When a 6-year-old shot and killed a classmate in Michigan on February 29, the nation reacted in horror. Although the boy is too young to be tried for murder under state law, most states have mechanisms to try juveniles in adult court depending on their crime and age.

At least 10 states automatically waive juveniles to adult court if they are 17 years of age. Another three states have automatic waivers for juveniles 16 or older, according to a report on juvenile offenders released by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in February. In addition, all states allow prosecutors or juvenile court judges the discretion to waive juvenile offenders to adult court.

The majority of these waivers were legislated between 1992 and 1995 in response to reports of increases in juvenile crime, especially violent offenses. A 1992 fact-sheet by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention shows that between 1988 and 1992, the total number of juveniles arrested for murder increased 51 percent, and the number of juveniles arrested for forcible rape increased 17 percent. In contrast, the number of adults arrested for murder increased 9 percent and those arrested for forcible rape increased 3 percent between 1988 and 1992.

The state waivers, combined with tougher sentencing laws, resulted in a large increase in the number of youth admitted to and incarcerated in state prisons between 1985 and 1997—from 3,400 to 7,400, according to the BJS report. In spite of declining juvenile crime rates since the mid-1990s, the public’s perception that juveniles are increasingly violent continues to be fueled by the sensational crimes committed by a minority of youth.

Other findings of the BJS report:

• Relative to the number of arrests, juvenile offenders were almost twice as likely to be sentenced to state prisons for violent offenses in 1997 than in 1985 (33 per 1,000 arrests, compared with 18 per 1,000 arrests).

• An estimated 26 percent of juvenile offenders sentenced to more than a year in state prisons were between the ages of 13 and 16.

• Sixty-one percent of juvenile offenders in state prisons were incarcerated for a violent offense, with the remainder confined for property crimes and drug offenses.

Wade Myers, M.D., a member of APA’s Juvenile Justice Committee, told Psychiatric News, "Psychiatrists who work with this population find these reports disturbing, especially the increase in the number of states with waiver mechanisms. Once juveniles enter the adult criminal system, they are much less likely to receive a psychiatric evaluation and treatment."

Myers, who directs the child psychiatry and law clinic at the University of Florida in Gainesville, recommended that judges and prosecutors consider the offender’s developmental level, mental state, and intentions before deciding to waive the youth to adult court.

"Juvenile offenders typically do not understand the implications of their actions as well as adults," he commented.

Myers emphasized that an offender’s amenability to treatment should be judged apart from the type of offense committed. "A shoplifter is not necessarily more amenable to treatment than a murderer," he noted.

Myers observed that juveniles who are sentenced to state prisons and held with adult criminals often have high recidivism rates. "For the duration of their sentences, their role models are hardened adult criminals. They are also at high risk for physical and sexual assault because they are not savvy about protecting themselves."