tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/youth-crime-1796/articles
Youth crime – The Conversation
2024-02-08T16:27:58Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222789
2024-02-08T16:27:58Z
2024-02-08T16:27:58Z
Why the teenagers who murdered Brianna Ghey should have remained anonymous
<p>The two teenagers convicted of the horrific murder of Brianna Ghey have received life sentences. The judge, Justice Yip, also made the decision to lift their anonymity, which is <a href="https://yjlc.uk/resources/legal-updates/changes-anonymity-children-criminal-cases">automatically applied</a> to all children (defined as those under 18) involved in criminal proceedings.</p>
<p>Their anonymity was lifted in the name of “<a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/R-v-X-and-Y-Ruling-on-reporting-restrictions.pdfhttps://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/R-v-X-and-Y-Ruling-on-reporting-restrictions.pdf">open justice</a>”, and “<a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/R-v-X-and-Y-Ruling-on-reporting-restrictions.pdf">public interest</a>”. </p>
<p>The public might well have a short-term interest in the identities of Brianna Ghey’s murderers. But “public interest” rather refers to what is in the <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/special-category-data/what-are-the-substantial-public-interest-conditions/">best interests</a> of society. As experts in criminology and youth justice, we argue that it is not in the long-term public good or the best interests of society for their identities to be revealed. </p>
<h2>Public interest or public outrage?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/R-v-X-and-Y-Ruling-on-reporting-restrictions.pdf">Justice Yip commented</a> that the public would want to know the perpetrators’ names “to understand how children could do something so dreadful”. But naming children who have committed serious crimes will not necessarily improve understandings of serious youth violence. </p>
<p>Rather, it can harden misconceptions that children who commit crimes do so because of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/brianna-ghey-friend-killers-transgender-b2489889.html">innate evil</a>. It can raise long-discredited <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3814446/">theories of criminal “types”</a>, due to stereotyping and the over-simplification of complex situations.</p>
<p>Naming may also encourage vigilantism against the offenders or their families. It might potentially spawn further retaliatory criminal behaviour, motivated by vicarious hate and desire for retribution. Further crime is not in society’s best interest.</p>
<p>In 2009, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-38263416">two boys attacked and severely injured two other children</a> in Edlington, South Yorkshire. They were given lifelong anonymity on the grounds they would be “at serious risk of attack” if identified.</p>
<p>The well-documented murder of James Bulger by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson shows the other side of this coin. Their identities were revealed after conviction, but the ensuing <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/threats-mean-venables-new-identify-must-stay-secret/">violent threats</a> the have received have led them to be granted new identities, at significant public cost. </p>
<p>The issue is not the seriousness of the offence, which, in these cases and that of Brianna was undeniably horrific, but the possibility of long-term harm to the perpetrators and their families.</p>
<p>And a balance needs to be struck between <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act/article-2-right-life">their right to life</a> and the right for children to have their <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">best interests made paramount</a>, even in criminal proceedings and even after committing horrific crimes. </p>
<p>In 2015, a boy known as “RXG” became, at 14, the youngest person in the UK <a href="https://inforrm.org/2019/08/05/lifelong-anonymity-orders-do-they-still-work-in-the-social-media-age-faith-gordon-and-julie-doughty/">convicted of terrorist charges</a>. In 2019 he was granted lifelong anonymity on approaching 18 by the High Court. This order was not made because of concerns over imminent attack, but because identification was likely to have a <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/RXG-v-MoJ-2019-EWHC-2026-QB-Final-Judgment-as-handed-down-003.pdf">“profound impact on his psychological wellbeing”</a>. </p>
<p>The lifting of anonymity can also lead to risk for the families of the perpetrators. Justice Yip acknowledged that harassment and threats against the families of Brianna Ghey’s murderers had <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/R-v-X-and-Y-Ruling-on-reporting-restrictions.pdf">already begun</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Brianna’s father <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/scarlett-jenkinson-and-eddie-ratcliffe-named-as-brianna-gheys-teenage-killers-but-victims-father-disagrees-with-judges-decision-13061367">did not want the perpetrators’ names to be released</a>. Instead, he wants his daughter to be remembered. He expressed concern that the release of the perpetrators’ names would always link them with his daughter. </p>
<h2>Rehabilitation</h2>
<p>Ultimately, a significant purpose in <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/united-nations-standard-minimum-rules-administration-juvenile">sentencing children</a> is to rehabilitate them. This comes with the understanding that <a href="https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/26748341/1">children are in a process of development</a>, with potential for change and growth. </p>
<p>However, the chances of effective rehabilitation are greatly reduced for these two children now their identities are known, not least due to <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13037291/brianna-ghey-teen-killers-bus-park-murder.html">sensationalist reporting</a> and a digital footprint which remains for life. </p>
<p>The discussion here should instead focus on what is really in the public interest. Surely, this is the reduction of future offending by effective rehabilitation, avoiding the need for expensive identity-change arrangements – and keeping proper focus on the victim without forever shackling their name to the names of those who have harmed them.</p>
<p>Brianna Ghey’s murderers may, at some point in the future, be deemed safe for release. But unless their identities are changed, successful reintegration back into society would be highly doubtful, despite this being <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7565a8e5274a1baf95e408/evidence-reduce-reoffending.pdf">vital for a non-offending future</a>. Naming them will damage their likelihood of future safe release, both in terms of protecting the perpetrators and protecting society. No one benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Naming them links their identities with Brianna’s – and may lead to harassment against their families.
Kathy Hampson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Aberystwyth University
Sean Creaney, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Edge Hill University
Stephen Case, Professor of Criminology, Loughborough University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216627
2023-10-31T23:47:13Z
2023-10-31T23:47:13Z
‘Unreasonable, unjust, oppressive’: how a police program targeted Indigenous kids
<p>“Unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory in its effect on children and young people.” </p>
<p>That’s how the Law Enforcement Conduction Commission (LECC) described a police program that aims to target likely offenders before they commit crimes.</p>
<p>It’s a program that allowed police to make home visits at all hours, and stop and search people in the street. </p>
<p>Yesterday, the commission released its damning <a href="https://www.lecc.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/news/media-release-operation-tepito-final-report">final report</a> after a five-year investigation.</p>
<p>Here’s what it found.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-much-money-is-spent-on-jails-and-policing-what-aboriginal-communities-told-us-about-funding-justice-reinvestment-to-keep-people-out-of-prison-200531">'Too much money is spent on jails and policing': what Aboriginal communities told us about funding justice reinvestment to keep people out of prison</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Report identifies unlawful practices</h2>
<p>The program in question is the Suspect Targeted Management Plan, implemented by NSW Police.</p>
<p>It’s a pre-emptive policing program that selects and then targets children and adults who police predict may commit crimes in the future. </p>
<p>The rationale behind the policy is to deter recidivists.</p>
<p>Once placed on the plan, police “disrupt” people’s everyday lives, through questioning, stop and search, and home visits – sometimes at all hours and even multiple times a week or even a day. </p>
<p>The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission found some of this conduct to be unlawful, possibly even “serious misconduct”. </p>
<p>While the plan was introduced in 2000, the then secret “black list” only came to public attention in 2017 with my <a href="https://piac.asn.au/2017/10/25/policing-young-people-in-nsw-a-study-of-the-suspect-targeting-management-plan/">research</a> (coauthored with Camilla Pandolfini), in partnership with Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Youth Justice Coalition. </p>
<p>The commission agreed with our recommendation that there were grounds to investigate the police for potential agency maladministration. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1718839249225891957"}"></div></p>
<p>The commission’s investigation, called “Operation Tepito”, has been ongoing since 2018. </p>
<p>Its <a href="https://www.lecc.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/publications/operation-tepito-interim-report-january-2020.pdf">interim 2020 report</a> was scathing of police.</p>
<p>It recommended further reform of the revised management plan through new policy guidelines and training. </p>
<p>The commission urged police to engage with young people with “positive interactions” and reduce coercive ones. </p>
<p>The final report reviewed the operation of the plan for children between November 2020 and February 2022.</p>
<p>The commission concluded that police use of the management plan was an “<a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2016-061#sec.11">agency maladministration</a>” but did not make formal findings. This is because NSW Police abandoned the plan before the report was released. </p>
<h2>First Nations children disproportionately targeted</h2>
<p>Of the recommendations the commission made in 2020, NSW Police <a href="https://www.lecc.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/news/media-release-operation-tepito-final-report">failed to successfully implement</a> any of them. </p>
<p>Police overwhelmingly still subjected young people to intrusive, disruptive strategies. Some of these, such as home visits and searches, were unlawful. </p>
<p>There was <a href="https://www.lecc.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/news/media-release-operation-tepito-final-report">little evidence</a> of “positive interactions”, nor of support referrals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nts-tough-on-crime-approach-wont-reduce-youth-offending-this-is-what-we-know-works-160361">The NT's tough-on-crime approach won't reduce youth offending. This is what we know works</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>First Nations young people were disproportionately targeted. </p>
<p>In 2022, First Nations people made up 48% of all young people on the plan.</p>
<p>This was an increase on the 42% reported in the 2020 interim report. </p>
<p>Crucially, the commission found that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The NSW Police Force did not undertake any analysis to try to determine the reasons for this and did not take steps to reduce this over-representation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>First Nations young people are <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003115243/conflict-politics-crime-chris-cunneen">overpoliced, overcharged and overincarcerated</a>.</p>
<p>If you then use the same data to decide who is “risky” and deserving of intensified police harassment, it only reinforces the cycle of criminalisation. </p>
<p>The Commission also found other administrative issues, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>varied quality in intelligence assessments</p></li>
<li><p>unclear justifications for putting people on the plan</p></li>
<li><p>inflation of how some scores were calculated</p></li>
<li><p>poor record-keeping</p></li>
<li><p>inadequate consideration of complex needs or the alternatives to placing a young person on the Suspect Targeting Management Plan.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/raising-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-is-only-a-first-step-first-nations-kids-need-cultural-solutions-186201">Raising the age of criminal responsibility is only a first step. First Nations kids need cultural solutions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A plan at odds with Closing the Gap</h2>
<p>The fact NSW Police didn’t implement any of the 2020 recommendations or reduce the over-representation shows the plan was never safe for First Nations young people in the first place.</p>
<p>Indeed, the management plan did precisely what it was designed to do: incapacitate and disrupt. </p>
<p>No amount of training or improvements to policy could remedy the extensive harms for First Nations young people put on the plan. </p>
<p>It was fundamentally a punitive surveillance approach, which made police the first responders for First Nations young people.</p>
<p>Aboriginal children need <a href="https://earlytraumagrief.anu.edu.au/files/ctg-rs21.pdf">culturally appropriate, therapeutic, trauma-informed services</a> run by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. </p>
<p>They also need <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362480615625763">safe distance</a> from police. </p>
<p>The Suspect Targeting Management Plan was always at odds with the NSW government’s commitment to divert First Nations people from the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>In its Closing the Gap <a href="https://www.aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au/closingthegap/nsw-implementation-plan/2022-24-implementation-plan/">Implementation Plan</a>, all early interventions to support young people need to be community designed and driven. </p>
<p>There should also be health, housing and education support.</p>
<h2>A community development approach</h2>
<p>NSW Police has dropped the Suspect Targeting Management Plan for people under 18 and will soon scrap it entirely.</p>
<p>Police are now developing a replacement approach. Will they take the lead from communities? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/walgett-partnership/about-us">Yuwaya Ngarra-li</a> community-led partnership in Walgett is one example of how holistic diversion programs can work.</p>
<p>Another is <a href="https://www.justreinvest.org.au">Just Reinvest</a> in Bourke, Kempsey and Moree.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/jumbunna-institute-indigenous-education-and-research/our-research/indigenous-law-and-justice-hub/self-determination-and-criminal-justice">UTS Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education</a> has developed ideas around Aboriginal self-determination in youth justice that could shape guiding principles. </p>
<p>Police are the wrong people for providing Indigenous young people with non-coercive, therapeutic support.</p>
<p>Community alternatives to state policing are real and powerful.</p>
<p><em>Correction: This article has been amended to reflect that the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission did not make formal findings of agency maladministration because NSW Police abandoned the Suspect Targeted Management Plan for children before the report was released. The article previously did not include this context.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216627/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vicki Sentas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has handed down a damning report into an unlawful policing strategy. It’s the latest example of First Nations children being over-policed.
