NCJ Number
75828
Date Published
1979
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Characteristics of youths aged 14 to 16 who were placed in New Zealand's penal institutions before and after trial from January 1977 through March 1978 were examined.
Abstract
The country's 1974 Children and Young Persons Act calls on the courts to avoid detention in custody in a penal institution unless no other course is desirable. According to penal institution regulations, young persons are generally separated from older inmates. The study revealed that most judges failed to record their reasons for incarcerating juveniles. Of the 445 cases studied, 4.5 percent of the male offenders were imprisoned either before or after trial. Usable records were available for only 282 juveniles; and of these, 30 percent were placed in custody prior to conviction, and 64 percent were imprisoned only after conviction. The time of imprisonment for the others was unknown. Of those jailed, 2 percent were 14 years old, 21 percent were 15 years old, and 77 percent were 16 years old. Maoris (original inhabitants of the country) constituted 57 percent of those remanded in custody before conviction and 67.9 percent of those remanded after conviction. However, 1976 statistics show that Maoris represented only 36.5 percent of the juveniles appearing before the Children and Young Persons Court and 41 percent of the young persons appearing before the Magistrate's Courts. Burglary was the most common and the most serious offense. Theft and attempted or actual motor vehicle theft were also frequent offences. Of those remanded in custody prior to conviction, nearly 85 percent had a history of previous offending; and 87 percent of those sentenced to institutions were recidivists. The average length of remand was 10.6 days, the median remand was 8 days, and the range was 1 to 71 days. Data tables and footnotes with references are included. Appendixes contain relevant acts and definitions, information on institution conditions, data on juveniles remanded to social welfare institutions, and a seven-item bibliography.