MAY CONTAN MARKUP

By Marcus Felson

Entertainingly written and a model for how theory develops from empirical evidence, the Second Edition of this popular book is the perfect supplementary text for introductory criminology courses. The book provides an insightful analysis of the "other side" of crime causation, examining how society encourages or inhibits crime in the routine activities of everyday life.

SAGE Publications, Apr 13, 1998, 240 pages

By Stewart Boiteux and Suzanne Poynton 

AIM To describe rates of offending by young people with disability, and identify factors associated with their first contact with the youth justice system in NSW. METHOD A birth cohort of young people with disability residing in NSW was identified using State and Commonwealth information on health and disability service contacts from a large linked administrative dataset. Rates of offending were compared for young people with and without disability. Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to examine factors associated with the initial offending contact for young people with disability in the birth cohort. Differences in offence types and court outcomes for young people with disability were compared with young people with no known disability. RESULTS Despite accounting for only 3.5% of the population, young people with disability comprised 7.7% of all young people who had at least one police caution, youth justice conference or court appearance before the age of 18 and 17.4% of those with at least one youth detention episode. On average, people with disability had their first contact with the NSW criminal justice system at an earlier age, had a higher frequency of contacts, and had a different profile of offence types compared to people without disability. Offenders with disability received diversionary outcomes under the Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW) at a similar rate to offenders without disability, but for matters proceeding to court, young people with disability received section 32 and 33 dismissals under the (now repealed) Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW) at a much higher rate. For people with disability, factors such as a later age of initial contact with disability-related services, greater remoteness of residence, and frequency of child protection contact were strongly associated with the likelihood of having a police caution, youth justice conference or court appearance before the age of 18. CONCLUSION People with disability have higher rates of contact with the youth justice system than people without disability and are significantly overrepresented in the youth custody population.

(Crime and Justice Bulletin No. 254). 

Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research , 2023. 39p.

By Clare Ringland, Stewart Boiteux and Suzanne Poynton 

AIM To describe the proportion of people with disability in New South Wales who offend, and the proportion of offenders who have a disability, separately for young and adult offenders. METHOD Data were obtained for individuals in contact with the criminal justice system and/or specific disability support services between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2018. For those who accessed these core disability support services (the “disability cohort”), we report frequencies and percentages relating to whether individuals had offending and/or custodial records during the 10-year period. Similarly, for the young and adult offender cohorts, we report frequencies and percentages relating to whether individuals had a disability, as per the disability cohort definition or a broader disability indicator. The following characteristics were also considered: age, sex, Aboriginality, type of disability (cognitive, psychosocial, physical), offence type (violent, domestic violence (DV) related, property), whether custodial episodes were sentenced episodes, and whether individuals were recorded as victims of crime during the same 10-year period. RESULTS Sixteen per cent of the disability cohort had a finalised matter (caution, youth justice conference, or court appearance) during the 10-year period; 5 per cent had a custodial episode. Across all offence types, rates were highest for those with psychosocial disability, particularly those with both cognitive and psychosocial disabilities. Rates were also higher for males (vs. females), for those aged 15–34 years (vs. <15 years and 35–64 years), for Aboriginal people, and for those recorded as victims of crime. Almost a quarter of young offenders were identified as people with disability (10% in the disability cohort), with rates of disability highest for DV offenders (42% identified with disability, 19% in the disability cohort). Similarly, 27 per cent of adult offenders were identified as people with disability (16% in the disability cohort), with highest rates of disability for property offenders (45% identified with disability, 25% in the disability cohort). Rates of disability were higher in Aboriginal offenders than non-Aboriginal offenders. Aboriginal offenders were also more likely than non-Aboriginal offenders to have been victims of crime during the period. For example, 90 per cent of Aboriginal female young offenders with disability were recorded as victims of crime during the period, versus 59 per cent of non-Aboriginal female young offenders with no identified disability. More than 2 in 5 young people and around 1 in 2 adults with sentenced custodial episodes were identified as people with disability.

CONCLUSION:  A significant proportion of young and adult offenders were identified as people with disability and many of these individuals had also been victims of crime. There is an urgent need for further disability focused research to identify opportunities for strengthened support and diversion for this vulnerable group

(Bureau Brief No. 164).

Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2023. 22p