Vicki Sentas, Senior Lecturer, UNSW Law, UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213655
2023-10-30T01:20:36Z
2023-10-30T01:20:36Z
Is Australia in the grips of a youth crime crisis? This is what the data says
<p>In recent months, there has been increasing focus on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-15/teenage-burglars-behind-rise-in-victoria-youth-crime/102483786">crime committed by young people</a> in Australia. Politicians are coming under more pressure to respond to these well-publicised criminal acts and the public perceptions that Australia is in the grips of a youth crime crisis.</p>
<p>In Queensland for instance, a group called Voice for Victims has been <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/politics/protesters-call-for-zero-tolerance-on-youth-crime/news-story/52d9c2ef69cc42fcfcf76a074531a115">holding protests</a> and recently <a href="https://youtu.be/aqVKt0zv4YM?si=XRCaGPvef__atJ2k">met</a> with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to push their demands for a stronger law and order response and higher assistance payments to victims.</p>
<p>But is youth crime actually increasing? Are we at crisis point? It depends on how we define a crisis and what the data says.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1627781297644126208"}"></div></p>
<h2>Youth offending crime data</h2>
<p>The minimum <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-not-rush-to-raise-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-in-australia-189463">age of criminal responsibility </a> is ten years old in all states and territories, except the Northern Territory which recently <a href="https://nt.gov.au/law/young-people/raising-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility">raised the age</a> to 12. Young people between the ages of ten and 13 can only be held criminally responsible, though, if it can be shown they knew what they were doing was seriously wrong. </p>
<p>In Victoria, <a href="https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-victorian-crime-data/alleged-offender-incidents-2">crime statistics</a> show that from 2014 to 2023, the rate of incidents involving youth offenders has been trending downward (despite some fluctuations).</p>
<p>However, from 2021-22 to 2022-23, there was a 24% increase in the rate of incidents committed by youth offenders under the age of 17, per 100,000 of population.</p>
<p>Likewise, data from <a href="https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_pages/Young-people.aspx">New South Wales</a> from 2011 to 2022 shows the rate of ten to 17 year olds being proceeded against by police has also been trending downward. This means the suspected offenders either faced court or a Youth Justice Conference, or received a caution from police. </p>
<p>However, from 2021 to 2022, the rate of young people being proceeded against by police increased by 7%, per 100,000 of population. The rate of those proceeding to court for more serious offences increased by 11% for the same period. </p>
<p>And the 2021-22 <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/7856/crime-report-qld-2021-22.pdf">Queensland Crime Report</a> showed a 13.7% increase in the number of children aged ten to 17 being proceeded against by police, compared to the previous year. The total number of youth offenders reached 52,742, the highest number in ten years. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3yfOQgHA-kY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Queensland premier faces questions about youth crime in a 9 News interview.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In most of the other states and territories, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-offenders/2021-22#data-downloads">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> data shows the youth offending rates have trended downward over the past decade. From 2020-21 to 2021-22, these rates have either remained steady or decreased in most states and territories. Only the Northern Territory showed a larger increase of 13%. </p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>It should be noted the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-offenders/latest-release#queensland">ABS youth offender rate</a> only counts how many unique offenders came into contact with police – each offender is only counted once, regardless of how many times they may have offended in the period. This means it does not provide an indication of overall recidivism rates by individual young people. </p>
<p>The ABS does, however, provide other <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-offenders/2021-22">data on recidivism</a>. In 2021-22, the proportion of youth offenders proceeded against by police more than once increased in several localities, including Queensland (10%), Tasmania (17%), the NT (5%) and the ACT (8.5%). The other states showed only minor changes from the previous year. </p>
<p>Queensland courts can declare a youth offender a serious repeat offender under <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/yja1992185/s150a.html">the Youth Justice Act</a>. These young people are identified using a special index, which considers a young person’s offending history (including the frequency and seriousness), the time a young person has spent in custody and their age.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/756649/cc-ar-2021-2022.pdf">2021-22 in Queensland</a>, nearly half of all youth offences were committed by serious repeat offenders. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-go-shopping-without-police-coming-north-queenslands-at-risk-youth-feel-excluded-and-heavily-surveilled-211885">'We can’t go shopping without police coming': north Queensland's at-risk youth feel excluded and heavily surveilled</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Which offences are showing increases?</h2>
<p>In Queensland, the <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/7856/crime-report-qld-2021-22.pdf">most prevalent offences</a> for young people in 2021-22 included theft, break and enter, and stolen vehicles. </p>
<p>Even though only 18% of all offenders in Queensland were under the age of 18, these youth offenders accounted for more than 50% of all break and enter, robbery and stolen vehicle offenders during the year. For stolen vehicles, the number of youth offenders almost doubled between 2012 and 2022. </p>
<p>In NSW, the <a href="https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_pages/Young-people.aspx">most common offences</a> for young people in 2022 were theft, break and enter, and stalking or harassment. Compared to 2021, young people proceeded against by police for thefts had increased by 21% and for break and enters by 55%. </p>
<p>And in Victoria, the most <a href="https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-victorian-crime-data/alleged-offender-incidents-2">common incidents</a> for youth offenders in 2022-23 were crimes against the person (a 29% increase compared to 2021-2022), property offences (36% increase) and public offences such as public nuisance, and disorderly and offensive conduct (29% increase). </p>
<h2>A crisis is a matter of perception</h2>
<p>A sense of crisis is created to some degree by not only rising crime rates, but also a sense of helplessness felt by the community and a perceived failing of the government to provide for a safe and secure community. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-022-02924-7">How the public perceives crime issues</a> is just as important as the reality of crime trends themselves. The <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2023/justice/police-services">Commonwealth Report on Government Services</a> provides a snapshot of perceptions of safety. In 2021-22, 89% of people felt safe at home at night, while just 32.7% felt safe on public transport and 53.8% on the street. </p>
<p>Last week, a survey of Queenslanders <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/qld-politics/yougov-poll-shows-queenslanders-living-in-state-of-fear-over-youth-crime-epidemic/news-story/39cb70d4de22debe1ababdf63d88331b">showed</a> nearly half of respondents believed youth crime was increasing or at a crisis point. Three-quarters of respondents had taken steps to improve their home security in the last year.</p>
<p>In Queensland, the government is responding to these concerns with tougher measures. It has controversially proposed using police watchhouses to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-23/qld-watch-house-youth-crime-human-rights-prison/102767700">detain youth offenders</a>, overriding its own Human Rights Act with a special provision only meant to be used in exceptional circumstances. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/queensland-is-not-only-trampling-the-rights-of-children-it-is-setting-a-concerning-legal-precedent-212377">Queensland is not only trampling the rights of children, it is setting a concerning legal precedent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The government said this was necessary because the state’s <a href="https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/bills/2022/3118/Child-Protection-(Offender-Reporting-and-Offender-Prohibition-Order)-and-Other-Legislation-Amendment-Bill-2022---SoC-to-Govt-ACID-4d7c.pdf">youth detention centres were full</a> and, due to an increase in serious youth offenders, it needed to use police watchhouses to detain them to ensure the community is protected.</p>
<p>Youth justice advocates warn these watchhouses, however, are not suitable places for children, in part, because they could be held with adults and many of the facilities lack exercise yards, natural light and visitor facilities.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1695911700938289280"}"></div></p>
<p>Given the recent protests in Queensland, it is reasonable to conclude there is a perception of a crisis in the community over the inability of governments to deal adequately with youth crime, specifically repeat offenders. </p>
<p>While action needs to be taken in the short term to address community safety concerns, all states and territories also need to address the longer-term, multi-factoral causes of youth crime, such as truancy and disengagement from school, drug usage, domestic violence in the home and poor parenting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Certain offences have shown increases in Victoria, NSW and Queensland over the past couple years, but the overall youth crime trend lines have been declining in the past decade.
Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Bond University
Gaelle Brotto, Assistant Professor Criminology and Criminal Justice
Tyler Cawthray, Assistant Professor in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Bond University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214147
2023-10-02T18:25:57Z
2023-10-02T18:25:57Z
Promises to get tough on youth crime might win votes – but the evidence shows it hasn’t worked for NZ
<p>The promise to “get tough on youth crime” is a New Zealand election perennial. This year, parties on both the left and right have pledged to crack down on young offenders – despite a lot of evidence that such approaches do not work in the long term.</p>
<p>Already, the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCJU_SCF_3EB1C4C8-198E-4F8F-60B1-08DBA2A4022F/ram-raid-offending-and-related-measures-amendment-bill">Ram Raid Offending and Related Measures Amendment Bill</a> is working through the legislative process. If passed, it would create a new offence within the Crimes Act, allowing the prosecution of children as young as 12, and prison sentences of up to ten years. </p>
<p>Labour, National and ACT all <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/496851/bill-targeting-ram-raid-offending-passes-first-reading">supported its first reading</a> in parliament. Labour in government also announced <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-pm-chris-hipkins-childrens-minister-kelvin-davis-to-announce-new-law-and-order-policy-as-opposition-accuses-of-tough-on-crime-politicking/XBDIHWAUNZHHDDFVD7KWJJ6SRU/">new high-needs youth justice units</a>, drawing criticism from opposition parties and justice reform advocates.</p>
<p>National is proposing a new “young serious offender” justice category, as well as the creation of “<a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/11/national-wants-to-send-youth-offenders-to-military-academies-for-up-to-year.html">youth offender military academies</a>”. ACT wants 200 <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2023-act-leader-david-seymour-promises-tougher-sentences-for-serious-crimes-in-law-and-order-policy/V5OVRN6YHJBTVBX2QL7ECYE5CA/">new youth justice beds</a> and responsibility for youth justice to move from children’s ministry Oranga Tamariki to the Department of Corrections.</p>
<p>According to current polling, parties on the right may be in a position to form the next government. If so, it seems New Zealand’s youth justice system may take a more punitive turn.</p>
<h2>Treating symptoms not causes</h2>
<p>The country’s youth justice system established a “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000486589302600108">new paradigm</a>” in the early 1990s, after the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html">Oranga Tamariki Act 1989</a> became law. This offered a homegrown approach to families and their young people unique to New Zealand. The model of family empowerment, restorative justice, diversion from court prosecution and reintegration in society became known internationally.</p>
<p>While there was a turn towards <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473225408091372?casa_token=rtLH0o9teVEAAAAA:oD6cC6Q7ka_ryfAKqkhRJdF6WDiF5ENY3-F6UE3QRL4AgPnA5yTCiJ9hHh0CVoCqw8DBWBUf4ELNgQ">more punitive</a> adult criminal justice in Europe and the United States, New Zealand’s system stayed relatively stable until 2008, when a National-led coalition government took power.</p>
<p>Youth justice was a central facet of National’s election campaign to end three terms of Labour-led government. Announcing his party’s “youth plan”, National leader <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/john-key-state-of-the-nation-speech/T73UYRMZTNCZTDUIVUPJEDFHOE/#">John Key said</a> part of it was about “rolling up our sleeves to prevent New Zealand’s youth crime problem from becoming tomorrow’s crisis”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-damages-their-mental-health-and-sets-them-up-for-more-disadvantage-is-this-what-we-want-117674">Locking up kids damages their mental health and sets them up for more disadvantage. Is this what we want?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This included the now familiar election promise to introduce youth “boot camps”, and to reduce the age of criminal prosecution to 12. </p>
<p>But as critics have long argued, a focus on “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362480605048942?casa_token=RVjVTv2H5fwAAAAA:huulG_wcmYZwjoQXvytqIZSnrrG27HwRwE37NwfnXloJdlzwifqEXY7Id0YeDxZvtFltgh5HiLe3iQ">crime control</a>” and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306624X13511403">“risk management”</a> has seen punishment prioritised over addressing the root causes of crime and the best interests of young people.</p>
<p>This can be seen in the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on Māori and Pacific youth. According to 2021 data, Māori <a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/About-us/Performance-and-monitoring/Section-7AA/Section-7AA-Quality-Assurance-Standards.pdf">make up 67%</a> of those in youth detention. Pacific youth account for 7%, and those who identify as both Māori and Pacific account for 13%. Young people who identify as neither Māori nor Pacific comprise only 13% of that population.</p>
<p>Failing to address the complex developmental and social drivers of youth crime means those statistics are unlikely to change.</p>
<h2>What is working?</h2>
<p>There is also <a href="https://www.borrinfoundation.nz/report-young-adults-in-the-criminal-justice-system-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/">considerable evidence</a> of the influence young people’s gradual cognitive and social development can have on criminal behaviour. </p>
<p>These age-related factors include reduced impulse control, difficulty with future planning, greater risk taking and susceptibility to peer influence. At the same time, age also offers an increased potential for positive change. </p>
