Antecedents and Situated Factors of Juvenile Homicide

Juvenile homicide remains a serious concern even with the continued downward trends in homicide rates. Youth homicide has contributed to more deaths than motor vehicle accidents and is considered one of the leading causes of death among African-American youths. Although extensive research has been conducted on juvenile homicide, very little investigation has addressed the factors impacting on the very young offender. This research used secondary homicide data from California to investigate the factors associated with homicide among two subgroups of juvenile offenders as well as explored the applicability of the routine activities theory. The findings revealed that although there are drastic developmental differences between the younger and older juvenile, nevertheless, there was a great deal of similarity associated with the crime.