• The black-white disparity in arrest rates for forcible rape peaked in 1981, when the black rate was almost eight times the white rate. In 2007, the black rate was about three times higher than the white rate.
• For white juveniles, the arrest rate for forcible rape nearly doubled between 1980 and 1991, when it reached its peak. Between 1991 and 1995 the rate fell by 20%, remained essentially constant through 1999, then dipped through 2007. The rate for white youth in 2007 was 2% above its 1980 level.
• The trend in forcible rape arrests for black juveniles differed from the trend for whites. For black juveniles, the 1990s brought a substantial decline in the arrest rate for forcible rape. The rate peaked in 1987 and then fell 71% by 2007. In contrast to the rate for whites, the forcible rape arrest rate for black juveniles in 2007 was less than half the rate in 1980.
• The small number of arrests of American Indian and Asian juveniles for forcible rape make trends for these groups difficult to interpret. The Asian rate for forcible rape appears to have remained relatively constant during the 1980s and 1990s and far below the rates of the other races. The data for American Indians, however, shows large annual swings; this is attributable at least in part to the small number of arrests reported each year.

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Internet Citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available:
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05263. October 24, 2008.

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