<p>Importantly, offending by children and young people is also often related to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076221087459?casa_token=Jy5oVZaQf-EAAAAA%3A9tg4JAqABKx_oTI7VGEJ98O-ttNn6Eo3Y9SQX4pAFzUu-zKRmDkpHkwdCxCJXUH13B1BglCmOrCpBw">challenges at home</a> and in communities, including poverty, housing instability, and poor physical or mental health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-rehabilitation-not-harsher-prison-sentences-makes-economic-sense-132213">Why rehabilitation – not harsher prison sentences – makes economic sense</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Young people with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2017.1315784?casa_token=U3K-VU3F8HMAAAAA%3ABrCYIRZtERwBfEP4ssLcM1Fv-IPVD5iwn_adW0ALClPHwAIFzQfSW6aUjNs6uwkc_8cW-KG02Izrrg">fetal alcohol syndrome spectrum disorder</a>, <a href="https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Wu7nCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=youth+justice+trauma+nz&ots=bhEYAPRelz&sig=OQfolt5GHwOqKbZ-4MaXXScr7fw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=youth%20justice%20trauma%20nz&f=false">histories of trauma</a>, <a href="https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/51311">brain injuries</a>, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2022.2124548?casa_token=kvbhoMFuJTIAAAAA%3A882C2c9yI-J0Eu8CKpUvPc73gNle8HBJHRsdsABSpkQOyRh7HxgPb5KVO-1PzK-AxZjaoZ9jEeSmuA">neurodiversity</a> are all criminalised at proportionately higher rates than the general population.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cfs.12648?casa_token=0JsxLWl1IfwAAAAA:OxXnGwqZ0qMPjdNdBcni__QTEVbX9cf4FwtVySRJX4aTVmcPsVYRihe-SoVIAgH5HDrbt34iqVk8CxtP">current evidence</a> supports a less punitive approach to youth offending, through diversion or the use of specialist courts, based on promoting welfare and addressing the underlying causes of offending.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Restorative-Justice.pdf">evidence in New Zealand</a> that
restorative justice reduces reoffending. Family group conferences have been <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/67629">shown to reduce</a> the “frequency and seriousness” of offending for 70% of participants, with <a href="https://www.youthcourt.govt.nz/about-youth-court/rangatahi-courts-and-pasifika-courts/">Rangatahi Courts</a> also helping <a href="https://thehub.swa.govt.nz/resources/rangatahi-court-evaluation-of-the-early-outcomes-of-te-kooti-rangatahi/">reduce reoffending</a> and promote other positive outcomes. </p>
<p>And the police are proposing to broaden the scope of <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/maori-police/te-pae-oranga-iwi-community-panels">Te Pae Oranga Iwi community panels</a>, which aim to intervene and help with family and personal problems, and have demonstrated a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1642921">significant reduction</a> in harm from adult (17 years or older) reoffending.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-removal-of-maori-children-from-their-families-is-a-wound-that-wont-heal-but-there-is-a-way-forward-140243">The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Trust the evidence</h2>
<p>While these developments are encouraging, the <a href="https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2020-08/He_Take__K%C5%8Dhukihuki_A_Matter_of_Urgency_Report_0.pdf">investigation</a> into “baby uplifts” by Oranga Tamariki, testimonies to the <a href="https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Abuse-in-Care-Volume-One.pdf">Abuse in Care Royal Commission</a>, and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/492373/two-oranga-tamariki-staff-removed-after-claims-of-inappropriate-sexual-behaviour">reports of abuse</a> in Oranga Tamariki residences, all raise serious questions about placing more young people in institutions.</p>
<p>Furthermore, New Zealand’s rate of youth offending has been <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/latest-statistics-show-youth-justice-system-working#:%7E:text=Offending%20rates%20for%20children%20and,%25%20respectively%20since%202011%2F2012">decreasing for some time</a>. But there is a disproportionately <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbm.2234">high number</a> of youth justice beds here relative to other comparable countries, especially considering the system struggles with mental health support. </p>
<p>The United Nations has already identified the <a href="https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/united-nations-concerned-high-rates-juvenile-and-maori-imprisonment">human rights concerns</a> with New Zealand’s low age of criminal responsibility, punitive practices like “<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/494469/chief-ombudsman-calls-for-immediate-end-to-use-of-spit-hoods-on-vulnerable-prisoners">spit hoods</a>”, and the disproportionate numbers of rangatahi Māori in the criminal justice system.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-is-too-young-to-be-in-court-nz-should-raise-the-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility-188969">10 is too young to be in court – NZ should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An evidence-led approach to youth justice would involve Māori and see the expansion of specialist courts throughout the country. Rather than lowering the age of criminal responsibility, the eligible age for appearing in the youth courts would be raised. </p>
<p>Overall, the goal would be to minimise the imprisonment of young people, including remand in police cells and youth or adult detention facilities. And there would be much greater investment in iwi partnerships to provide <a href="https://whanauora.nz/assets/resources/OT-REVIEW-REPORT.pdf">wrap-around community services</a> that are whanau-focused and <a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/About-us/Research/Latest-research/Kaupapa-Maori-approaches-in-contexts-related-to-youth-offending/Kaupapa-Maori-approaches-in-contexts-related-to-youth-offending-final.pdf">culturally appropriate</a>. </p>
<p>As the former chief science adviser to the prime minister <a href="https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/pmcsa-Its-never-too-early-Discussion-paper-on-preventing-youth-offending-in-NZ.pdf">reported in 2018</a>, more resources directed at mental health, trauma, substance abuse and inadequate housing should be the basis of preventing more youth offending. A more punitive response may win votes but it will not solve the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Niurangi Maclean provides services to Ara Poutama/Department of Corrections, including writing s27 cultural reports. She receives funding from Ara Poutama to develop and deliver Mana Wahine programmes at Christchurch Women's Prison. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Mussell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A shift towards more punitive responses to youth crime by the next government could reverse the progress New Zealand has made in reducing offending and addressing its root causes.
Linda Mussell, Lecturer, Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury
Jessica Niurangi Maclean, Lecturer, Aotahi School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211885
2023-08-23T03:28:57Z
2023-08-23T03:28:57Z
‘We can’t go shopping without police coming’: north Queensland’s at-risk youth feel excluded and heavily surveilled
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543897/original/file-20230822-15-ltow9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Youth crime in Australia has been the subject of sensationalist <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/crime/youth-crime-rally-held-as-unrest-in-queensland-grows/video/eb7416899d4e1d42fe09731000243ff2">media</a> coverage and growing community concern, particularly in north Queensland.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-media-arent-helping-to-solve-the-youth-crime-crisis-theyre-reporting-208947">Why the media aren't helping to solve the 'youth crime crisis' they're reporting</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We wanted to understand the experiences of young people in north Queensland who were involved in the juvenile justice system, or at imminent risk of becoming so, through their own eyes, and use the findings to improve local services.</p>
<p>We worked with a partner organisation that runs an after-hours diversionary service for young people 10-17 years old. This service supports those who are engaged in crime or are at high risk of doing so, by engaging them in activities such as educational sessions, sports, arts and craft, and outings to the park.</p>
<p>We found young people using this service often felt under heavy surveillance in public spaces, felt excluded from the community, and felt physically, emotionally and culturally unsafe on public streets.</p>
<p>These young people wanted to feel safe and included in the community, but often felt the opposite.</p>
<h2>Diversion is better than harsher punishment</h2>
<p>Evidence in countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada has linked youth crime to troubled home environments, trauma, poverty, violence and disrupted education. But such young offenders also often experience <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-criminol-011518-024630">marginalisation</a>, over-surveillance, structural <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/18/more-than-95-of-north-queensland-children-on-internal-police-blacklist-are-indigenous">bias</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020068">racism</a>.</p>
<p>In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over-represented in <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/Crossover_Kids_Report_3.pdf">child protection services</a>, and there’s a damaging drift from child protection and out-of-home care into youth justice services.</p>
<p>Frustrated and fearful communities have often called for stronger punitive measures to deal with youth crime, but these are unhelpful in the longer term. Harsher punishment doesn’t divert young people away from offending. Rather, it tends to <a href="https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/sector/monitoring-and-reviewing-systems/young-people-in-youth-justice/changing-the-sentence">lead to a pattern of reoffending</a> (called recidivism).</p>
<p>Evidence suggests approaches that divert young people away from entering the justice system, and reengage and reintegrate offenders into the community, have <a href="https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/sector/monitoring-and-reviewing-systems/young-people-in-youth-justice/changing-the-sentence">greater success in reducing youth crime</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1587680915450462209"}"></div></p>
<h2>What we studied</h2>
<p>We undertook three studies. First, we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0312407X.2020.1776742?journalCode=rasw20">reviewed</a> relevant national and international publications and reports that looked at perceptions of at risk children and youth about social services provided to them. </p>
<p>Next, we undertook a “photovoice” <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0312407X.2021.1989002">project</a>, in which young people took photos that conveyed how they felt about culture, community and the services they accessed. </p>
<p>The Victorian Koori Youth Council’s Report Ngaga-Dji in 2018 identified that children’s voices can be the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b7d09f775f9ee5cf0a54a07/t/5b860aff352f53267bc3486c/1535511527195/Ngaga-dji+report+August+2018.pdf">missing piece</a> in meeting the needs of young people in the juvenile justice system.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/queenslands-lnp-wants-a-curfew-for-kids-but-evidence-suggests-this-wont-reduce-crime-148529">Queensland's LNP wants a curfew for kids, but evidence suggests this won't reduce crime</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0312407X.2022.2162943?af=R&journalCode=rasw20">third study</a>, we gave young people the role of peer researchers, working with staff from the partner service and university researchers to document their own and their friends’ experiences of using the local diversionary service and broader youth services.</p>
<p>The service aims to build young people’s capacities. It helps support relationships between the young people and their families/carers, providing meals and overnight accommodation when they are in crisis.</p>
<p>The service also encourages them to resume their schooling, helps them feel included, supported, accepted, to have their say, and make positive choices about their lives. It encourages young people to come to the diversionary service in the evening instead of roaming the streets.</p>
<h2>What young people at risk of offending told us</h2>
<p>One young person involved in the photography project said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Us kids can’t go to shopping centres without, you know, police coming.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another young person added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They are too racist against the Black people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others wanted to feel included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The community is not private; a community is for everyone.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Pointing to fears about being unsafe on the streets, one young person said the diversionary service staff “keep us safe from vigilantes”.</p>
<p>Media reports suggest there’s been growing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-02/townsville-youth-crime-vigilantes-worry-indigenous-community/13192838?utm_campaign=news-article-share-next-actions-0&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web">vigilante</a> behaviour in north Queensland. In one example, a vigilante group put up <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/qld/queensland-vigilantes-announce-they-will-enforce-their-own-curfew-to-combat-youth-crime-in-mackays-northern-beaches-area-c-10670448">flyers</a> in Mackay in May this year announcing plans to enforce their own 10pm curfew for children “due to the large number of unpunished break-ins and car thefts”.</p>
<p>Fearing similar vigilantes, one participant in our study said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They tried to throw me in a car but I ran away.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/diverting-children-away-from-the-criminal-justice-system-gives-them-a-chance-to-grow-out-of-crime-194645">Diverting children away from the criminal justice system gives them a chance to 'grow out' of crime</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Young people told us the diversionary service provided a safe, supportive space. Specifically talking about the staff, the young people recognised “how they support you” to “control [your] anger” and taught them to respect culture, themselves and others.</p>
<p>Another said that “no-one can grab us off the streets” at the diversionary service.</p>
<p>Pointing to life circumstances sometimes overwhelming them, one young person added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>you can’t always keep the grief to yourself, you can talk to an adult.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These findings provide a unique view of youth offending through the eyes of young people, which can contribute to improving services that divert young people away from crime and can help to connect alienated young people with the community.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>We acknowledge the vital work of the partner organisation and thank the staff and young people who participated in the research, including key partner researchers Nikkola Savuro and Sara O’Reilly.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Gair is an Adjunct Associate Professor at James Cook University. Nothing to Disclose</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ines Zuchowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Our research finds at-risk youth in north Queensland wanted to feel safe and included in the community, but often felt the opposite.
