The Prevalence of Delinquency

Abstract

One of the most basic questions surrounding the topic of juvenile delinquency concerns the proportion of youths at risk that have had official contact with the police or other official criminal justice agencies. At a minimum, delinquency research must measure the prevalence of the phenomenon by classifying the at-risk population at least in terms of the delinquent versus nondelinquent dichotomy. The accumulation of prevalence data thus provides information on the relative size of the delinquent population across demographic groups and regions and over time. These basic data are necessary for theory development and testing and are indispensable for informed social policy.