Studies of juvenile homicide have been limited to small samples and have arrived at widely varying clinical formulations. The present study of 72 juvenile murderers uses a three-group typology based on the circumstances of the offense. Group differences in prior adjustment suggest distinct developmental pathways to adolescent violence. Implications for research and for legal decision-making are discussed.

Juvenile homicide is a particularly troubling social problem because of both the seriousness of the crime and the youth-fulness of the offender. The social policy of protecting adolescent offenders through a juvenile court system is in direct conflict with the established legal and moral imperative to impose maximum sanctions on those who commit the most serious of crimes.

The juvenile courts frequently turn to the mental health profession for explanation and direction. Unfortunately, the mental health professional faces the uncertain task of drawing upon our growing, but still highly fragmentary, knowledge of adolescence and aggressive behavior. Focused attention on the highly aggressive adolescent is slowly emerging out of the general literature on juvenile delinquency.¹⁴  In part, this may be stimulated by the recognition that a small fraction of juvenile delinquents account for the majority of violent crimes attributable to the entire group.³² 

In the meantime, increased public concern with violent juvenile crime has been accompanied by major criticisms of the juvenile court system and its perceived failure to rehabilitate young offenders.²¹  As a result, numerous states have acted to reform their juvenile courts by limiting or reducing the protections of juvenile status. States have enacted mandatory sentencing laws for youthful offenders convicted of serious crimes, lowered the age at which defendants are tried as adults, or streamlined procedures to transfer juveniles to adult court jurisdiction.²⁷ 

In Michigan, adolescents are prosecuted as adults when they reach age 17. Juveniles charged with serious crimes can be tried as adults as early as age 15 if a waiver hearing finds that they meet appropiate criteria (1980 State of Michigan Juvenile Court Rules: II. Waiver of Jurisdiction).

The literature on adolescent...