Susan Gair, Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Arts, Society & Education, James Cook University
Ines Zuchowski, Lecturer, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/208947
2023-07-27T00:56:42Z
2023-07-27T00:56:42Z
Why the media aren’t helping to solve the ‘youth crime crisis’ they’re reporting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537432/original/file-20230714-17-yp4n6z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2546%2C1680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t49jRu_iWu8">7NEWS Australia/YouTube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Media outlets across Australia have carried headlines about a “youth crime crisis” in recent months. While drawn from actual events, often involving serious criminality and antisocial behaviour, these often sensational reports have the same narrative subtext. The story is one of “bad kids” doing bad things in otherwise “good communities”. </p>
<p>Our understanding, as a society, of who we are is informed in part by the media. What the youth crime crisis is and who we understand young offenders to be corresponds with media framings of these individuals and their actions. </p>
<p>More often than not, the reports present a “good-bad” binary: where “bad” young people who do bad things should be locked up to protect “good” people. It’s a basic, albeit understandable, reaction that makes sense in terms of a logic of punishment and retribution.</p>
<p>For the <a href="https://youthcommunityfutures.org/">Youth Community Futures</a> research project, we have been working with groups of young people to explore how they engage with the community and how they feel about it. Our young people have said they are increasingly fearful and are conscious of being perceived negatively. They do not feel accepted by others or their communities. </p>
<p>In short, these young people feel they are viewed as “bad” because they are young. And when young people feel marginalised, the outcomes include withdrawing and becoming socially isolated. It also increases the potential for problematic anti-social behaviour – including crime. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Courier Mail, February 21 2023" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537422/original/file-20230714-26239-jcarbi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The front page of the Courier Mail on February 21 2023, when the newspaper launched its ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nts-tough-on-crime-approach-wont-reduce-youth-offending-this-is-what-we-know-works-160361">The NT's tough-on-crime approach won't reduce youth offending. This is what we know works</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fuelling the fear of'folk devils’</h2>
<p>There is, of course, far more to the situation. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5288089/">Research</a> shows young people who engage in criminal activity are likely to have been victims themselves. The lives of many young offenders are complicated. Yet rarely are these situations and backgrounds factored into the media reports. </p>
<p>Beyond the circumstances of young offenders themselves, a further problem exists. When young people, as a defined social category, are presented in the media in such narrow terms, it becomes difficult to see them as anything other than threatening and dangerous. </p>
<p>Stanley Cohen’s seminal <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Folk-Devils-and-Moral-Panics/Cohen/p/book/9780415610162">sociology of British youth</a> from the 1960s demonstrates the ways that public sentiment often divorces from the facts of situations to create “folk devils”. When portrayals of young people, including those in the media, present them as threatening and menacing, it follows that public sentiment will be cast in similar ways. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1678702023599091712"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-ways-teenagers-are-misrepresented-in-society-101557">Three ways teenagers are misrepresented in society</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Blinding us to the complexities</h2>
<p>The challenge then is that it becomes difficult to understand the complexities of the situation and show empathy. This applies not only to “bad” young people, but to others who aren’t engaged in such problematic behaviour but who are caught within the narrow perceptions of who young people are. </p>
<p>This forms the central claim in our argument: the current youth crime crisis is as much a media-generated problem as it is a criminological problem. The way we understand and position young people as “folk devils” runs the risk of invoking fear and trepidation. Such fears lead the public to categorise all young people in problematic ways while failing to understand the complex challenges young people encounter. </p>
<p>More complex social narratives are required if we are to avoid a situation in which young people feel marginalised. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1673632265723850753"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-go-for-the-food-what-children-and-young-people-told-us-about-why-they-steal-from-houses-192857">'I go for the food': what children and young people told us about why they steal from houses</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So, what is the solution?</h2>
<p>We need to develop deeper and more accurate understandings of who our young people are. This applies particularly to those who are caught up in criminality and anti-social behaviour. </p>
<p>Most young people do not set out in life to be “bad”. Their problematic behaviours are likely to be the result of complex challenges. Once we accept that, we have a responsibility to seek deeper understandings of the situations our young people face.</p>
<p>Sensationalist headlines that feed on public fears are not helpful. These might sell newspapers, but they do not make us stronger as a society. They create folk devils out of young people who probably require support, and they produce a fearful community. </p>
<p>We need to move beyond easy explanations and simple distinctions. While it is horrendous that homes are being broken into and cars stolen, understanding that the young people engaged in these activities are likely also victims themselves is important for realising that we, as a society, have an obligation to all individuals. </p>
<p>We need to ask why young offenders are in this situation. Once we acknowledge the importance of a better understanding of their circumstances, we can start to meaningfully resolve these social problems before they occur.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Hickey receives funding from the Queensland government. The authors acknowledge the contributions to the research by Stewart Riddle, Alarnah McKee, Danika Skye and Celmara Pocock.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Wallis receives funding from the Queensland government. </span></em></p>
Media coverage is making young people feel they are all seen as ‘bad’ by a fearful community. Marginalising young people, while ignoring the complexities of their lives, won’t solve these issues.
Andrew Hickey, Professor of Communications and Cultural Studies, University of Southern Queensland
Rachael Wallis, Research Assistant, Youth Community Futures, University of Southern Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198530
2023-01-27T00:39:55Z
2023-01-27T00:39:55Z
Beneath the Alice Springs ‘crime wave’ are complex issues – and a lot of politics
<p>The supposed dimensions of the “crisis” in Alice Springs have been exhaustively portrayed in the media, both nationally and in the Northern Territory. The stories abound: shopfront windows repeatedly broken, groups of young children wandering the streets at night, and defenceless elderly residents struck down during violent robberies of their homes. </p>
<p>This week, the respected chief executive of “Congress”, the peak Aboriginal medical body in Central Australia, was on local ABC radio describing her fear when, while she was alone at home, two drunken men violently attempted to enter in search of alcohol. </p>
<p>The statistics bear out the perception: assaults, domestic violence, property damage and theft rose by more than 50% over the past year, the largest element of that increase in the past three or four months. </p>
<p>The settler community has called for more police and more stringent policing. However, the assistant commissioner of the NT Police, Michael Murphy, countered by saying you “can’t arrest your way out of this”. The police have a clearer understanding of the current situation than do Alice Springs social media denizens, or the “tough on crime” Country Liberal Party opposition.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alcohol-bans-and-law-and-order-responses-to-crime-in-alice-springs-havent-worked-in-the-past-and-wont-work-now-198427">Alcohol bans and law and order responses to crime in Alice Springs haven't worked in the past, and won't work now</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Aboriginal societies in remote Australia are under significant social, cultural and economic pressures. They are also changing, albeit in disjointed and erratic ways. </p>
<p>However, it is not our purpose here to analyse that change and its implications for crime in Alice Springs, but instead to focus on the politics of alcohol.</p>
<p>Alcohol is commonly identified as intrinsic to much of the current “crime wave” in Alice Springs. Many crimes occur either in the pursuit of alcohol or because excessive alcohol has been consumed. </p>
<p>Alcohol has become emblematic of non-Indigenous people’s concerns about Aboriginal crime and “anti-social” behaviour. These concerns have dramatically increased over the past six months, beyond the usual bigots, to encompass a very large proportion of the settler community. </p>
<p>Even respected Mbantua Aranda (the traditional owners of Alice Springs) elders have called for their non-Aranda countrymen to return to their homelands and communities. If the NT Labor government is to retain control of the political agenda - and prevent contagion to electorally crucial Darwin - it needs to have solutions for alcohol and related crime issues.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5K2_3_7N3pE?wmode=transparent&start=55" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Alcohol and policing have become the de facto central policy instruments to manage the political crisis. Since the start of the 15-year “intervention” brought in by the Howard government in 2007, residents of Alice Springs have become used to showing their proof of identity or driver’s licence to a police auxiliary officer at the door of the bottleshop, as well as to the cashier at point of purchase. </p>
<p>This measure has failed to prevent alcohol consumption by “banned drinkers”. Secondary (that is, illegal) consumption of alcohol abounds, as people buy alcohol for banned drinker relatives. Also, notwithstanding policy, it is clear that large amounts of alcohol are entering Alice Springs and not being sold through licensed outlets.</p>
<p>In a stage-managed visit to Alice this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles came up with a plan to tackle the crime wave in central Australia. The plan predictably provided some more money: to the police, for CCTV surveillance, emergency accommodation (for victims of domestic violence), and for Tangentyere Council to assist in their management of town camps. </p>
<p>But the central feature of the package was the ban on alcohol sales on Mondays and Tuesdays. This was modelled on the temporarily very successful policy developed in Tennant Creek to ban alcohol on “thirsty Thursday”. The package is temporary, pending a report from a new regional controller, Dorrelle Anderson. </p>
<p>The political tactics are clear: create a hiatus, and hope the crime wave issues die down as cooler weather forces countrymen back to their communities. The NT government needs this ploy to succeed if it is to be re-elected in 2024.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-response-to-alice-springs-crisis-poses-early-indigenous-affairs-test-for-albanese-198590">Grattan on Friday: Response to Alice Springs crisis poses early Indigenous affairs test for Albanese</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ignored in the package were measures for Indigenous children’s welfare. The drift to Alice has significantly affected the accompanying children, leading to “kids-out-of-control” tropes on social media. </p>
<p>Government services are trying to work out who these children are and where they come from. These kids exhibit the feeling of shame that reflects the impact of the systemic intergenerational trauma of past policies. Also missing from the package is the right for Indigenous community residents to access adequate funding, to teach generations of kids their culture and language, thereby giving back their pride and identity. There is a need for funding for youth groups, employment programs, housing, rehabilitation, therapeutic responses, and support for local Indigenous leadership to boost role models for young people. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bKO3AQe0xj4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Another important aspect of this that has been lost in media coverage is whether this situation is part of a broader phenomenon. It is. Similar, if not quite so serious, fault lines are exhibited across a swathe of northern Australia. </p>
<p>For example, Mount Isa social media has many posts similar to those from Alice Springs, lamenting break-ins and “kids out of control”. This situation repeats in Western Australia, from the Kimberley to Carnarvon to Kalgoorlie. It appears that what is needed is not more policing in Alice Springs or anywhere, but more analysis of why these dysfunctional situations are intensifying. </p>
<p>Importantly, the current crisis in Alice has diverted attention from the first policy buds that indicate that the systemic disadvantage suffered by Indigenous communities in the NT is slowly being addressed. The age of juvenile legal responsibility is being increased by two years. And the NT government has flagged a review of a controversial attendance-based school funding system that systemically disadvantages Aboriginal schools. These policy buds have been threatened by the politics of the crime wave.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Alcohol has long been identified as the key problem in Alice Springs crime - and bans and policing its primary solutions. But that is far too simplistic, which is why is hasn’t worked.
