Homicides of Children and Youth - NCJRS
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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
October 2001
Homicides of
A Message From OJJDP
Children and Youth Homicides are always tragic, but our
sympathies are heightened when the
victim is a young child or adolescent.
David Finkelhor and Richard Ormrod Thus, the deaths of juveniles raise
understandable public concerns.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to Unfortunately, research statistics sel-
improving the justice system’s response to crimes against children. OJJDP recognizes dom claim the broad audience of the
that children are at increased risk for crime victimization. Not only are children the vic- morning newspaper or the evening
news. This Bulletin, part of OJJDP’s
tims of many of the same crimes that victimize adults, they are subject to other crimes,
Crimes Against Children Series,
like child abuse and neglect, that are specific to childhood. The impact of these crimes draws on FBI and other data to pro-
on young victims can be devastating, and the violent or sexual victimization of children vide a statistical portrait of juvenile
can often lead to an intergenerational cycle of violence and abuse. The purpose of homicide victimization.
OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children Series is to improve and expand the Nation’s efforts Homicide is the only major cause of
to better serve child victims by presenting the latest information about child victimization, childhood deaths that has increased
over the past three decades. In 1999,
including analyses of crime victimization statistics, studies of child victims and their spe- some 1,800 juveniles, or 3 per
cial needs, and descriptions of programs and approaches that address these needs. 100,000 of the U.S. juvenile popula-
tion, were homicide victims—a rate
Murders of children and youth, the ulti- Reports (SHRs), which are part of the substantially higher than those of
mate form of juvenile victimization, have Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting Pro- other developed countries. At the
received a great deal of deserved publicity gram; however, it also relies on a variety same time, murders of juveniles are
in recent years.1 Yet, while images of Polly of other studies and statistical sources. infrequent in many areas of our
Klaas and student victims at Columbine country. In 1997, 85 percent of
High School are vivid in the public’s mind, Highlights of the findings presented in this
U.S. counties had no homicides of
statistics on juvenile murder victims are Bulletin include the following:
juveniles.
not. Substantial misunderstandings exist ◆ In 1999, about 1,800 juveniles (a rate of The Bulletin offers detailed informa-
about the magnitude of and trends in juve- 2.6 per 100,000) were victims of homi- tion about overall patterns and victim
nile homicide and the types of children at cide in the United States. This rate is age groups. Specific types of juvenile
risk of becoming victims of different types substantially higher than that of any homicide victimization are discussed
of homicide. other developed country. in further detail, including maltreat-
This Bulletin gives a brief statistical por- ◆ Homicides of juveniles in the United ment homicides, abduction homi-
trait of various facets of child and youth States are unevenly distributed, both cides, and school homicides.
homicide victimization in the United geographically and demographically. Finally, initiatives designed to prevent
States. It draws heavily on homicide Rates are substantially higher for homicides of children and youth
data from the Federal Bureau of Investi- African American juveniles and for (juveniles) are explored. Given the
gation’s (FBI’s) Supplementary Homicide juveniles in certain jurisdictions. Yet, unacceptable rate of such crimes,
85 percent of all U.S. counties had no much remains to be done.
homicides of juveniles in 1997.
1 Strictly speaking, murder and homicide are not iden-
tical; however, in this Bulletin the terms are some-
◆ Homicides of young children (age 5 and
times used interchangeably to improve readability. younger), children in middle childhood(ages 6 to 11), and teenagers (ages 12 causes of childhood mortality, accounting urban areas than in rural and smaller
to 17)2 differ on a number of dimen- for 1 out of 23 deaths of children and youth urban areas. In 1997, 85 percent of all U.S.
sions, suggesting that they should be younger than 18 (U.S. Census Bureau, counties did not have a single homicide of
analyzed separately. 1998). More children 0–4 years of age in a juvenile, while five highly urban coun-
◆ Most homicides of young children are the United States now die from homicide ties (Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles,
committed by family members through than from infectious diseases or cancer, CA; New York, NY; and Philadelphia, PA)
beatings or suffocation. Although vic- and homicide claims the lives of more accounted for one-fourth of all such vic-
tims include approximately equal num- teenagers in the United States than any timizations nationwide (Snyder and Sick-
bers of boys and girls, offenders in- cause other than accidents (U.S. Census mund, 1999).
clude a disproportionate number of Bureau, 1998). Since 1993, however, homi-
Geographic areas can be differentiated not
women. Homicides of young children cides of juveniles have joined the down-
only by the rate at which juveniles are the
may be seriously undercounted. ward trend in homicides of adults that
victims of homicide but also by the per-
began in 1991 (figure 1).
◆ Middle childhood is a time when a centage of all homicides in the area that
child’s homicide risk is relatively low. Juvenile homicide is one of the most un- involve a juvenile victim (see figure 3).
