NCJ Number
180656
Date Published
1999
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This survey found that recidivism among juvenile offenders in New South Wales, Australia, is affected by multiple factors ranging from early developmental issues and personal characteristics to age of onset of delinquency and the response of the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The survey involved a cohort of juveniles with proven court appearances between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 1993. Both first and repeat offenders were included in the cohort, and a recidivist was defined as any individual recording a subsequent proven appearance during the 60-month follow-up period. Data were available on 71,560 court appearances by 35,947 distinct juvenile offenders. Findings demonstrated that a history of previous proven court appearances reduced the time to court reappearance and increased recidivism rates. Once juveniles experienced a relatively large number of court appearances, the type of penalty imposed on them had no impact on their times to re-offend. Supervised orders appeared to have a positive effect on the recidivism of juveniles with two and three previous court appearances. On the other hand, community service orders seemed to be less effective than other penalties in reducing recidivism, regardless of the length of the delinquent career. Juvenile offenders who experienced a first court appearance at ages over 14 years had shorter times to re-offend than juveniles who appeared in court at younger ages. About 37 percent of juvenile offenders in the cohort had a subsequent court appearance during the period under observation. The average time between consecutive court appearances was 17.9 months. The intensity of offending reached its maximum at ages between 15 and 17 years. The authors conclude that programs targeting juvenile offenders who reappear relatively soon after their first court appearance may reduce juvenile crime and recidivism rates. References, notes, and tables