Rolf Gerritsen, Professorial Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University
Tanya McDonald, Lecturer, Children's Health and Community, Charles Darwin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197657
2023-01-12T21:12:42Z
2023-01-12T21:12:42Z
The young ages of the girls charged in the swarming death of a man in Toronto may affect trial outcomes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504127/original/file-20230111-11-my5s4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5798%2C3845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bail hearings are underway for the eight teenage girls charged in the murder of a man in Toronto.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In late December, eight teenage girls who had reportedly met online decided to meet in-person in downtown Toronto on a Saturday night. Shortly after midnight on Sunday Dec. 18, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/man-death-eight-teen-girls-charged-toronto-1.6692698">a 59-year-old man was allegedly swarmed, assaulted and stabbed</a> by the group.</p>
<p>Bystanders flagged down emergency medical personnel, but the man succumbed to his injuries.</p>
<p>The victim, Ken Lee, had recently moved to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ken-lee-victim-swarming-attack-toronto-1.6708778">a homeless shelter near the site of the attack</a>. His female companion said that she was smoking a cigarette with the victim when teens approached. According to this woman, a group of girls tried to take her alcohol and Lee told the teens to stop and to leave her alone. </p>
<p>At that point, she says the teens started to attack Lee. Afraid of what might happen to her, the woman walked away.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0LJM2fUzi9I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">CBC News covers the stabbing death of a man in downtown Toronto.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Young perpetrators</h2>
<p>Eight teens were arrested, and a number of weapons were confiscated from them. Three of the teens were 13 years old, three were 14 years old and two were 16 years old. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/teenager-girls-toronto-stabbing-swarming">Three of the teens were known to the police</a>. </p>
<p>The teens have been charged with second-degree murder.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ststclsnpsht-yth/index-en.aspx">Several of the factors in this case are unique</a>: A group of females (72 per cent of youth appearing before court are male), mostly unknown to each other (unlike gangs who are an organized group to gain power and recognition), between the ages of 13 and 16 years (57 per cent of youth who appear before court are between 16 and 17 years old), allegedly committed murder (theft is the most common type of crime committed by youth).</p>
<p>Younger teens may be shown greater leniency than older teens given their diminished capacity to understand the consequences of their behaviour.</p>
<h2>Prosecuting youth</h2>
<p>The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) covers the prosecution of youth over the age of 12 and under 18 years old <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/back-hist.html">for criminal offences</a>. Because youth are still maturing, this must be accounted for in the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/oycja-alssj.html">treatment, prosecution and resolution of crime</a>. Rehabilitation and reintegration into society are emphasized. </p>
<p>Under the YCJA, the identities of teens cannot be made public. Although youth cannot be tried as adults, a youth can be sentenced as an adult if convicted. A youth cannot spend <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/syp-dpaa.html">more than 10 years in custody</a>.</p>
<p>The sentence for first-degree murder as an adult is <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2021-sntnc-clcltn-fstfcts-02/index-en.aspx">life without parole for 25 years</a>. For second-degree murder, the minimum sentence is life in prison with no parole for 10 years, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-s-the-difference-between-1st-degree-murder-2nd-degree-murder-and-manslaughter-1.5068520">although sentences can be longer</a>. </p>
<p>Factors that may be considered when determining sentencing include age of the convicted, degree of violence of the crime and the interests of society.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CmZ993irC4O","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Young defendants</h2>
<p>We conducted a study to examine whether a defendant’s developmental age (which reflects their behavioral, cognitive and physical development), chronological age (which is based on their date of birth) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9201-1">race influenced mock-jurors’ decision-making</a>. </p>
<p>Four hundred and forty-four participants read a trial transcript involving an assault where the defendant allegedly shoved the victim to the ground at a grocery store. The defendant’s developmental age (14 or 24 years old), chronological age (14 or 24 years old) and race (white, Black or Indigenous) were varied. </p>
<p>We found that mock jurors’ responses varied according to developmental age: a developmentally 24-year-old was given more guilty verdicts than a developmentally 14-year-old. Race also was influential in that the Black defendant received fewer guilty verdicts than the white defendant. </p>
<p>When the defendant had a developmental delay (the chronological age was higher than the developmental age), he was perceived as less guilty than a defendant whose chronological age matched his developmental age. </p>
<p>Regardless of race, younger defendants and those with developmental delays may be perceived more favourably and possibly treated more leniently than adults. </p>
<h2>Toronto teen swarming</h2>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9388783/toronto-homeless-man-swarming-death-teens-court/">According to coverage of the bail hearings</a>, some of the teens appeared confused when asked if they understood what was happening. Only two parents of the seven accused seemed to be in attendance for the virtual proceedings, and one defendant’s lawyer was absent. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/swarming-toronto-teen-girls-bail-1.6699519">One of the eight teens accused of murder is free on bail</a>, but with conditions that include <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/case-of-8-teens-charged-in-toronto-homeless-man-s-death-set-to-return-to-court-1.6218364">no use of internet or a cell phone</a>. Bail hearings for the other girls involved are ongoing.</p>
<p>As the case unfolds, age may impact the judicial decision-making and ultimately, the case outcomes for these teens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Pozzulo receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Pica does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Eight teen girls are charged in the stabbing death of a homeless man in Toronto. Research shows that jurors tend to respond when the perpetrator of a crime is or appears to be younger.
Joanna Pozzulo, Chancellor's Professor, Psychology, Carleton University
Emily Pica, Associate Professor, Psychological Science and Counseling, Austin Peay State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192857
2022-11-01T19:00:59Z
2022-11-01T19:00:59Z
‘I go for the food’: what children and young people told us about why they steal from houses
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492214/original/file-20221027-18054-ici8ne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C27%2C4608%2C3421&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-offenders/latest-release#youth-offenders">figures</a> from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show theft and burglary are among the most common offences committed by young people.</p>
<p>We wanted to find out from children why they committed burglary, which can exact a huge financial and emotional toll on victims.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14732254221122617">study</a>, recently published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14732254221122617">Youth Justice</a>, involved interviews with children presenting at the Perth Children’s Court who reported they had burgled.</p>
<p>We interviewed 50 children between the ages of 11 and 17 years who told us why they stole, what they stole, and how they learned how to burgle. </p>
<p>We found children rarely planned or “staked” premises. They usually committed burglaries on the spur of the moment with friends, and generally to steal items they felt they needed – like food or drugs – out of boredom or while drunk or high. </p>
<p>Most young people chose a target that had “signs” of being an empty home (such as no cars in the driveway). This was commonly tested by a young person knocking on a door.</p>
<p>Other ways homes were picked was when they saw items they wanted through windows or in gardens that were “just sitting there” and, in their words, “just there for us to take”. </p>
<p>The time spent selecting a target was minimal, with many tending to favour places that could obviously be accessed easily via, for example, an open window or door.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A door is open on a house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490574/original/file-20221019-20-c1leoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many said they favour places that could obviously be accessed easily.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More need than greed</h2>
<p>Children’s reasoning for why they burgled was more out of need than greed. </p>
<p>One child said they stole because they were “poor” and “had nothing”. </p>
<p>Eight of the 50 children we spoke to said they only stole food, often looking for fresh food from the fridge to eat in the moment, and frozen or tinned items to take home to family.</p>
<p>When asked why they stole, one child said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had nothing to eat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I got stuff from the freezer. I go for the food, but I didn’t take anything else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Commonly stolen items included money, drugs, jewellery, food and mobile phones. Most young people reported keeping the items or gifting them to friends or family. </p>
<p>Those items not kept were often sold to drug dealers, with one child telling us they stole</p>
<blockquote>
<p>just what was around: jewellery, money, anything really that we could sell to get drugs.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young person looks in a fridge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490575/original/file-20221019-19-1lv2e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some children burgled because they were looking for food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/home-alone-how-to-keep-your-kids-safe-and-out-of-trouble-when-youre-at-work-these-holidays-105581">Home alone: how to keep your kids safe (and out of trouble) when you’re at work these holidays</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Drug use and burglary</h2>
<p>Many children reported stealing to obtain drugs or money to buy drugs. One child targeted a certain place because</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I knew they had dope in there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said they stole because</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I needed the fix.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In one case, a child was “employed” to steal from drug dealers’ homes known to have large quantities of drugs and money. </p>
<p>Others reported only burgling because they were intoxicated. As one child put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was just drunk and being stupid.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Motivations for burglary</h2>
<p>We sorted these young burglars into categories based on their motivation (using <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/burglars-burglary-prevention-and-offender">categories</a> developed by previous criminology research).</p>
<p>The majority fell into the “opportunistic” category. These were characterised by the opportunity posed to the child, such as an open window in an affluent area or valuables in view. As one child put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was just out of the blue.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We just walked into a house.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I just saw toys and stole the toys. No, it wasn’t planned – just walked past and that’s it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another category – “searchers” – said that while they had intended to burgle, they had not picked a property and would instead roam the streets looking for a house. As one child put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We don’t plan it, we just knock on the people’s door and if they aren’t home we go in. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although intention to burgle was present for children in this group, the element of planning was minimal. There was overlap with “opportunists”, as they targeted premises based on the ease of entry without being caught. </p>
<p>The background lives of these children were often chaotic. Most were not attending school regularly, if at all. Most had learned to burgle from family members. As one child put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[I’ve] been there and seen it; Dad used to take me along with him.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most committed their burglaries in groups with friends (78%) or family members (10%). </p>
<p>This snapshot of young burglars calls for a better understanding of the reasons for “food-only” theft as a matter of urgency. </p>
<p>These findings could also be used to support measures such as Youth Drug Courts to address the underlying drug behaviours that contribute to criminal behaviours. </p>
<p>We need holistic interventions that address the economic and social disadvantages that drive children to burgle.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-handsome-soldier-with-a-medical-bill-how-romance-scammers-make-you-fall-in-love-with-them-127820">A handsome soldier with a 'medical bill': how romance scammers make you fall in love with them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Gately receives funding from Edith Cowan University and the Western Australia Police Force. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Rock receives funding from Edith Cowan University and Western Australia Police Force.</span></em></p>
We interviewed 50 children between the ages of 11 and 17 years who told us why they stole, what they stole, and how they learned how to burgle.