Homicides of children in middle child- evenly distributed forms of child victim- Thus, in some States with a low rate of
hood show a mixed pattern. Some ization. Certain groups and localities ex- juvenile victim homicides, such as New
result from child maltreatment and perience the overwhelming brunt of the Hampshire and some other New England
others from the use of firearms. Some problem. States, juveniles actually constitute an
are sexually motivated, and some are above-average percentage (more than
Minority children and youth are dispropor- 20 percent) of all homicide victims in the
committed as part of multiple-victim tionately affected. For example, 52 percent
family homicides. State. However, in other low-rate States,
of juvenile victims of homicide are non- such as West Virginia, juveniles represent
◆ Homicides of teenagers, most of which white (Snyder and Finnegan, 1998). Even less than 10 percent of all homicide vic-
involve male victims killed by male of- after a recent decline, the overall rate of tims. The grim combination of a high rate
fenders using firearms, rose dramatical- victimization for black juveniles (9.1 per of juvenile victim homicides and a high
ly in the late 1980s and early 1990s but 100,000) in 1997 dwarfed the rate for white
have declined sharply since 1993. juveniles (1.8 per 100,000) (figure 2). The
victimization rate for Hispanic juveniles in 3 Homicide rates for Hispanic youth are based on data
three States where data are available was from Arizona, California, and Texas—States that regu-
Overall Patterns also quite high in 1997 (5.0 per 100,000).3 larly report information on victim ethnicity (this item
Overall, the statistics on murders of juve- is optional for the SHRs). Because of this limited re-
niles in the United States are grim and The uneven distribution is also geographic. porting, the rates should not be considered nationally
alarming. According to FBI data, 1,789 Some States have no juvenile homicides, representative. Furthermore, the location of the three
and some have rates that are twice the reporting States suggests the data are more likely to
persons under 18 were victims of homi- be typical of juvenile victims of Mexican-American
cide in 1999 (Fox and Zawitz, 2001). That national average (table 1). Homicides of
background than of those of other Hispanic origin.
number—equal to a rate of 2.6 per 100,000 juveniles are much more common in large
juveniles or more than 5 juveniles per
day—makes the United States first among
developed countries in homicides of juve-
Figure 1: Homicide Rates for Juvenile and Adult Victims, 1980–97
niles (Krug, Dahlberg, and Powell, 1996).
In fact, the U.S. rate is 5 times higher than
14
the rate of the other 25 developed coun-
tries combined and nearly double the rate
Rate per 100,000 Persons
12
of the country with the next highest rate. Adult victims (over 17 years)
The rate at which juveniles are murdered 10
in the United States is related to the Na-
tion’s high overall homicide rate: 5.7 8
per 100,000 in 1999, 3 times higher than
the overall rate of any other developed 6
country (Fox and Zawitz, 2001).
4
Homicide is the only major cause of Juvenile victims (0 to 17 years)
childhood death that has increased in 2
incidence during the past 30 years. While
deaths of children resulting from acci- 0
dents, congenital defects, and infectious ’80 ’81 ’82 ’83 ’84 ’85 ’86 ’87 ’88 ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97
diseases were falling, homicides of chil-
dren were increasing. Homicide is now Year
ranked second or third, depending on the
specific age group, among the 3 leading Note: Rates were calculated by the Crimes against Children Research Center.
Source: Snyder and Finnegan, 1998.
2 See discussion of victim age groups on page 3.
2Victim Age Groups
Figure 2: Juvenile Victim Homicide Rates, by Victim Race and
Ethnicity, 1990–97 Teenagers
The murder of teenagers has received sub-
16 stantial publicity in recent years, in part
because of the rising number of teenage
Rate per 100,000 Juveniles
14 victims between 1984 and 1993. The num-
Black victims*
ber of homicides involving teenage victims
12
increased nearly 158 percent during that
(ages 0–17)
10 time (figure 4) and by 1993 reached a rate
Hispanic victims** 29 percent higher than the Nation’s overall
8 rate (Fox and Zawitz, 2001). Even after de-
clining from 1993 to 1997, the homicide
6
rate for teenagers remained about 10 per-
4 cent higher than the average homicide
White victims* rate for all persons (Fox and Zawitz, 2001).
2
The term “teenager,” as used in this Bul-
0 letin, refers to youth ages 12 to 17. Age 12
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 is the most useful point of demarcation for
examining homicide patterns and trends
Year across childhood because it is the age at
Note: Rates were calculated by the Crimes against Children Research Center. which rates begin to rise significantly (see
figure 5). It is also the age above which the
* Includes Hispanics within race.
marked increase in the rate at which juve-
** Three reporting States (Arizona, California, and Texas) only (see footnote 3, page 2); includes niles are murdered occurred in the late
Hispanics of any race.
1980s (see figure 4).
Source: Homicide data for white victims and black victims from Snyder and Finnegan, 1998.
Homicide data for Hispanic victims from Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997. Compared with homicides of children
younger than 12, homicides of teenagers
more closely resemble and appear to be
an extension of homicides of adults. Like
percentage of juveniles among a State’s have been the focus of recent public homicides of adults, homicides of teen-
homicide victims occurs in 11 States— concern. The Bulletin ends with a discus- agers overwhelmingly involve a male vic-
including California, Illinois, and Pennsyl- sion of policy initiatives that focus on pre- tim (81 percent) (figure 6) killed by a male
vania, which contain 3 of the 5 large cities venting the homicide of juveniles.
identified above.
Such a broad summary of statistics on
homicides involving juvenile victims is Table 1: Homicides of Juveniles: Average State Rates per 100,000
somewhat misleading in that it masks Juveniles Ages 0–17, 1996 and 1997
the multifaceted nature of the problem.
