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The Effectiveness of Juvenile Curfews at Crime Prevention

School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

Juvenile curfew laws have become a pervasive and popular strategy for controlling juvenile crime. Public opinion is solidly behind the use of curfews, and the primary basis for this support is the notion that curfews make streets safer. This article provides preliminary results from a systematic review of empirical research on juvenile curfews, concluding that the evidence does not support the argument that curfews prevent crime and victimization. Juvenile crime and victimization are most likely to remain unchanged after implementation of curfew laws. Other aspects of curfew research, such as efficiency at detecting criminal activity, costs of enforcement, crime displacement, counterintuitive findings, and characteristics of curfew violators also are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered.

Key Words: juvenile curfew • juvenile crime • crime prevention • law enforcement

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The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 587, No. 1, 136-159 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716202250944


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Adams, K. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?