y the four teenagers, just 15 and 16 years A 12-year-old and two other youths were chargedold were "thrill shooting." with kidnapping a 57-year-old man and taking a joy ride in his Toyota. As the A 14-year-old boyman pleaded for his life, the juveniles shot him to death was murdered while trying to reclaim a $2,500 stereo system he had received from his grandfather. Five juveniles, ranging in age from 15 through 17 years, were charged with the crime. (Hazlehurst & Hazlehurst, 1998, p. 150). Profiles In every community, roughly 2 percent of the juvenile offender population is responsible for up to 60 percent of the violent juvenile crime. Only 25 to 35 juveniles in every 100,000 members of the population will engage in criminal activity that matches the Serious Habitual Offender pattern. Based on criteria developed by the U. S. Department of Justice, this means that 0.03 percent to 0.04 percent of all juveniles between 14 and 17 years old will be Serious Habitual Offenders. A profile of a Serious Habitual Offender was collected from data collected and analyzed by the Reagan Administration team at the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1980s presents a graphic portrait of the serious habitual offender: The typical SHO is male, 15 years and six months old. He has been arrested 11 to 14 times, exclusive of status offences, and five times for felonies. He comes from a dysfunctional family; and in 46 percent of cases, at least one of his parents also has an arrest history. He has received long-term and continuing social services from as many as six different community service agencies, including family, youth, mental health, social services, school, juvenile, or police authorities, and continues to drain these resources for years before he is finally incarcerated as a career criminal. The typical SHO's family history follows a classic pattern of social pathologies: 53 percent of his siblings also have a history of arrest; a...