Homicides of children and youth can take State Rate State Rate State Rate
many different forms, each of which in- Nevada 6.2 Pennsylvania 2.9 Utah 1.9
volves different contributing factors and Illinois 5.4 Texas 2.8 Oregon 1.9
calls for different prevention strategies. Louisiana 5.4 Georgia 2.8 Vermont 1.7
A victim’s age is one important distinc- Maryland 5.1 New York 2.8 Idaho 1.7
tion. The relative risk and characteristics Alaska 5.0 North Carolina 2.7 Iowa 1.4
of homicide victimization differ for juve- Mississippi 4.5 Connecticut 2.7 West Virginia 1.2
niles of different ages. Homicides of chil- California 4.4 Ohio 2.6 Hawaii 1.2
dren and youth can also be distinguished New Mexico 3.9 Wisconsin 2.6 Massachusetts 1.1
by characteristics of the perpetrator and Missouri 3.7 Alabama 2.6 Delaware 1.1
certain contextual factors. This Bulletin Tennessee 3.6 Indiana 2.6 Maine 1.0
explores different facets of homicides of Nebraska 3.6 Colorado 2.5 New Hampshire 1.0
juveniles, starting with important differ- Oklahoma 3.6 Florida 2.5 South Dakota 1.0
ences based on the age of the victim. The Arkansas 3.3 Kentucky 2.3 Wyoming 0.8
following age groups are discussed in or- South Carolina 3.3 Rhode Island 2.3 Montana 0
der of decreasing risk: teenagers, young Virginia 3.1 New Jersey 2.3 North Dakota 0
children, and children in middle child- Arizona 3.0 Washington 2.3 Kansas N/A
hood. The Bulletin also briefly describes Michigan 3.0 Minnesota 2.0
what is known about particular types of
homicides—such as child maltreatment Note: Homicide rates were calculated by the Crimes against Children Research Center.
homicides and school homicides—that Source: Snyder and Finnegan, 1998.
3offender (95 percent) (no figure) using a
firearm (86 percent) or a knife or other Figure 3: Juvenile Victim Homicide Rate and Juveniles as a Percentage
object (10 percent) (figure 7). Unlike homi-
of All Homicide Victims, by State, Average for 1996 and 1997
cides of children under age 12, relatively
few homicides of teenagers (9 percent) are
committed by family members (figure 8).4
The percentage of homicide victims mur-
dered by other youth is much larger for
teenagers (figure 9) than for victims
younger than 12. Nonetheless, two-thirds
of teenage homicide victims are killed by
adults. The murderers of teenagers are pre-
dominantly young (figure 9), but only a
minority are younger than 18.
The dramatic increase in the number of
teenagers murdered during the late 1980s
and early 1990s has been attributed to
various factors, including the rise in child
poverty, expansion of gang activity,
spread of crack cocaine and drug market
competition, and increased availability of
handguns. The growth in the number of
homicides of teens from 1984 to 1993 was
almost entirely in the category of firearm High rate, high percentage Low rate, high percentage Missing data
homicides, which accounted for 85 per-
cent of all homicides of teenagers during High rate, low percentage Low rate, low percentage
that time (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999).
Note: “High” and “low” refer to rates or percentages that are above or below the national
Some of the increase in teens’ gun use
average.
during that period may have been connect-
ed to the drug trade and a perceived need Source: Snyder and Finnegan, 1998.
to protect valuable drugs and money. The
cycle of gun use accelerated as additional
youth acquired guns to protect them-
selves from other armed youth.
Figure 4: Homicides of Juveniles, by Victim Age Group, 1980–97
Although the number of teen homicide
victims rose dramatically in the late 1980s,
the increase was somewhat limited demo- 2,000
graphically and geographically, occurring 1,800
Teenagers (12–17 years)
primarily in certain parts of urban com-
Number of Homicides
1,600
munities. Available data confirm that the
1,400
increase did not affect all segments of the
population equally. In particular, data 1,200
show a disproportionate rise in the risk 1,000
Young children (0–5 years)
of homicide for minority teens. Although
800
homicides of white teenagers almost
doubled (up 92 percent) from 1984 to 600
1993, homicides of minority teens more 400
Children in middle childhood (6–11 years)
than tripled during the same period (Sny- 200
der and Finnegan, 1998). The number of
African American teens murdered during 0
the period increased 233 percent (from ’80 ’81 ’82 ’83 ’84 ’85 ’86 ’87 ’88 ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97
314 to 1,047), and the number of other
minority teens (i.e., Asian American, Year
Native American, and Pacific Islander) Note: The Crimes against Children Research Center adjusted the homicide data by age group.
increased 275 percent (from 12 to 45).
Source: Snyder and Finnegan, 1998.
Rural areas were relatively unaffected by
4 This percentage is calculated for each juvenile victim
the increase in the rate of homicides of populations smaller than 25,000 while
age group rather than for all juvenile victims as shown
teens. Between the late 1980s and early they more than doubled in cities with
in figures 7 and 8.
1990s, rates barely rose in towns with populations larger than 250,000.
4that gangs and drugs remained a part of
Figure 5: Juvenile Victim Homicide Rate, by Victim Age, 1997 many killings of teens (gangs in 29 percent
and drugs in 6 percent of homicides)
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997).
14
The role of firearms also remained impor-
Rate per 100,000 Juveniles
12 tant; during 1993 and 1997, more than 80
percent of homicides of teens involved the
10 use of a firearm.
(ages 0–17)
8 Young Children
Often eclipsed by the public’s concern
6
about the murder of teenagers is the fact
4 that young children (i.e., those age 5 and
younger)6 face an elevated risk of homi-
2 cide, although under different conditions.
