Abstract
In recent years 'rising' serious crimes by juveniles have been given considerable attention by scholars, administrators, and the media. Significant changes in the laws pertaining to juveniles have been made, some of which prescribe severe punishments for juveniles who indulge in serious law violations. The late 1960s saw the granting of certain rights, which were available only to adults, to juveniles. It is clear from available records that these changes were neither based on nor accompanied by systematic studies of the problem of juvenile misbehaviour. Is serious criminal behaviour among juveniles increasing? This is the question which this study attempts to answer.