Juvenile Homicide in the United States: Sizing Up the Problem and Moving Forward

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/10887679211043802
• Author: Kathleen M. Heide
• Subject Matter: Special Issue Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679211043802

Homicide Studies

2022, Vol. 26(1) 47 –67

© 2021 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/10887679211043802

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Special Issue Article

Juvenile Homicide in the

United States: Sizing Up the

Problem and Moving Forward

Kathleen M. Heide1

Abstract

Juvenile murder arrests in the United States increased dramatically from 1984 to

1993, leading experts to forecast an epidemic of continued violence. Juvenile arrests

for murder from 1995 to 2019 are examined to assess whether this prediction

was correct. Changes in the laws in response to juvenile violence and US Supreme

Court cases that addressed constitutional limitations to the punishment of juvenile

murderers are synthesized. The evolution of research on juvenile homicide offenders

over the last two decades is highlighted. Recommendations about ways to move

forward by using evidence-based practices to prevent juvenile violence and to reduce

recidivism are discussed.

Keywords

juvenile homicide, juvenile murderers, epidemic of juvenile violence, recidivism,

juvenile violence, Supreme Court decisions affecting juveniles

In the summer of 1993, Janet Reno, who served as Attorney General in United States

President Bill Clinton’s administration, characterized juvenile violence as “the great-

est single crime problem in America today” (Kantrowitz, 1993). Reno made this

remark in light of crime statistics that indicated that arrests of individuals under 18 for

violent crimes, including murder, had been steadily increasing for 10 years.1 This dra-

matic increase in juvenile arrests for murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated

1University of South Florida, Tampa, USA

Corresponding Author:

Kathleen M. Heide, Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue,

Social Sciences Building, Mail Point 107, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.

Email: kheide@usf.edu

1043802HSXXXX10.1177/10887679211043802Homicide StudiesHeide

research-article2021

48 Homicide Studies 26(1)

assault between 1984 and 1993 was alarming because it was occurring when arrests of

their adult counterparts were declining. Moreover, this increase in juvenile arrests was

happening at a time when the population under 18 had been declining (Heide, 1999).

Not surprisingly, the public, criminal justice practitioners, academics, and policy

makers were most concerned with juvenile arrests for murder. Experts forecasted that

murders committed by juveniles would likely increase exponentially in the years to

come when the juvenile population was expected to increase (Fox, 1996; Snyder &

Sickmund, 1995). Academics predicted that there would be a “bloodbath of violence”

by juveniles in the next few years if this trend continued (Fox, 1995).

Widespread coverage of incidents of “kids killing,” along with predictions by aca-

demicians of a rising group of “superpredators” (Dilulio, 1995), contributed to

Congress passing the largest crime bill in United States (US) history, the Violent Crime

Control and Law Enforcement Act (Public.Law 103–322, 1994). Key provisions of

this federal bill encouraged states to pass more tough-on-crime laws, to impose harsher

penalties, including mandatory minimum penalties and life imprisonment, and to

allow juveniles aged 13 and older to be prosecuted as adults for violent crimes.

Moreover, the bill provided federal funds to incentivize states to build more prisons,

further accelerating the problem of mass incarceration (Rosenfeld, 2019). In direct

response to rising concerns for public safety and declines in tourism in the 1990s,

individual states made significant changes in the ways that juveniles arrested for mur-

der, defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as “the willful (nonnegligent)

killing of one human being by another,” were treated by the criminal justice system

(Heide, 1999).

This article examines youth involvement in arrests for murder, also referred to as

homicide, in the last 25 years in light of light of the dire predictions made in 1995.

Changes in the laws and decisions by the United States Supreme Court affecting

juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) over this same period are reviewed. Attention

then focuses on the evolution of juvenile homicide research in recent years. The

article concludes with recommendations about steps that policymakers, researchers,

and practitioners could make that likely would reduce the incidence of juvenile

homicide, more effectively treat JHOs, facilitate their re-entry, and reduce the rates

of recidivism.

Arrests of Juveniles for Murder Over Time

Arrests for murder are examined using the Uniform Crime Reports (UCRs) for these

6 years: 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019 (Federal Bureau of Investigation,

1996-2020). These years were chosen as snapshots of juvenile arrests for homicide to

facilitate the examination of trends over time and to determine if involvement by juve-

niles in murder climbed sharply as experts in the mid-1990s predicted it would. The

year 1995 was selected as the beginning year to allow for an approximately 25-year

examination of homicide arrest data. In addition, 1995 is the earliest year of UCRs

available online; 2019 is the most recent data available. Following the investigation of

trends in the proportionate involvement of juveniles in homicide arrests, analyses