Abstract
This study of officially recorded delinquency in the Lexington, Ky., Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area found that 60 per cent of the boys and 48 per cent of the girls appearing in court in 1960 had two or more recorded offenses from 1952 through 1961. The mean age at time of first court appearance for the male recidivists was 12.9.
We conclude that juvenile delinquency has an early commence ment, persists throughout adolescence, is widespread (20 per cent of all boys in the metropolitan area appear in court) , and is endemic to lower-class census tracts.
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