FBI data show 700 homicide victims under
0 age 6 in 1997 (a rate of 2.6 per 100,000)actual rate of homicides for young children
to be double the official rate (U.S. Advisory Figure 7: Juvenile Victim Homicides, by Weapon Used and Victim
Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995).
Age Group, 1997
Homicides of young children rose 38 per-
cent between 1984 and 1993 (figure 4). 30
After remaining elevated for a number
Percentage of All Homicides
of years, the number of such homicides 25
declined in 1997 (dropping about 16 per-
cent from 1996). Much of the earlier in-
20
of Juveniles
crease was among children ages 0 to 1
and may have been an artifact of classifi-
cation. Because of the difficulty of confirm- 15
ing homicide in the deaths of very young
children, many States established child
10
death review teams in the 1980s. The
greater scrutiny by such teams may have
elevated official child homicide rates with- 5
out any true underlying increase in the
incidence of child homicides. In addition, 0
more than 23 States in recent years haveChildren in Middle Childhood
Figure 9: Offender Age in Juvenile Victim Homicides, by Victim Middle childhood, ages 6 to 11, seems to
Age Group, 1997 be a time when children are relatively
immune from the risk of homicide. Al-
16 though children in this age group can face
substantial violence, in the form of both
Percentage of Offenders for
Teenagers (12–17 years)
14
Each Victim Age Group
parental assaults at home and peer ag-
gression in their school and neighbor-
12
hood, relatively little of it is lethal. The
10 overall homicide rate of 0.6 per 100,000
Young children (0–5 years) for children in middle childhood is far
8 Children in middle childhood lower than that for juveniles of any other
(6–11 years) age group (figure 5). The rate during this
6 period is even low for children in popula-
4 tion subgroups, such as African Ameri-
cans, that have high overall juvenile homi-
2 cide rates. The homicide rate for children
in middle childhood is lower than that for
0 any other segment of the population, in-
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 50+ cluding the elderly. (The murder rate is
Offender Age 2.2 per 100,000 for those 65 and older.)
Note: This figure presents 3-year running averages of victim age groups. The homicide rate is probably low for
children in middle childhood because this
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997.
period is a time of transition. Children
ages 6 to 11 have outgrown some of the
characteristics that make very young chil-
dren vulnerable to lethal force, but they
have not begun to engage in the activities
Figure 10: Juvenile Victim Homicide Rates, by Victim Race and that drive up the homicide rate for adoles-
Age, 1997 cents. Thus, children in middle childhood
are less dependent and require less con-
40 tinual care than very young children.
They are also more self-sufficient and
Rate per 100,000 Juveniles
35
Black victims possess a degree of socialization and ver-
30 bal skills that younger children do not pos-
sess. These qualities make children in mid-
(ages 0–17)
25 dle childhood less of a burden and less
potentially frustrating for their parents
20 and other adult caregivers, who are the
15 primary perpetrators of early childhood
White victims homicide. Children in middle childhood
10 are also bigger and better able to hide
from, dodge the blows of, and get away
5 from angry parents than young children.
0 It takes more force and energy to inflict a
lethal injury on a child age 6 to 11 thanresult from a mixture of causes, some re- Types of Juvenile Two factors account for very young chil-
lated to the causes of homicides in early dren’s unusually high risk of death in
childhood and some to the causes of homi- Homicide Victimizations cases of child maltreatment. First are the
cides of adolescents. Because they are still In addition to categorizing homicides considerable demands that children age 5
more physically and emotionally depend- of juveniles by the age of the victim, re- and younger impose on parents and other
ent than teenagers, children of middle searchers often group such homicides by caretakers. The complete dependence of
childhood (like young children) are killed features of the crime context and by per- very young children (who can be needy,
most often by family members (61 percent petrator. The following sections describe impulsive, and not yet amenable to verbal
of the perpetrators) (figure 8) (see foot- certain distinguishing characteristics of control) and the constant attention they
note 4, page 4). Unlike cases involving these types of homicide. require can overwhelm some caretakers.
young children, however, these homicides In fact, two of the most common triggers
are not committed primarily by hand (fig- Maltreatment Homicides of fatal child abuse are crying that will not
ure 7). Approximately one-half (49 percent) Child maltreatment homicides are commit- cease and toileting accidents (U.S. Ad-
are committed with firearms. Moreover, re- ted by persons charged with the care of a visory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect,
flecting their greater independence, chil- child, including parents and other family 1995). Second, and perhaps most impor-
dren in middle childhood begin to fall members, babysitters, and friends who tant, is that children of this age are small
victim to homicides by strangers. One have taken responsibility for the child. In and physically vulnerable. Unlike older
out of eight homicide victims in this age 1997, FBI data showed that 27 percent of children, very young children can still be
group is killed by a stranger, more than all child victims of homicide (more than easily picked up, shaken, or thrown. In
three times the proportion for younger 500 children) were killed by a parent, step- addition, a limited amount of physical
children. Children in middle childhood, parent, or other adult family member. force inflicted on a very young child
especially the older ones, also begin to Other data reported by child protection can cause serious damage, and the imma-
experience the ravages of gang-related vio- authorities showed 1,196 child maltreat- turity of certain anatomical features (e.g.,
lence. Of all homicides of children ages 6 ment fatalities in 1997 (U.S. Department the relatively large size of the head and
to 11 for which police listed a circum- of Health and Human Services, Children’s weakness of the neck) means that very
stance, 6 percent were listed as gang re- Bureau, 1999). This difference reflects the young children are more likely than older
lated. Those who kill children in middle fact that many studies that report data children to suffer fatal traumas as a result
childhood are the oldest of all child killers, on child maltreatment fatalities (e.g., of abuse. The significance of this physical
with more than half (52 percent) older Ewigman, Kivlahan, and Land 1993; U.S. vulnerability is reflected in the fact that
than age 30 (figure 9). Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Ne- fatal child abuse is more concentrated
glect, 1995) include deaths other than among very young children than nonfatal
Homicides of children in middle child-
those officially recorded as homicides, child abuse. The major cause of death in
hood also appear to stem from a variety
particularly deaths caused by neglect or child abuse cases involving very young
of other motives. For example, children of
negligence. (Deaths caused by neglect children is cerebral trauma (U.S. Advisory
this age are at risk of sexual homicides.
