NCJ Number
225963
Date Published
August 2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the scope for triaging young offenders coming into contact with the New South Wales (NSW) criminal justice system, to identify those who ought to be referred for more careful assessment.
Abstract
A large number of routinely recorded factors were found to be associated with the risk of further offending. Highlights of these included: being under 14 years of age, being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander decent, not living with both natural parents, having experienced some form of trauma, having been placed in out-of-home care, having been the subject of a confirmed report of neglect or abuse, having one or both parents deceased, having been suspended or expelled from school, not attending school at the time of the court appearance, having been convicted of a theft offense, and having had several prior contacts with the justice system. The key risk factors are those associated with school attendance/behavior and past contact with the criminal justice system. The model developed shows that it is possible to determine which juveniles will reoffend with a fair degree of accuracy using only information routinely collected by the government. Previous research has found high rates of reoffending among juveniles coming in contact with the Australian criminal justice system. The objective of this study was to determine whether it was possible to predict which young people would reoffend from information routinely collected by government. Tables, figures, references, notes, and appendix