This report summarizes the activities and achievements of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) Research Division from August 1999 to the present in research, evaluation, and statistics, as well as the findings of several OJJDP research projects.
The discussion notes that the ultimate goal of the OJJDP's Research Division is to prevent at-risk youth from having delinquent careers and to help youth already in the juvenile justice system turn away from future delinquency and criminality. The first chapter describes major OJJDP research projects, including the Study Group on Very Young offenders, the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of delinquency, and research on juvenile transfers to criminal court. Among the findings are that the prevalence of juvenile delinquents age 12 and younger does not appear to have increased over the past 2 decades. In addition, researchers cannot definitively predict which prechoolers will become child delinquents and serious and violent juvenile offenders, but serious warning signs exist, and communities should emphasize primary prevention and early intervention. In addition, programs that target at-risk juveniles need to include their families. The next chapter highlights new and emerging research efforts being launched by OJJDP, including research programs that examine female juvenile delinquency, Tribal youth, and mental health issues, as well as a study that examines the reasons for trends in juvenile delinquency. A further chapter presents information on some crucial OJJDP research activities, including research on child victimization, school violence, and initiatives related to drug abuse. Reference lists and appendixes listing active research projects, research-related publications and products, and research-related online resources