generally include situations in which a Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995).
Some sex offenders are attracted to chil-
dren in this age range and sometimes mur- child dies because parents or caretakers Child maltreatment fatalities are more
der children to hide their crimes. A signifi- failed to provide food or obviously needed common in conditions of poverty and in
cant number of homicides of children ages medical attention. Deaths caused by negli- families marked by divorce or paternal
6 to 11 are negligent gun homicides, in gence, by contrast, involve parents or absence. Child maltreatment fatality rates
which youth and/or other family members caretakers who fail to provide basic super- are also disproportionately high among
wield or misuse firearms that they believe vision or precaution and a child who dies African Americans (Levine, Freeman, and
to be harmless or unloaded. Children in in a clearly preventable accident, such as Compaan, 1994). Drug use is a factor in 29
middle childhood are also killed in the falling after being left unattended at an percent of child maltreatment fatalities.
course of crimes such as robberies or car- open window.) Approximately 42 percent Several studies show that boys and girls
jackings, in which children are unintended of deaths counted by child protection are at approximately equal risk of fatal
victims. Family members sometimes mur- authorities as child maltreatment fatalities abuse, but boys are at slightly higher risk
der children of this age in the course of are classified as resulting from neglect or of fatal neglect (Levine, Freeman, and
arson attacks or whole-family suicide- negligence, 54 percent as resulting from Compaan, 1994). Young boys, who often
homicides. The diversity of homicides of abuse, and 5 percent as resulting from are more active and aggressive than girls,
children of this age group makes them dif- abuse and neglect (Wiese and Daro, 1995). are possibly more difficult to supervise or
ficult to typify. The vast majority of child maltreatment regarded by their parents as needing less
fatalities (92 percent) involve children age care and supervision (Margolin, 1990). It is
It is notable that homicides of children in
5 or younger. In like fashion, most (70 per- interesting that male caretakers are respon-
middle childhood did not show the same
cent) of the deaths classified as homicides sible for a disproportionate number of child
consistently upward trend as other homi-
for this age group result from maltreatment abuse fatalities and female caretakers (who
cides of juveniles in the late 1980s and
(i.e., are committed by family caretakers) spend more time caring for young children)
early 1990s (figure 4). Most of the varia-
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997). are responsible for a greater proportion of
tions in their rates were only slight fluc-
Child maltreatment fatalities most often child neglect fatalities (Levine, Freeman,
tuations in a relatively low base rate of
involve very young children, with 40 per- and Compaan, 1994). Inadequate prepara-
homicides. The lack of a consistent trend
cent of victims under age 1, 18 percent tion for assuming a caretaking role with
for homicides of children in middle child-
between ages 1 and 2, and 13 percent ages young children may cause men to have
hood is additional evidence that homicides
2 or 3 (Wiese and Daro, 1995). lower levels of tolerance for crying, soil-
during this developmental period may be
ing, and disobedience.
a distinct phenomenon.
8Tragically, a significant percentage of child victim. Fathers and stepfathers were re- Homicides by Strangers and
maltreatment fatalities—24 to 45 percent sponsible for most multiple-victim family Unidentified Offenders
in various studies (Levine, Freeman, and homicides in 1997 (60 percent), and per-
Parents naturally worry about the threat
Compaan, 1994; Wiese and Daro, 1995)— petrators tended to use firearms. Com-
of homicide posed to their children by
occur in families already known to child pared with typical victims of juvenile
strangers with malevolent intent. Accu-
protective authorities because of some homicides, those in multiple-victim family
rately evaluating the threat posed by
family or childcare problem they had been homicides are more likely to be white,
strangers is difficult because often the
having. In as many as one in eight child but their geographic distribution is not
identity of the perpetrator in homicides
maltreatment fatalities, the case was cur- markedly different. Consistent with the
of juveniles is not known. About 11 per-
rently active (Levine, Freeman, and Com- general downward trend in juvenile homi-
cent of those who murder juveniles are
paan, 1994). This statistic raises the hope cide, the number of victims of multiple-
officially classified as strangers, but an
that many child maltreatment deaths victim family homicides has been declin-
additional 29 percent are unidentified
could be prevented through proper ing somewhat in recent years, down from
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997).
