Violent offending by young people in New Zealand: 'Perception versus reality' - Zoey Caldwell, Dr Anna Duncan, Leigh McPhail (Ministry of Justice)

Violent offending by young people in New Zealand:

perception versus reality

Presented by:

Dr Anna Duncan, Senior Advisor, Youth Justice Team

Leigh McPhail, Advisor , Youth Justice Team

Zoey Caldwell, Advisor, Youth Justice Team

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Presentation overview

• Media portrayals

• Statistical overview

• Public perceptions

• Implications for practice

• What are your experiences?

3

“If it bleeds it leads!”

• Media portrayals are conveyed in newspapers / TV / radio / video / books and the internet

• Content analyses show that media are saturated with accounts of crime, control and criminal justice

• A Canadian study found that half of newspaper and TV news coverage and two-thirds of radio items were focused on crime, deviance and control

• Media portrayals of crime differ from the picture portrayed by official crime statistics

• Media tend to focus on individual cases without examining the broader context of offending

4

Examples of media headlines

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Effects of media portrayals

• Foster moral panics

• Construct crime waves

• Selected nature of crime reporting tends to play on public fears

• Long-running and controversial debate on whether violence in the media ‘causes’ violent behaviour

• Increase in reality and forensic drama has blurred lines between crime news and crime entertainment

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Statistical overview: Police apprehensions

Apprehensions of 14-16 year olds

1997 2006

Total apprehensions 31,027 30,451

Violence apprehensions 3,156 4,655

Proportion of total 10% 15%

Raw # of youth violence apprehensions ↑ 47.5% in last 10 years

Youth violence apprehension rate (population adjusted) ↑ 25.3%

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Statistical overview: violence apprehension rates

Violence apprehension rate per 10,000 population, by age group, 1997 to 2006

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Ap

pre

hen

sio

n r

ate

0-9

10-13

14-16

17-20

21-30

31-50

51-99

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Statistical overview: violence apprehension rates by offence type

Police apprehension rate of 14-16 year olds for violence per 10,000 population, by offence type, 1997 to 2006

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Homicide

KidnappingAnd Abduction

Robbery

GrievousAssaults

SeriousAssaults

Minor Assaults

IntimidationAnd Threats

GroupAssemblies

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Statistical overview: prosecutions for violence offences

• In 2006, there were 6,202 prosecuted cases

involving young people (a 5% increase from

2004)

• 24% of these cases involved violence offences

• Outcomes of these cases:

– 7% - Convicted in District or High Court

– 27% - Proved in Youth Court

– 27% - s.282 discharge

– 39% - Not proved

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Statistical overview: self-report data

• Youth 2000 survey: Violence and NZ young people

– 49% of male students and 32% of female students reported that they had physically hurt someone else, on purpose, in the last year

– 28% of males and 15% of females reported being in a serious physical fight in the last year

– 9% of males and 3% of females reported carrying a weapon (e.g. a knife) in the last year

– 3% of males and 1% of females reported using a weapon in the last year

– Students who were victims of violence were more likely to be the perpetrators of violence

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Public perceptions of youth offending

• Public perceptions and understandings of youth offending and youth justice are largely informed by the media

• Public knowledge of trends in youth offending and of youth justice systems is poor

• Opinion polls show that many people:

– over-estimate the amount and seriousness of youth offending

– think youth justice systems and sentencing practice are too lenient

– favour punitive responses to youth offending

• However, opinion polls ask simple questions that provide little context, which tend to evoke quite punitive responses

• More in-depth research, where people are given more information about specific cases, evoke less punitive responses favouring prevention and rehabilitation

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Implications for practice

• Risk factors for violent offending include:

- Behavioural difficulties e.g. conduct

disorder

- Mental and other health related issues

- Drug and alcohol abuse

- Being a victim of violence

• Good assessment is crucial to determining

appropriate intervention

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What are your experiences?

• Are your caseloads for violent offences

increasing?

• What kinds of violence are you seeing?

• What do you think are the drivers of the

increase in youth apprehensions for violence?

• What kinds of responses are needed?

- Locally?

- Nationally?

• Any other thoughts?

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References

Dowler, K., Fleming, T. & Muzzatti, S. (2006) Constructing crime: media, crime, and popular culture. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, October 2006 , Vol 48, No 6 pp837-850.

Doyle, A. (2006) How not to think about crime in the media. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, October 2006 , Vol 48, No 6 pp837-850.

Fleming, T.M., Watson, P.D., Robinson, E., Ameratunga, S., Dixon, R., Clark, T.C., Crengle, S. (2007) Violence and New Zealand Young People: Findings of Youth 2000 – A National Secondary School Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey. Auckland: The University of Auckland.

Hough, M. & Roberts, J.V. (2004) Youth crime and youth justice: public opinion in England and Wales. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Maxwell, G. (1999) Youth offending: putting the headlines in context. www.justice.govt.nz?youth/media/rates1099.html accessed on 18 June 2007.

Moffitt, T.E., Silva, P.A., Lynam, D.R., Henry, B. (1994) Self-reported delinquency at age 18: New Zealand’s Dunedin Multi-Disciplinary Health and Development Study. In J. Junger-Tas & G.J. Terlouw (Eds.) The International self-report delinquency project (pp. 356-371). Den Haag; Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands.

Nacro (2001) Youth Crime Briefing: Public opinion and youth justice. London: Nacro.

Roberts, J.V. (2004) Public Opinion and the Evolution of Juvenile Justice Policy in Western Nations. In: M. Tonry and A. Doob (eds.) Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Comparative and Cross-National Perspectives. Crime and Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Soler, M. (2001) Public Opinion on Youth, Crime and Race: A guide for advocates. United States: Youth Law Centre

Police official statistics. www.stats.govt.nz

Youth Court statistics. www.justice.govt.nz

For further information or discussion please feel free to contact us:

Dr Anna Duncan – [email protected](currently on parental leave)

Leigh McPhail – [email protected] Caldwell – [email protected]

www.justice.govt/youth-justice/