Trends

Delinquency Case Rate Trends

Drug offense case rates increased for all racial groups during the 1990s, but the increase was greatest for black juveniles.

Delinquency Case Rates for Drug Offenses by Race, 1985-2005

Delinquency Case Rates for Drug Offenses by Race

Note: Rates are cases per 1,000 youth ages 10-upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction.

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The drug offense case rate for black youth increased sharply from 1985 to 1988, leveled off, then increased again to reach a peak in 1996--230% above the rate in 1985. After this peak, the rate fell steadily through 2005 (down 28% from the 1996 peak).
Trends in drug offense case rates for white, Asian/NHPI, and American Indian youths followed a similar pattern between 1985 and the early 1990s, during which time rates declined more than 30% for each race group. By 2005, the rates for white juveniles and American Indian juveniles were more than 3 times higher than their low point, and the rate for Asian/NHPI juveniles was more than twice the rate in 1992.
The black-white disparity in drug offense case rates reached a peak in 1991, when the rate for black youth was about 5 times the rate for white youth. The decline in the rate for black youth between 1996 and 2005, coupled with the growth in the rate for white youth, reduced the black-white disparity to 1.5 in 2005.

Internet Citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available:
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/court/JCSCR_Display.asp?ID=qa06253. September 12, 2008.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. and Sickmund, M. (2008). Juvenile Court Statistics 2005. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.