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Juveniles as Victims
Violent Crime Victimization
Q: How do the number of juvenile suicide victims compare to the number of juvenile homicide victims?
A: Persons ages 7–17 are about as likely to be victims of suicide as they are to be victims of homicide.
Number of suicide and homicide victims by age, 1981-2005

[ Text only ]  [ Excel file ]

  • 27,800 juveniles ages 7–17 died by suicide in the U.S. between 1981 and 2005.
  • For all juveniles ages 7–17, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death over this period, trailing only unintentional injury (161,900), homicide (34,500) and cancer (32,500).
  • Nearly sixty percent of all juvenile suicides between 1981 and 2005 were committed with a firearm, 30% by some form of suffocation (e.g., hanging), and 9% by poisoning.
  • The proportion of juvenile suicides committed with a firearm peaked in 1994 at 69% and then fell so that by 2005 less than half (40%) of juvenile suicides involved a firearm.
Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/victims/qa02701.asp?qaDate=2005. Released on September 12, 2008.

Data source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2008). WISQARS (Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) [interactive database system]. Online. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/

 

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