NCJ Number
148690
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper describes and assesses the Wagga Wagga (New South Wales, Australia) juvenile cautioning program.
Abstract
The model developed in Wagga Wagga draws on the principal elements of the contemporary New Zealand family group conference and upon Braithwaite's (1989) theory of reintegrative shaming. Under the cautioning scheme a police sergeant convenes a meeting between the offender and the victim; supporters of both the offender and the victim (usually family members) can also attend the meeting. The sergeant encourages all parties to express their feelings about the offense and its consequences. Following this, the parties develop a settlement agreement that may involve restitution or reparation in the event of property loss or damage. The cautioning scheme was introduced August 1, 1991. Data were obtained on juvenile charges in Wagga Wagga for 1989-90, 1990-91, and 1991-92. Data encompass the number of juveniles charged, the number of offenses, the percentage charged, and the total number of interventions. The same types of data were also obtained for cautions over the same time period. General crime rates during the period of the Wagga Wagga experiment have fallen. Analysts cannot assert that the juvenile cautioning program was the cause of this decrease, however. To reach such a conclusion, more thorough research is required; however, the number of juveniles before court has significantly declined, and victim satisfaction and restitution have both been enhanced. The introduction of the juvenile cautioning scheme has provided the police and the community with the best way yet devised of dealing more appropriately and directly with both the perpetrators of juvenile crime and their victims. The model almost certainly has general application in other communities. 2 tables and 5 references