The superpredator or super-predator is a type of criminal in a now-debunked criminological theory that became popular in the 1990s in the United States, which posited that a small but significant and increasing population of impulsive (often urban) youth were willing to commit violent crimes without remorse.
[1][2] Criminologist and political scientist John J. DiIulio Jr.,[3][4] theorized that superpredators were a growing phenomenon and predicted a large increase in youth crime and violence as a result.
[2][9] American lawmakers seized on this idea, and implemented tough-on-crime legislation for juvenile offenders across the country, including life without parole sentences.
[1][13][14][15] A Miami University study of United States media coverage of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre suggested that it reinforced the superpredator theory, especially with "alarmist responses to erroneous fears about growing rates and severity of youth violence".
[17] J.C. Howell wrote that superpredators were "the most damaging and erroneous myth propagated in the 100-year history of the juvenile justice system in the United States".