intervention. a high of 130 in 1993. Studies of special
Most of the unidentified offenders are
samples of such cases show that they are
Unfortunately, the more than 1,000 child generally believed to be strangers (in
associated particularly with an offender’s
maltreatment fatalities that occur each part because homicides committed by
separation from an intimate partner and/
year need to be placed in the context of strangers are considered more difficult
or mental illness (depression and psy-
more than 1 million cases of child abuse to solve). Moreover, the distribution of
chosis, but not personality disorders)
and neglect substantiated by child welfare most crime characteristics in cases with
(Cooper and Eaves, 1996; Rosenbaum,
authorities every year. Some observers unidentified offenders is more similar to
1990). Perpetrators commit suicide in
doubt that the subgroup of cases that that for victims killed by strangers than
as many as 40 percent of these cases.
result in death could ever be reliably de- for those killed by nonstrangers (table 2).
tected from the larger pool—in part be- Thus, depending on the percentage of
cause fatalities are comparatively rare and Homicides by Females unidentified offenders included, some-
in part because so many of the factors that In general, women kill much less frequent- where between 11 and 40 percent of
contribute to an actual death are unpre- ly than men. However, one-quarter of the homicides of juveniles are committed
dictable (U.S. Advisory Board on Child victims in killings by women are juveniles. by strangers.
Abuse and Neglect, 1995). Other obser- Women are responsible for 43 percent of
Homicides of juveniles by strangers and
vers, however, have noted that there is the deaths of children under age 12 who
homicides of juveniles by unidentified
an important subgroup of child maltreat- are killed by identifiable persons, a per-
offenders involve a disproportionate per-
ment fatalities that occur in families with centage that has been relatively stable
centage of teenage victims (87 and 81 per-
a long and serious history of child mal- since the 1980s (Federal Bureau of Investi-
cent, respectively), male victims (84 and
treatment and parental incompetence. gation, 1997). Women overwhelmingly kill
80 percent), victims killed with firearms
These observers believe that better re- very young children (75 percent of their
(92 and 82 percent), and gang-related cir-
search and more aggressive child welfare juvenile victims are under age 6) and mem-
cumstances (about a third in both cases).
intervention might save a substantial num- bers of their family (79 percent). Thus,
However, compared with teenage victims,
ber of lives. women who kill are heavily concentrated
the numbers of children under the age
in child maltreatment homicides and infan-
of 12 killed by strangers (3 percent) and
Multiple-Victim Family ticides. Consistent with these types of
unidentified offenders (13 percent) are
Homicides crimes, women are more likely than men
relatively small (see figure 8, page 6, and
to use their hands and feet as weapons
One of the grisliest kinds of family homi- footnote 4, page 4). Moreover, some of
(54 percent versus 22 percent). Women
cide occurs when a family member kills these unidentified offenders are proba-
are less likely than men to use a firearm to
multiple kin or even whole families, in- bly family members or acquaintances of
kill a child (17 percent versus 63 percent).
cluding children and youth. In 1997, 6 per- young child victims.
Interestingly, 20 percent of the homicides
cent of homicides of children and youth of children committed by female offenders
(approximately 115) were committed as involve an additional offender, almost Abduction Homicides
part of multiple-victim family murders in always a male accomplice (Federal Bureau Child and youth abductions that end in
which a family member killed a juvenile of Investigation, 1997). Women who kill homicide are another peril that has
along with other victims (Federal Bureau children are more likely to be labeled alarmed large numbers of children and
of Investigation, 1997). Three-quarters of mentally ill than men who kill children their families in the wake of highly publi-
the juvenile victims in such crimes were and are somewhat more likely to commit cized tragedies. Unfortunately, FBI data do
under age 12. Victims included approx- suicide (Silverman and Kennedy, 1988). not include information on abduction as a
imately equal numbers of boys and girls. Researchers also have highlighted differ- homicide circumstance. In 1988, a reanaly-
In 59 percent of cases, only two family ences between young, unmarried females sis of FBI data suggested that the maxi-
members (two juveniles or one juvenile who commit infanticide (often by suffoca- mum number of such abduction homi-
and one adult) were killed; in 41 percent tion or strangulation) and older, married cides was 43 to 147 each year (Finkelhor,
of cases, three or more family members females who beat children to death in Hotaling, and Sedlak, 1990).
were killed. In 57 percent of cases, the child maltreatment homicides (Silverman
juvenile victim died along with an adult and Kennedy, 1988). Two large, multiyear, multistate samples
of homicide abductions of juveniles have
allowed researchers to sketch the charac-
teristics of victims and offenders in this
9type of case (Boudreaux, Lord, and Dutra,
1999; Hanfland, Keppel, and Weis, 1997). Table 2: Case Characteristics in Homicides of Juveniles Committed by
Although many highly publicized homi- Strangers, Unidentified Offenders, and Identified Nonstrangers
cide abductions have involved preteen
children (such as Adam Walsh), the major- Type of Offender
ity involve teenagers. Teenage girls were
found to be at the highest risk, and the Unidentified Identified
motive in more than two-thirds of homi- Characteristic Stranger (%) Offenders (%) Nonstranger (%)
cide abduction cases examined in the Victim Age Group 100 100 100
studies was sexual. Fifty-three percent of 0–5 years 7 14 47
the offenders were strangers, and 39 per- 6–11 years 6 5 10
cent were acquaintances. Virtually all 12–17 years 87 81 43
offenders were males, and the great major-
ity were under age 30. Eighty-five percent Victim Sex 100 100 100
were unmarried or divorced, and 50 per- Male 84 80 63
cent were unemployed at the time of the Female 16 20 37
crime. In 58 percent of the homicide
abductions, offenders made contact with Victim Race 100 100 100
their victim within one-quarter of a mile White 50 33 54
of the victim’s home, and in 54 percent of Black 44 62 41
such cases, the murder occurred within Native American 1 0 2
one-quarter of a mile of the site of initial Asian American/
contact (Hanfland, Keppel, and Weis, Pacific Islander 5 5 3
1997). Strangulation and stabbing were
Weapon 100 100 100
much more common in these abduction
Firearm 92 82 44
homicides than in other types of murders
Knife/object 6 7 12
of juveniles.
