camille Gibson Chapter 6 Bad Boys in Bars: Hogging and Humiliation 81 Jeannine A. Gailey and Ariane Prohaska Chapter 7 Delinquency, Alcohol, and Drugs 93 Frances P. Reddington Chapter 8 Where There’s Smoke: Juvenile Firesetting through Stages of Child Development 109 Alan I. Feldberg, John H. Lemmon, and Thomas Austin vi CONTENTS Chapter 9 Weapons of Minors’ Destruction: Youthful Offenders and Guns 129 H. R. ‘‘Rudy’’ Hardy Jr. Chapter 10 Juveniles in Cyberspace: Risk and Perceptions of Victimization 145 Marilyn D. McShane, Frank P. Williams III, and Ming-Li Hsieh Chapter 11 Mother Blame and Delinquency Claims: Juvenile Delinquency and Maternal Responsibility 159 Bruce Hoffman and Thomas M. Vander Ven Chapter 12 The Great Wall of China: Cultural Buffers and Delinquency 177 Hsiao-Ming Wang Epilogue 191 Index 195 About the Editors and Contributors 203 Preface HERE THERE BE DRAGONS: THE UNKNOWN AND DANGEROUS DELINQUENT When ancient mapmakers worked their way to the edges of unchar- tered or unexplored territories, they marked the boundaries with the fa- mous phrase, ‘‘beyond here monsters lie’’ or ‘‘here there be dragons,’’ appealing to the common understanding that what was unknown must contain the dreaded or evil. Much the same can be said for the vast expanse of juvenile delinquency—the wild, unpredictable, and unrestrained tempers of youth are to be feared and often demonized. The media ‘‘map- makers’’ often paint dramatic and terror-filled accounts of what are, in reality, rare events. Consequently, the routine parade of countless minor episodes of kids who shoplift, run away, and vandalize, and who are over- looked in the overcrowded and overworked juvenile courts, is far less attractive for the sound bites of the evening news. The normal developmental tendencies of youth to talk, act, and dress in extreme and unique ways often contribute to these fearful images. The blue hair, Mohawk cuts, the cacophonic music, and elaborate piercings and tattoos often mark the borders of adult tolerance. Although gen- erational misunderstandings and the inevitable rebellion of teenagers is nothing new, we seem to continue to approach each successive wave of youngsters with the same apprehension, fear, and readiness to suppress the wayward vestiges of individualism. So it is not surprising, then, that a crime committed by a spike-haired, nose-ringed, gothic-dressed, jack- booted young man is perhaps likely to draw more attention from the court and require longer supervision with more restrictions on activities. Anti- loitering and congregating statutes, as well as prohibitions against skate- boarding, are viewed by critics as ways to cleanse business areas of viii PREFACE unattractive nuisances. As a group of youth in Brattleboro, Vermont, gather- ing in downtown parking areas pushing the limits of municipal goodwill found out, no law prohibited them from stripping down to various levels of nudity, but there soon would be, as fast as the select board of town leaders could legislate one. Today, theorists often spend as much time contemplating why youth do not commit crime as why youth do. We attempt to explain not only the overall decrease in juvenile crime, but also why, in the face of such a decrease, most people still have the impression that the juvenile crime rate is increasing. Media coverage of certain dramatic juvenile crimes tends to give people the wrong impression about current trends in delinquency. The terms ‘‘shocking crime’’ and ‘‘brutal violence’’ are often overplayed, creating a distorted and pessimistic view of youthful offenders. Although many people believe that juvenile delinquency is increasing, the truth is that the juvenile offending rate is fairly stable and that many youth are engaged in co-offending, which tends to make the amount of crime appear higher. That is, more offenders are arrested than actual crimes committed. Also, contrary to what some people seem to believe, juvenile offenders are not getting younger or engaging in more rapes and robberies. Crime figures vary by whether you are talking about reports of crimes or arrests for crimes. As a consequence of better law enforcement techni- ques, arrests can increase even though the amount of reported crimes stays about the same. The accuracy of certain crime statistics and the likelihood of offenses being reported also vary by type, such as drug crime, violent crime, and status offenses, as well as by race and gender. We know that, overall, the juvenile arrest rate for property crimes has decreased. By 2003, the juvenile arrest rate for violent crime, particularly murder, had decreased to levels similar to those around the early 1980s. Some of the most recent government statistics indicate that arrests for simple assaults and aggravated assaults have increased, particularly for juvenile females.1 So, although there is a great deal to be optimistic about, there is much to be done to enrich the lives of American youth and to improve their chan- ces of success. We know that the number of children living under the poverty limit is still dangerously high and that self-reported delinquency has always been associated with being poor. As in the past, data still suggest that most ju- venile crime is intraracial, thus victims are likely to be the same race as their offenders. Children continue to be at higher risk for neglect and mal- treatment in the home than they are for violent victimization in the streets. Schools are still one of the safest places for kids, and fewer kids drop out today than in the 1970s. Although data seem to indicate a rise in lethality in some crimes, the casual ease with which juveniles access semiautomatic and automatic weap- ons can be used to explain trends in homicide. These explanations are as insightful and as full of implications for programs and policies as those that address deviant behavior. Although narrowing our focus to specific types of offenders only or certain types of offenses may be frustrating to those seeking a ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ approach, it often gives us a greater, more PREFACE ix accurate, albeit smaller, picture. Thus, readers who are looking for clear- cut answers to the problems of juvenile crime and violence will find that there are lots of little ones, plenty of pretty good ones, and certainly none that fit a broad range of behaviors and cultures. We believe that you will find the work in this volume is extremely informative and persuasive. It is evident that the field requires a wide range of research from many varied disciplines and involves not only environmental, social, legal, political, and economic change but also changes in our values, attitudes, and goals—the very fabric of our society. The articles in this volume will provide readers with a picture of the current status of juvenile crime in this country.