In every category of serious and violent crime -- including murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault and burglary -- the number of serious offenses committed by juveniles has increased substantially over the past few years. Children and teenagers form an increasingly large percentage of those victimized by violent crime.
Fear of crime is changing the way Americans live their lives and how they view their communities. No longer chiefly an urban problem, violent crime has spread to smaller cities, as well as suburban and rural areas. In a recent poll, 73 percent of parents and 56 percent of children said they worry that a family member will be a victim of a violent crime.
While reports from the FBI and the Justice Department show that overall levels of crime have declined slightly, juvenile violence continues to rise. It is particularly alarming that juveniles are committing violent crimes at increasingly younger ages.
On one aspect of the problem -- the importance of keeping lethal weapons out of the hands of kids -- a consensus exists about what should be done. But few people think restricting access to guns alone will contain juvenile violence. There is a general agreement about the need for a more comprehensive approach. Depending on their diagnosis of the underlying problem, people reach quite different conclusions about how to deal with juvenile crime, and which costs and consequences we should be prepared to accept.
Many elected officials have gone on record as favoring tough anti-crime measures, and the 1994 crime bill was largely devoted to such tough measures as hiring more police, adding new prisons, and enacting "three-strikes-and-you're-out" provisions for those convicted of a third violent offense. It is important to determine whether most Americans agree that this is a sensible and promising way to deal with the juvenile crime problem. Americans need to talk specifically about juvenile justice and how the treatment of youthful offenders should differ from their adult counterparts.
With regard to violence and other pressing issues, the conversation of democracy consists of discussing various ways of approaching the problem and moving toward common ground about an acceptable course of action. Next week we will present three prescriptions for dealing with juvenile violence. Each of the three alternative approaches has its distinctive costs and consequences. The question is which we are prepared to accept to make American society safer and less violent.For further information contact:
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