Personal/asphyxiation 2 5 36
Other/unknown 0 6 8
Homicides by Youth
A number of high-profile incidents in the Circumstance 100 100 100
1990s highlighted the problem of youth Sex offense 1 1 2
killing other youth. In 1997, about one- Robbery 15 9 2
fourth of offenders (of those whose ages Drug violation 1 8 3
were known) in murder cases involving Gang killing 36 32 9
juvenile victims were themselves juv- Other 47 50 84
eniles (virtually all teenagers). The phe-
nomenon of juveniles killing other juve- Note: Data was gathered from 1,790 homicides, including 189 (11%) committed by strangers, 515
(29%) committed by unidentified offenders, and 1,086 (60%) committed by identified nonstrangers.
niles increased dramatically during the
1980s and early 1990s (900 victims in 1994 Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997.
compared with 400 in 1980) and then
declined (about 500 victims in 1997). The
predominant pattern in these killings is homicides are available in the 2000 An- to June 30, 1999). The 34 incidents in the
for teenagers to kill other teens (84 per- nual Report on School Safety (U.S. Depart- 1998–99 school year resulted in 50 school-
cent of victims in 1997 were teens versus ments of Justice and Education, 2000), associated violent deaths (students and
16 percent preteens) who are acquain- which describes findings from the School- nonstudents), of which 38 were homicides,
tances (68 percent) by using a firearm Associated Violent Deaths Study. 9 were suicides, 2 were killings of adults by
(74 percent) (Federal Bureau of Investi- a law enforcement officer in the course of
The School-Associated Violent Deaths
gation, 1997). A small percentage of the duty, and 1 was an unintentional shooting.
Study, conducted by the Centers for
youth who killed other youth in 1997 Since the 1992–93 school year, there has
Disease Control and Prevention, indicates
(7 percent) were teen parents who killed been at least one multiple-victim school
that less than 1 percent of the children
their young children in infanticides or homicide event each year except for the
nationwide who were murdered in the
child maltreatment homicides. 1993–94 school year; the number declined
first half of the 1998–99 school year (July
from six events in 1997–98 to two in
1, 1998, to December 31, 1998) were vic-
1998–99.
School Homicides tims of school-associated murders (i.e.,
The 1999 tragedy in Littleton, CO, brought murders that occurred on school proper- Available data do not suggest that schools
public attention to the killing of children ty, at a school-sponsored event, or on are particularly risky places for homicide
in schools. Media reports have created the way to or from school or a school- victimization, nor do they show that
the impression that such killings are more sponsored event). The total number of schools are becoming increasingly risky.
commonplace than they actually are. Un- school-associated violent death incidents Rather, it seems that a rash of multiple-
fortunately, FBI statistics do not catego- declined from a high of 49 during the victim school homicides occurred from
rize episodes of homicide by place of 1995–96 school year to 34 during the com- 1997 to 1999, of which the Littleton epi-
occurrence. However, statistics on school plete 1998–99 school year (July 1, 1998, sode was one. The numbers, however, are
too small to be labeled a trend.
10Prevention Initiatives and confine more of those who commit Kennedy, D. 1998. Crime prevention as crime
deterrence. In What Can the Federal Government
them. In an effort to prevent child deaths,
In recent years, concern about homicides Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Commun-
law enforcement agencies in some juris-
of juveniles has prompted a number of ities?, edited by the National Institute of Justice,
dictions have established protocols for
policy initiatives, many of which have U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC: U.S.
providing a more rapid response to child
been targeted at preventing youth from Government Printing Office, pp. 55–58.
abductions. In some States, child protec-
killing other youth. Such efforts include
tion investigations provide for greater Krug, E.G., Dahlberg, L.L., and Powell, K.E. 1996.
laws that criminalize firearm possession Childhood homicide, suicide, and firearm
police involvement or are turned over to
by minors, call for prosecution of minors deaths: An international comparison. World
law enforcement authorities to improve
as adults in criminal court, or hold adults Health Statistics Quarterly 19(3/4):230–235.
safety and protect children in high-risk
responsible when minors gain access to
situations (Wilson, Vincent, and Lake, Levine, M., Freeman, J., and Compaan, C. 1994.
firearms. OJJDP-sponsored programs
1996). Maltreatment-related fatalities: Issues of policy
include the Comprehensive Strategy for
and prevention. Law & Policy 16(4):449–471.
Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Preventing homicides of children and
Offenders; the Comprehensive Gang youth continues to be an active item on Margolin, L. 1990. Fatal child neglect. Child
Model; victim-offender mediation; conflict the policy agenda of national, State, and Welfare LXIX(4):309–319.
resolution training; and the Partnerships local authorities. However, not all policy Resnick, P.J. 1970. Murder of the newborn: A
To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence pro- initiatives reflect the complex and varied psychiatric review of neonaticide. American
gram. These coordinated community ini- nature of the problem, as illustrated in Journal of Psychiatry 126(10):1414–1420.
tiatives seek to control gang activity, stop information presented in this Bulletin.
the flow of guns to juveniles, improve The extent and complexity of the problem Rosenbaum, M. 1990. The role of depression
in couples involved in murder-suicide and
supervision of delinquent youth, counsel and the fact that the juvenile homicide
homicide. American Journal of Psychiatry
victims of violence, and teach alternatives rate in the United States continues to be 147(8):1036–1039.
to violence. A specific example of such an substantially higher than in other modern
initiative is the Partnerships To Reduce democracies suggest that much remains Silverman, R.A., and Kennedy, L.W. 1988.
Juvenile Gun Violence site in Oakland, CA, to be done. Women who kill their children. Violence and
a major component of which is a program Victims 3(2):113–127.
called Caught in the Crossfire. This hospital- Sneeringer, J. 2000. “Baby Moses” laws seek to
based intervention provides bedside coun- References save children’s lives by keeping mothers anony-
seling to juvenile victims of gun violence to Boudreaux, M.C., Lord, W.D., and Dutra, R.L. mous. USLaw.Com. Retrieved May 4, 2001, from
prevent future retaliation by the victim or 1999. Child abduction: Aged-based analysis of the World Wide Web: www.uslaw.com/ library/
the victim’s friends and family members. offender, victim, and offense characteristics in article/usl1031BabyMoses.html.
Many of these victims and their family 550 cases of alleged child disappearance.
Journal of Forensic Sciences 44(3):539–553. Snyder, H.N., and Finnegan, T.A. 1998. Easy
members are known to be involved with Access to the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide
guns and are referred to the partnership’s Cooper, M., and Eaves, D. 1996. Suicide follow- Reports: 1980–1997. Data presentation and
intervention programs. Similar coordinated ing homicide in the family. Violence and Victims analysis package. Pittsburgh, PA: National
community programs have been credited 11(2):99–112. Center for Juvenile Justice.
with reducing the rate at which teens were Ewigman, B., Kivlahan, C., and Land, G. 1993. Snyder, H.N., and Sickmund, M. 1999. Juvenile
murdered in other places, such as Boston, The Missouri child fatality study: Underreport- Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report.
MA (Kennedy, 1998). More information ing of maltreatment fatalities among children Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
on these initiatives and other OJJDP pro- younger than five years of age, 1983 through Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of
grams is available on the OJJDP Web site at 1986. Pediatrics 91(2):330–337. Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1997. Uniform U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and
Other initiatives have focused on the homi- Crime Reporting Program Data: U.S. Supplemen- Neglect. 1995. A Nation’s Shame: Fatal Child
cides of younger children. Child death tary Homicide Reports 1980–1997. Computer file. Abuse and Neglect in the United States. A report
review teams (consisting of experts with Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and
medical, social services, or law enforce- Political and Social Research. Neglect. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
ment backgrounds) have been established Health and Human Services.
Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G.T., and Sedlak, A. 1990.
in almost all States to review suspicious Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway U.S. Census Bureau. 1998. Statistical Abstract of
deaths of children, identify possible homi- Children in America: First Report. Washington, the United States, 1998. Washington, DC: U.S.
cides, and make recommendations for pre- DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Government Printing Office, p. 102.
vention. Statutes have been crafted to facil- Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
itate the prosecution of child maltreatment Children’s Bureau. 1999. Child Maltreatment
deaths as homicides, removing the need Fox, J.A., and Zawitz, M.W. 2001. Homicide 1997: Reports From the States to the National
to prove intent to kill. Child abandonment Trends in the United States. Retrieved April Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washing-
laws, sometimes called “Baby Moses” 2001 from the World Wide Web: www.ojp. ton, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
statutes, have also been passed in a num- usdoj.gov/bjs/. Washington, DC: U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department
ber of States to prevent newborn aban-
Bureau of Justice Statistics. of Education. 2000. 2000 Annual Report on
donment and infanticide by allowing for School Safety. Report. Washington, DC: U.S.
voluntary, anonymous relinquishment Hanfland, K.A., Keppel, R.D., and Weis, J.G. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of
of unwanted infants (Sneeringer, 2000). 1997. Case Management for Missing Children Education.
Mandatory minimum sentencing has been Homicide Investigation. Olympia, WA: Attorney
enacted in some States to deter homicides General of Washington.
11U.S. Department of Justice PRESORTED STANDARD
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Bulletin NCJ 187239
Wiese, D., and Daro, D. 1995. Current Trends in
Child Abuse Reporting and Fatalities: The Results Acknowledgments
of the 1994 Annual Fifty State Survey. Working
Paper 808. Chicago, IL: The National Committee This Bulletin was written by David Finkelhor, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, and
to Prevent Child Abuse. Director, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire;
and Richard Ormrod, Ph.D., Research Professor, Crimes against Children Re-
Wilson, C., Vincent, P., and Lake, E. 1996. An search Center, University of New Hampshire. John Humphrey, Ph.D., Professor of
Examination of Organizational Structure and
Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, provided background
Programmatic Reform in Public Child Protective
research and editorial review in the preparation of this Bulletin.
Services. Olympia, WA: Washington State Insti-
tute for Public Policy.
This Bulletin was prepared under grant num- Share With Your Colleagues
ber 98–JN–FX–0012 from the Office of Juvenile
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