Natalie Gately, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Edith Cowan University
Suzanne Rock, Lecturer and Researcher in Criminology, Edith Cowan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188969
2022-10-27T00:30:18Z
2022-10-27T00:30:18Z
10 is too young to be in court – NZ should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490788/original/file-20221020-19-lw047u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5391%2C3581&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent news that <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/10/20/thousands-of-charges-laid-against-youth-offenders-over-retail-crimes/">thousands of charges</a> have been filed in the Waikato and Auckland youth courts in the past nine months once again put a spotlight on youth crime and our responses to it. </p>
<p>This comes not long after a recent rise in ram raids and smash-and-grab burglaries by young offenders was <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/473706/lack-of-consequences-leading-to-a-tsunami-of-youth-crime-says-national">called a “tsunami”</a> of youth crime by the National Party police spokesperson.</p>
<p>And despite evidence suggesting the number of young people in court had <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/despite-ram-raid-rhetoric-youth-crime-is-dropping-year-on-year/ZDXA5VF73ZJIR4QMBMPUT4LAJE/">dropped in the year to June 30</a>, opposition <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/national-leader-christopher-luxon-calls-for-greater-accountability-for-persistent-youth-offenders-amid-a-crime-spree/DN4WLS3MHR44P3KMIEGEP5ZB6M/">calls for a crackdown</a> may well mean it becomes an issue at next year’s general election.</p>
<p>But just how the justice system should deal with children and teenagers remains a complex question – especially when it comes to the minimum age of criminal responsibility. </p>
<p>In fact, New Zealand is among a number of countries criticised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for retaining an unacceptably low age of criminal responsibility. </p>
<p>It’s now more than 60 years since the Crimes Act set the age at <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328215.html">ten years</a>. Children younger than that, the law says, are incapable of forming criminal intent. Since that law was written, we have learned a lot more about the <a href="https://dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/pmcsa-Its-never-too-early-Discussion-paper-on-preventing-youth-offending-in-NZ.pdf">brain development</a> of children and adolescents, and how their decision-making abilities differ from adults. </p>
<p>Given this also affects their ability to comprehend the court process itself, and therefore their right to a fair trial, is it time New Zealand revisited the minimum age and the reasons for raising it?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1582806844765970432"}"></div></p>
<h2>New Zealand out of step</h2>
<p>Even politicians calling for a tougher approach to youth crime seem to agree that keeping children out of the criminal justice system should be a priority, particularly for young and first-time offenders. </p>
<p>Currently, children aged <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328217.html">over ten but under 14</a> are subject to the adult criminal justice system. But they may avoid conviction if it can be shown they didn’t know their actions were wrong or illegal. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, the Oranga Tamariki Act allows for children aged ten to 13 years to be charged with <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM153418.html?search=sw_096be8ed81c5875a_272_25_se&p=1&sr=3">serious offences</a> such as murder or manslaughter.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sam-uffindell-was-lucky-to-avoid-nzs-criminal-justice-system-as-a-schoolboy-but-it-was-the-right-outcome-188531">Sam Uffindell was lucky to avoid NZ’s criminal justice system as a schoolboy – but it was the right outcome</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This puts New Zealand alongside Australia and other <a href="https://archive.crin.org/en/home/ages/oceania.html">Pacific nations</a> where the minimum age of criminal responsibility is ten (with the exception of Papua New Guinea and Tonga where it is seven). And despite <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/it-is-high-time-we-increased-the-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility">calls for change</a>, England, Wales and Northern Ireland also still recognise a minimum age of ten. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/may/07/scotland-raises-age-of-criminal-responsibility-from-8-to-12">Scotland</a> raised its age of criminal responsibility from eight to 12 in 2019. Elsewhere it is <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF_1_8_Age_threshold_Childhood_to_Adulthood.pdf">higher</a>: 14 in Germany, 15 in Sweden, 16 in Portugal and 18 in Luxembourg.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1557799115287044096"}"></div></p>
<h2>Hints of change</h2>
<p>International law only goes so far when it comes to establishing common ground. While the UN’s <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> requires countries to establish a separate justice system for children with a minimum age of criminal responsibility, it doesn’t specify an age. </p>
<p>The Committee on the Rights of the Child has sought to fill that gap. <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/general-comments-and-recommendations/general-comment-no-24-2019-childrens-rights-child">Responding</a> to changing trends driven by developments in neuroscience and child development, in 2019 it encouraged states to raise their minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 (the commonest age internationally at that time).</p>
<p>For nearly 20 years, New Zealand has resisted the committee’s call and kept the minimum age at ten. It has offered a range of justifications, including wanting to focus on more effective responses to children’s offending. </p>
<p>However, in 2021 New Zealand indicated <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fNZL%2f6&Lang=en">some movement</a>, advising the committee that it was monitoring the progress of a <a href="https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/resources/submissions/council-of-attorneys-general-age-of-criminal-responsibility-working-group-review">working group</a> set up to review the law in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-90-of-year-10-teachers-dont-know-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-in-australia-132855">More than 90% of Year 10 teachers don't know the age of criminal responsibility in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Keeping children out of court</h2>
<p>Ideas about a minimum age of criminal responsibility have been evolving since at least the 18th century, when it was decided that, in order to be convicted, children aged between seven and 14 had to understand what they’d done and that it was wrong. </p>
<p>This was reflected in New Zealand’s Criminal Code Act of 1893 and Crimes Act of 1908, and has shifted only by degrees since then.</p>
<p>But while public safety is a legitimate aim of the justice system, including the child justice system, raising the minimum age doesn’t mean children will escape any consequences for their actions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sending-teens-to-maximum-security-prisons-shows-australia-needs-to-raise-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-187768">Sending teens to maximum security prisons shows Australia needs to raise the age of criminal responsibility</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With more countries now raising their ages of minimum criminal responsibility, New Zealand could comfortably raise its own threshold to 12, or even 14. Given that most youth offending is not serious, and is therefore dealt with outside the criminal justice system, the wider societal impact may not be significant. </p>
<p>But it would reduce the risk of ten-year-olds who have not committed a serious crime ending up in the criminal justice system. This is not to say they would not face any consequences for their actions. Rather, the consequences might be more effective in improving their chances later in life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188969/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In New Zealand, you can be considered capable of criminal intent from the age of ten. But this is young by international standards, and many believe reform is overdue.
Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of Waikato
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189463
2022-09-01T02:41:00Z
2022-09-01T02:41:00Z
Why we should not rush to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Australia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481732/original/file-20220830-24376-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5120%2C2880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “<a href="https://www.raisetheage.org.au/">raise the age</a>” campaign seeks to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Australia so that a person under the age of 14 years isn’t criminally responsible for any act or omission they commit.</p>
<p>Such a move has been mirrored by proposed legislative bills in various states.</p>
<p>But is raising the age of criminal responsibility justified, and what are the implications if we do?</p>
<h2>The current state of legislation in Australia</h2>
<p>Currently in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2122/Quick_Guides/MinimumAgeCriminalResponsibility">Australia</a>, the Commonwealth and all states and territories set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at ten.</p>
<p>Separate to this, the “doli incapax” presumption is available in all states and territories. This means a child aged 10-13 isn’t criminally responsible for any offence, unless it can be shown the child had the capacity to know they ought not to commit the offence. This places the onus of proof with the prosecution. So if they charge a 12-year-old, they need to show the <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/a-childs-capacity-to-commit-crime-examining-the-operation-of-doli">child knew their actions were seriously wrong,</a> rather than just naughty or mischievous.</p>
<p>There has been <a href="https://jrna228913579.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/macr-final-2020-2.pdf">some</a> <a href="https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/docs/75d8d90e-385c-ea11-9404-005056be13b5/3772%20-%20CAG%20Review%20of%20age%20of%20criminal%20responsibility.pdf">criticism</a> of this presumption – that it’s complex and places a high demand on resources. Despite this, case law is clear on how it should be interpreted. In terms of resource demand, that does not indicate the presumption does not work, it merely points to a separate issue in the operation of the courts.</p>
<p>At a November 2021 meeting, <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/publications/meeting-attorneys-general-mag-communique-november-2021">state attorneys-general</a> from around Australia supported the development of a proposal to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility from ten to 12. But this hasn’t yet been enacted anywhere.</p>
<p>Bills have been introduced in the <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/Pages/bill-details.aspx?pk=3901">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=165&id=4117">Queensland</a> parliaments to raise the age of responsibility to 14, but these were not supported.</p>
<p>Generally the arguments to support raising the age are grounded in not having young children in custody. But incarceration of youth offenders is a sentencing outcome – it’s a separate issue from whether the child is aware that what they did is wrong and as such, is criminally responsible. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.raisetheage.org.au/">raise the age</a> campaign states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s time for the federal, state and territory governments to do what’s right and change the laws to raise the age, so children aged ten to 13 years are not sent to prison.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>But what is the reality of children in detention in Australia?</h2>
<p>Since 2010, the number of custodial sentences issued by Children’s Courts have declined markedly.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-census/2021#data-download">2021 Census data</a> indicates there are 1,588,051 children aged 10-14 in Australia. In 2020-21, the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2f9ed7ac-5235-427e-9332-24f82345ebc4/aihw-juv-138Detention-tables-2020-21.xlsx.aspx">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare</a> reported there were 444 children aged 10-13 in detention (this includes unsentenced and sentenced detention) for the year. This was down from 499 in 2019-20. </p>
<p><iframe id="nZHfx" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nZHfx/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Data from the <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=165&id=4117">Queensland Police Service</a> indicated the average daily number of children aged 10-13 in police watch-houses was nine in 2019, and five both in 2020 and 2021.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/criminal-courts-australia/latest-release">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> reported that children aged 10-14 accounted for 16% of Children Court matters finalised with a guilty outcome in 2020-21. Of those defendants, 95% received a non-custodial sentence, meaning they weren’t imprisoned. Only 73 defendants, or 2%, received a custodial sentence, whereby they were sent to a correctional institution such as a prison or youth detention centre.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sentencing-statistics/sentencing-outcomes-childrens-court">Victorian Sentencing Council</a> data indicates that custodial sentences for youth offenders were at their lowest level since 2004-05, with just 124 orders in 2020-21. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.qld.gov.au/research/reports/sentencing-profile-series/kids-in-court">Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council</a> data showed that between 2005-06 and 2018-19, detention orders accounted for just 2.9% of penalties for youth offenders in Magistrates Court and 17.6% in the higher courts (which hear the more serious matters).</p>
<p>The reality is that the number of children held in custody is exceedingly small.</p>
<h2>The impact on victims of crime</h2>
<p>Where do victims of crime fit into such a proposal to raise the age?</p>
<p>Instances such as the murder of James Bulger in 1993, for example, would go unpunished. Bulger, who was two years old, was abducted by two ten-year-olds from a shopping centre in the United Kingdom. They then tortured him over several hours before they crushed his skull, inflicting 42 injuries in total. Both were convicted of murder and served eight years in prison.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Liupgs_fXU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The James Bulger murder. 60 Minutes Australia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From a victim’s perspective, it’s difficult to argue there should be no consequences for the perpetrators’ actions. Indeed, the <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.qld.gov.au/research/reports/sentencing-profile-series/kids-in-court">impact on the victim</a> is one of the principles to be considered when sentencing children in Queensland.</p>
<p>If the age of responsibility is raised, what capacity will there be to properly and effectively deal with young people who otherwise would be committing offences? How would victims be empowered under such a regime and community safety be ensured?</p>
<h2>Raising the age won’t address the causal effects of crime</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=165&id=4117">Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman</a> stated during debate for the proposed bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility in that state:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Simply changing the criminal law does not reflect the complexity underlying youth offending and why children as young as ten years old commit these offences.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These <a href="https://www.cyjma.qld.gov.au/resources/dcsyw/youth-justice/resources/yj-pocket-stats-2019-20.pdf">complex issues</a> include substance abuse, being affected by domestic violence, mental health, being disengaged from education, a lack of suitable accommodation and poor parenting.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/10321/youth-offending-april-2021-edn.pdf">Addressing risk and protective factors</a> at the individual, family, social and community levels is crucial in addressing offending behaviour.</p>
<p>Many of these issues were present in the case of an 11-year-old boy found guilty of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-02/patrick-slater-perth-esplanade-murder-australias-youngest-killer/9216080">manslaughter of Perth man Patrick Slater</a>, who was stabbed to death with a screwdriver in 2016.</p>
<p>He was <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/wa-boy-13-jailed-over-stabbing-death/a9926d44-f58e-46c1-98ad-77bc43207ceb">jailed for four years</a>. The boy was kept in custody prior to his sentencing for almost two years because of an inability to find a responsible person to care for him.</p>
<p>Raising the age will not stop such a crime being committed, nor the causes of it – it just means no one will be held accountable.</p>
<h2>We should not be raising the age of criminal responsibility</h2>
<p>Raising the age is a response that removes responsibility for poor behaviour, but doesn’t necessarily address any underlying causes of youth crime. Addressing these is what may actually assist young people in not offending.</p>
<p>How we punish young people who transgress is a separate issue. Understanding the consequences of your actions is also a separate issue to knowing if what you did was right or wrong. </p>
<p>We must ensure we don’t weaken our criminal justice system in a way that will ultimately fail our young people by creating a generation with no sense of personal responsibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author formerly served as a Detective Inspector in the Queensland Police Service with 28 years service.</span></em></p>
Raising the age is a response that removes responsibility for poor behaviour, but doesn’t necessarily address the causes underlying youth crimes.
Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Bond University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160361
2021-05-10T19:51:42Z
2021-05-10T19:51:42Z
The NT’s tough-on-crime approach won’t reduce youth offending. This is what we know works
<p>Last week the Northern Territory (NT) government proposed <a href="https://newsroom.nt.gov.au/mediaRelease/34423">legislative changes</a> to youth justice, including tightening access to bail and diversion, particularly for re-offenders.</p>
<p>We expect the legislation could go through as early as today. But this tough-on-crime approach runs contrary to what we know works to reduce youth offending and keep children healthy.</p>
<p>Nine national and local health organisations have written an <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/11WlbPRgXertvIzGk0UP-_wtu0Q-j_vxb/view">open letter</a> to NT government ministers warning the reforms “pose a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of an already vulnerable cohort of young people”.</p>
<p>Evidence-based solutions recognise youth crime is not solely a justice issue: it’s also health and disability issue. If we want to reduce youth offending, there are better alternatives to this punitive approach.</p>
<h2>The proposed changes are regressive</h2>
<p>If passed, the legislation would reverse changes implemented following the <a href="https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/royal-commission-detention-and-protection-children-northern-territory">Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory</a>, particularly around bail.</p>
<p>The presumption of bail will be removed for an expanded list of offences, including unlawful entry and assault of a worker (such as a support worker). There will be automatic revocation of bail for breaches, such as breaking curfew and re-offending. Police will also be able to apply electronic monitoring to children alleged to have committed a crime.</p>
<p>This means, for example, a child running late for curfew, or who forgot to charge an electronic monitoring device, could automatically lose bail.</p>
<p>Diversion, which uses community programs instead of traditional criminal justice mechanisms, will be available to a young person only once (previously, this could be used twice).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-indigenous-kids-in-detention-in-the-nt-in-the-first-place-63257">Why are so many Indigenous kids in detention in the NT in the first place?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Importantly, these changes will increase the number of youth in detention in the NT. The average rate of young people aged 10-17 in detention in the NT is <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-detention-population-in-australia-2020/contents/summary">7.9 per 10,000</a> — already more than three times the national average. </p>
<p>Well over <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-detention-population-in-australia-2020/contents/data-visualisation/trends-in-the-youth-detention">90% of young people</a> in detention in the NT are Indigenous Australians.</p>
<h2>Punishment and deterrence are not effective</h2>
<p>Evidence tells us <a href="https://www.youthcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Youth-Court-10-suggested-characteristics.pdf">solely punitive responses</a> in youth justice are largely ineffective in preventing repeat offending. Military-style boot camps and “scared straight” programs (where, for example, youth are taken to prisons to see the possible consequences of their behaviour) don’t work.</p>
<p>Even short periods of detention, with the associated separation from culture and community, can affect a child’s psychological and physical well-being and compromise cognitive development.</p>
<p>Compounding the problem, detention with other young people can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2747364/">exacerbate bad behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>Figures provided to us by the NT government show 77% of young people released from detention return within 12 months, but 64% of those who complete a diversion program do not reoffend in the same timeframe.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teenage boy leans against a fence, appearing despondent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399653/original/file-20210510-13-hzepzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people released from detention often reoffend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trauma and neurodevelopmental disability are common</h2>
<p>Adolescence is a period of significant development, with changes in brain structure and function. A growing body of evidence shows many young people in the justice system have experienced <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0093854812436957">significant interruptions</a> to healthy brain development. </p>
<p>Childhood abuse or neglect, exposure to domestic violence, or parental mental illness, can induce “<a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/">toxic stress</a>”. This affects the development of skills such as emotional regulation, reward-seeking, executive function (including flexible thinking and self-control) and threat perception. </p>
<p>Children exposed to multiple stressors are <a href="https://www.basw.co.uk/resources/adverse-childhood-experiences-and-their-impact-health-harming-behaviours-welsh-adult#:%7E:text=Findings%20show%20that%20ACEs%20have,use%2C%20smoking%2C%20poor%20diets%20and">20 times more likely</a> to be imprisoned in their lifetime. Mental illness and substance use are also <a href="https://www.justicehealth.nsw.gov.au/publications/2015YPICHSReportwebreadyversion.PDF">common issues</a> for young offenders in Australia.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-every-young-person-in-wa-detention-has-a-severe-brain-impairment-90695">Almost every young person in WA detention has a severe brain impairment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is brain damage caused by exposure to alcohol before birth. A <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/2/e019605">study</a> from the Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Western Australia found <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-every-young-person-in-wa-detention-has-a-severe-brain-impairment-90695?">36% of 99 young people</a> evaluated had FASD.</p>
<p>Some 89% of all participants had severe impairment in at least one area, such as academic achievement, attention, or language. As care providers at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, we see this frequently in the young people we meet.</p>
<p>As a result of such trauma and disability, young people often have a restricted range of responses to emotional and stressful situations. They’re more likely to resort to aggression, violence, and impulsive behaviour. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Several young people take part in a group session." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399658/original/file-20210510-23-1f258o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Diversion involves rehabilitating youth in the community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what works?</h2>
<p>We need effective interventions that recognise the developmental stage of adolescence and respond to individual needs. </p>
<p>First, the system needs to promote resolution outside a formal criminal justice process. One method is Family Group Conferences, which have been successful in <a href="https://www.youthcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Youth-Court-10-suggested-characteristics.pdf">New Zealand</a>. </p>
<p>The conferences bring together the offender, their family, the victim, police and others to discuss and make recommendations for the young person. They’re more likely to be culturally appropriate and empower families and communities, and can also benefit the victim. The Australian Law Reform Commission has <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/seen-and-heard-priority-for-children-in-the-legal-process-alrc-report-84/18-childrens-involvement-in-criminal-justice-processes/diversion/">recommended</a> expanding the use of this program in Australia.</p>
<p>Second, we need an <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/127234/AllardPUB3.pdf?sequence=1">evidence-based</a>, therapeutic approach to rehabilitation that recognises an individual offender’s risk factors and disability. This may mean interventions at home and school, supporting peer relationships or reducing substance use. These approaches <a href="https://www.youthcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Youth-Court-10-suggested-characteristics.pdf">are targeted</a> at the child’s developmental level and address how they respond to challenges. </p>
<p>One such program is the <a href="https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/suicide-prevention-activities-evaluation%7EAppendices%7Eappendixa%7Eproject49">Yiriman Project</a>, which operates in the Kimberley. It uses on-country trips focused on cultural pride, safety, and regeneration for Indigenous young people. </p>
<p>In Spain, the <a href="https://ddhs.org.au/sites/default/files/media-library/documents/Blueprint%20for%20Change%20-%20Diagrama%20Foundation%20Report%20FINAL.pdf">Diagrama Foundation</a> model, which provides a range of rehabilitative programs in detention, has seen repeat offending fall as low as 14%.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/don-dale-royal-commission-demands-sweeping-change-is-there-political-will-to-make-it-happen-86223">Don Dale royal commission demands sweeping change – is there political will to make it happen?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Punitive approaches do not address the issues driving bad behaviour.
We need to see prompt assessment of all young offenders for FASD and other disabilities, ideally as soon as they enter the youth justice system. We also need to expand best-practice diversion programs. These were key findings from a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/FetalAlcoholSpectrumDi/Report">recent senate inquiry</a> into FASD and will allow responses to improve skills many of us take for granted, such as emotional regulation, developing strong relationships, and an ability to organise daily tasks.</p>
<p>The NT government’s regressive policies will not reduce youth crime. And instead of addressing the poor health of most youth offenders, they will expose some of the most vulnerable and marginalised young people in our society to further trauma and disadvantage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160361/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Do we want to punish some of the most vulnerable young people in the community, or do we want to reduce re-offending? The Northern Territory’s proposed youth justice reforms suggest the former.
Nicholas Fancourt, Paediatrician & Research Fellow, Menzies School of Health Research
Olga Havnen, CEO of Danila Dilba Health Service, Indigenous Knowledge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148529
2020-10-22T01:06:31Z
2020-10-22T01:06:31Z
Queensland’s LNP wants a curfew for kids, but evidence suggests this won’t reduce crime
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364873/original/file-20201021-19-15pomxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marty Silk/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One can always sense an <a href="https://theconversation.com/queenslands-unpredictable-election-begins-expect-a-close-campaign-focused-on-3-questions-146927">election is looming</a> when law and order becomes headline news. </p>
<p>As Queenslanders head towards election day on October 31, the state’s opposition leader Deb Frecklington <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/trial-curfew-for-teens-out-late-in-townsville-and-cairns-lnp-proposes-20201021-p5674g.html">has announced</a> that, if elected, the Liberal National Party will trial a curfew for children. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-queensland-campaign-passes-the-halfway-mark-the-election-is-still-labors-to-lose-148267">As the Queensland campaign passes the halfway mark, the election is still Labor's to lose</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Townsville and Cairns, the LNP would introduce an 8pm curfew for unaccompanied children aged 14 and under, and a 10pm curfew for those aged 15 to 17. </p>
<p>Frecklington said under the planned six-month trial, teenagers would have to prove to police they had a reasonable excuse to be out at night, or be put in a “refuge”. Parents would be fined $250. </p>
<p>This is similar to a policy the party took to the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-02/under-16s-in-townsville-face-curfew-if-lnp-wins-qld-election/9109614">2017 state election</a>. </p>
<h2>‘Dog pound for kids’</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/state-election-2020/parties/qld-coronavirus-premier-to-provide-covid19-update/news-story/dd3298cd8665405c301dd7c08494f9bc">Labor Party</a> and <a href="https://www.qldonenation.org.au/law-and-order">One Nation</a> have both announced populist “tough on crime” policies in the run up to the election, but neither has endorsed a curfew. Labor’s <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/lnp-warned-youth-curfew-plan-could-breach-international-law-20201021-p567ci.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed">Police Minister Mark Ryan</a> labelled the LNP’s plan a “simplistic answer to a complex problem”.</p>
<p>Katter’s Australian Party has warned a curfew will result in a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-21/qld-election-2020-lnp-townsville-youth-curfew-crime-plan/12789276">dog pound for kids.</a>” </p>
<p>With a <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7EAboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20Islander%20Population%20-%20Queensland%7E10003">significant proportion</a> of young people in the far north of the state identifying as Indigenous, the Greens slammed the policy announcement as a “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/queensland-opposition-draws-accusations-of-dogwhistling-with-its-youth-curfew-election-pledge">racist dog whistle.</a>”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Beach in Townsville." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364875/original/file-20201021-19-pv5fh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are three marginal seats around Townsville.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Hunt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is little doubt the LNP announcement is pitched primarily at voters in and around Townsville, where <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/qld-election-2020-live-updates-deputy-premier-miles-labels-one-nation-freaks-and-weirdos/live-coverage/a9dc27526ab3b254ce28882eb3288401">three marginal seats</a> are up for grabs — and which some commentators suggest <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-21/analysis-why-queensland-election-could-come-down-to-townsville/12759052">could decide</a> the election. </p>
<p>Youth crime in Townsville is perceived to be a problem, although some experts say <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/27/and-embellishment-the-myth-fuelling-queensland-election-debate">this is overblown</a>. Whatever the reality, tackling the perceptions is clever politics.</p>
<h2>Are curfews legal?</h2>
<p>This year, COVID-19 has reminded us governments do have the power to enact legislation that places a brake on where and when people can be out in public. </p>
<p>This is so long as there are overriding reasons in the interests of public safety, and a lockdown <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-a-high-court-challenge-of-melbournes-lockdown-succeed-heres-what-the-constitution-says-147904">is not a disproportionate</a> limitation on freedom of movement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-did-the-northbridge-wa-curfew-see-a-dramatic-drop-in-crime-87016">FactCheck: did the Northbridge WA curfew see a 'dramatic drop' in crime?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So, the imposition of curfews in cities and towns around Australia has never been illegal, and indeed they have been implemented in the past. In relation to Aboriginal Australians, they were in place <a href="http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/articles/don-t-keep-history-mystery-national-reconciliation-week">well into the 20th century</a>.</p>
<p>While Amnesty International says the proposed Queensland curfew <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/lnp-warned-youth-curfew-plan-could-breach-international-law-20201021-p567ci.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed">may breach </a> Australia’s commitment to the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, this is unlikely to dislodge the zeal of politicians keen to display their “tough on crime” credentials.</p>
<h2>Do curfews work?</h2>
<p>Various studies have looked at specific curfews in the past, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-did-the-northbridge-wa-curfew-see-a-dramatic-drop-in-crime-87016">both here in Australia</a> and in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716202250944">the United States</a>. </p>
<p>Evidence of their effectiveness is weak.</p>
<p>To my mind, the best evidence comes from meta-analyses, studies that amalgamate the findings of only the most trustworthy scholarship into one place. One of the most reputable meta-analysis research conglomerates in the world is the <a href="https://campbellcollaboration.org/">Campbell Collaboration</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young people at a skateboard ramp." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364876/original/file-20201021-24-1ophfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Queensland LNP wants to trial a curfew for kids and young people for six months.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their researchers undertook a <a href="https://campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/juvenile-curfew-effects-on-behaviour.html">systematic review</a>, up to 2014, of all the quantitative studies that had assessed the effect of a curfew on criminal behaviour and victimisation. Twelve studies met their rigorous standards. </p>
<p>According to their summary, the evidence suggests juvenile curfews do not reduce crime or victimisation. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…]all the studies in the review suffer from some limitations that make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Nonetheless, the lack of any credible evidence in their favor suggests that any effect is likely to be small at best and that curfews are unlikely to be a meaningful solution to juvenile crime and disorder.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Are there counterproductive consequences?</h2>
<p>There is another problem for advocates of a curfew. Imposing a curfew may make matters worse.</p>
<p>For one thing, proponents are likely to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/27/and-embellishment-the-myth-fuelling-queensland-election-debate">exaggerate the problem</a>, while pretending crime issues will be solved simply by taking unaccompanied children off the streets at night. </p>
<p>But the most puzzling incongruity is there is also plenty of evidence to suggest <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-cut-australias-48-billion-crime-bill-73272">what should be done</a> to alleviate the disorder and dysfunction curfews are designed to address. </p>
<p>The evidence is clear: whatever we do must stem the flow of <a href="https://www.justicereforminitiative.org.au/youth">young offenders</a> into the justice system in the first place. By targeting and detaining the inevitable number who will flout the new law, curfews will bring about exactly the opposite. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-year-olds-do-not-belong-in-detention-why-australia-must-raise-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-142483">Ten-year-olds do not belong in detention. Why Australia must raise the age of criminal responsibility</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Currently <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-are-indigenous-australians-the-most-incarcerated-people-on-earth-78528">Indigenous over representation</a> in the justice system is a national disgrace. Schemes designed to mentor and guide all young people, and Aboriginal young people especially, to enhance their life-skills and their prospects of education and employment must be prioritised. </p>
<p>There is no lack of potential guidance in this respect. </p>
<p>The recently launched <a href="https://www.justicereforminitiative.org.au/">Justice Reform Initiative</a> — of which I am a patron — boasts dozens of experts, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who are available to guide and direct political parties to develop policies that build safe and supportive communities. </p>
<p>This is done by strengthening <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/reconnected">community connections</a>, not isolating and stigmatising their most disengaged members.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148529/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre is President of the SA Council for Civil Liberties and a Member of the State Council of the SA Labor Party.</span></em></p>
The Queensland opposition wants an 8pm curfew for children under 14 and 10pm for those under 17, in Townsville and Cairns.
Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144786
2020-09-15T18:28:06Z
2020-09-15T18:28:06Z
Why are police still charging youth with simple drug possession? The case for decriminalization
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357928/original/file-20200914-20-1rjgwwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=233%2C0%2C6071%2C3989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Decriminalization of simple drug possession would treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The stories are similar: before they were searched by police, young people swallowed whatever substance they had on them for personal use, to avoid “catching” additional charges. Each of us has heard them repeatedly while working with youth.</p>
<p>This impulsive ingestion has <a href="https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-professionals-express-concerns-over-rates-of-youth-hospitalizations-due-to-substance-use">significant ramifications for youth, families and communities</a>. It is particularly dangerous for youth, who may not have built up enough tolerance for the substance, or are unaware of what they have actually purchased. These youth often have already taken another drug before they encounter police, and mixing more than one substance, or taking more of the same substance, is known to <a href="http://www.drugcocktails.ca">lead to worse outcomes in youth</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of handcuffs lies on top of a fingerprint card." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Over the past two years, simple possession cases involving young people in Nova Scotia have been referred to restorative justice programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Bill Oxford)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This leads us to ask: why are police still charging people for possession of substances for personal use under the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-38.8/fulltext.html">Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)</a>? In Canada in 2018, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00013/tbl/tbl15-eng.htm">more than 6,300 youth were arrested</a> or had interactions with police for drug possession.</p>
<h2>Toxic candy</h2>
<p>Alprazolam (Xanax) is a type of benzodiazepine medication often used to treat anxiety and panic disorders, but is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/xanax-how-does-it-work-and-what-are-the-side-effects-94594">used recreationally by young people</a>. When ingested in a toxic amount — which varies by age and weight — it can lead to coma, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FADM.0000000000000350">slow and ineffective breathing and even death</a>. </p>
<p>As manufacturing of illicit substances evolves, so does the appearance, content and strength of those substances. Alprazolam pills pressed to look like <a href="https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/police-seize-xanax-resembling-sweetarts-candy">SweeTARTS</a> and other candies have been found in Canadian communities. A “sweet tart” or “xanie tart” varies in its potency and may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4306">contain other substances including fentanyl and heroin</a>. If impulsively ingested by a youth who is not accustomed to the drug, the results could be life-altering. </p>
<h2>A health issue, not a criminal justice issue</h2>
<p>Since its inception, the <a href="https://www.nslegalaid.ca/legal-information/youth-law/">Nova Scotia Legal Aid youth office</a> has assisted youth with simple possession charges, contrary to <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-38.8/page-2.html#docCont">s.4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act</a>. However, in the past two years, no youth legal aid lawyer has had this charge go beyond the preliminary stages of court proceedings. Federal Crown attorneys have exercised their discretion to withdraw or refer simple possession charges to <a href="https://novascotia.ca/just/rj/">restorative justice programs</a>. As criminal charges can be dismissed if a youth completes restorative justice, they avoid the stigmatization that may come with a youth court record. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/fpsd-sfpg/fps-sfp/tpd/p5/ch13.html">Updates to the Public Prosecution Services of Canada (PPSC) deskbook</a> appear to reflect a crystallization of this conventional practice and recognize that simply possessing and using substances ought to be dealt with through the health system, and not the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, as long as police can arrest a youth and lay the charge of simple possession, the health risks we’ve each seen in social work, the emergency room and legal aid will remain unchanged.</p>
<p>The risk of being handcuffed by a police officer, being charged or the thought of being obliged to appear in a courtroom can be extremely consequential to a child. Most young people have very little insight into the workings of the justice system. It is likely they will assume that being found with a substance like Xanax will land them in a locked facility. </p>
<p>They may already be under the influence of a substance when they realize they are at risk of a police officer finding it in their possession. This clouds their judgement in an already stressful situation and further increases the risk that they will consume an unsafe amount of a substance to get rid of it, potentially leading to serious harm or death.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police officer wearing a neon yellow jacket that reads 'POLICE.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people may already be under the influence of a substance when they encounter police, clouding their judgement and increasing the likelihood of swallowing unsafe amounts of a substance to prevent police from finding it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-04/CCSA-Decriminalization-Controlled-Substances-Policy-Brief-2018-en.pdf">2018 policy brief on decriminalization</a> by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction examines how other countries approach possession and connection back to supportive health programs. The <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7161215/drug-decriminalization-canada-future/">Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police supports the decriminalization of personal, illicit drug possession</a>, and the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-takes-step-to-decriminalize-of-drug-possession-amid-opioid/">Public Prosecution Service of Canada is taking steps</a> to decrease the likelihood of conviction for personal, illicit drug possession. </p>
<p>Until further decriminalization efforts can be made, what can be done now? </p>
<h2>A safer alternative</h2>
<p>Consider the impact of police officers offering people the chance to turn over any illicit substances without consequence, regardless of previous charges or any existing legal conditions requiring them to refrain from substances. </p>
<p>This practice may avoid accidental overdoses and reduce the risk of medical complications while youth are in the custody of police, sheriffs or correctional officers, most of whom do not have the training, tools or time needed to treat a person experiencing an overdose. It may also decrease the <a href="https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/former-inmates-at-high-risk-for-opioid-overdose-following-prison-release/">risk of accidental overdose</a> when released from custody, should they be remanded into forced sobriety. </p>
<p>This change in practice could <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/9105-A-Public-Health-Approach-to-Drugs-Discussion-Paper.pdf">help address the stigma around substance use</a>, which is a barrier to seeking help. Analyzing substances handed over could provide life-saving information and increase the likelihood of apprehending those who manufacture and traffic these substances. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://ama.com.au/ausmed/treat-addiction-health-issue-not-crime-%E2%80%93-experts">recognition that substance misuse is a health and social issue, not a criminal issue</a>, we hope that police officers will use their <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-police-chief-decriminalizing-drugs-1.5648297">discretion</a> and offer a safer choice for youth. </p>
<p>Like the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2017/05/good_samaritan_drugoverdoseactbecomeslawincanada.html">Good Samaritan law</a> that ensures people will not be criminalized for making sure another receives proper medical attention, such a practice would only be useful if those affected know about it. Letting people know they will not be charged for their personal substances will take time, communication and acceptance of the <a href="https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-04/CCSA-Addiction-Care-in-Canada-Treatment-Guide-2017-en.pdf">best practice research on substance use disorders</a>.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Paul Sheppard, a youth lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Halifax.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Young people often swallow any drugs they have on them when they encounter police, risking overdose to avoid a drug possession charge.
Kristyn Anderson, PhD (Health) student, MSW, RSW, RMFT, Dalhousie University
Kirstin Weerdenburg, Pediatric Emergency Physician, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/142449
2020-07-28T12:17:15Z
2020-07-28T12:17:15Z
Faith-based ‘violence interrupters’ stop gang shootings with promise of redemption for at-risk youth – not threats of jail
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349433/original/file-20200724-15-19du76r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2913%2C2302&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A demonstrator heads to an anti-violence protest in Chicago, which has struggled with gun violence for decades, July 7, 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrator-carrying-a-cross-heads-to-an-anti-violence-news-photo/993519942?adppopup=true">Jim Young/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/07/gun-violence-shootings-fourth-of-july-weekend-racism-segregation">July 4 weekend was one of the deadliest in recent U.S. history</a>, with 160 people, including several small children, killed by gun violence in Chicago, New York, Atlanta and beyond. </p>
<p>And the body count <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/upshot/murders-rising-crime-coronavirus.html">keeps rising</a>. Columbus, Ohio, where I teach and study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BSgvZwEAAAAJ&hl=en">violence prevention</a>, had 13 homicides in the first 26 days of July, <a href="https://communitycrimemap.com/">according to police data</a> – 46% higher than July 2019. Many shooting victims are from the same <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20110529/news/305299795">Black neighborhoods in cities that have borne the burden of American gun violence</a> for decades.</p>
<p>Urban gun violence is an entrenched but not intractable problem, evidence shows. Since the 1990s community anti-violence initiatives – many of them <a href="https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/the-man-behind-the-boston-miracle.html">run out of churches</a> – have reduced crime locally, at least temporarily, by “interrupting” potential violence before it happens.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man speaks on megaphone in front of crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349431/original/file-20200724-17-13otb3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams with anti-violence activists in Brooklyn, July 14, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-city-public-advocate-jumaane-williams-joins-anti-news-photo/1256205267?adppopup=true">Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Preventable violence</h2>
<p>One such program is Cure Violence, previously called <a href="https://www.who.int/violenceprevention/about/participants/cure_violence/en/">Chicago CeaseFire</a>. Founded in 1999 with Illinois state funding, CeaseFire employed community members with street credibility – that is, status in their community – to identify those at highest risk of being shot or being a shooter, then intervene in feuds that might otherwise end with fatal gunfire. </p>
<p>Working with churches, schools and community groups like the Boys and Girls Club, CeaseFire also helped gang members and at-risk youth move beyond street life by finishing their studies, finding a job or enrolling in drug and alcohol treatment.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/evaluation-ceasefire-chicago">National Institute of Justice evaluation</a> found that between 1991 and 2006, CeaseFire helped shootings decline 16% to 28% in four of the seven Chicago neighborhoods studied.</p>
<p>Variations of the CeaseFire program run by <a href="https://nnscommunities.org/">law enforcement</a>, <a href="https://cvg.org/impact/">public health experts</a> and <a href="http://www.youthalive.org/results/">hospitals</a> have also substantially reduced gun violence in Cincinnati, <a href="https://johnjayrec.nyc/category/work-products-by-project/cure-violence-project-materials/">New York</a>, Boston and beyond. However, many of these successful initiatives, including <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ceasefire-funds-frozen-as-chicago-shootings-climb-20151009-story.html">Chicago CeaseFire</a>, were ultimately scaled back or terminated due to a <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-safe-streets-funding-rally-20160804-story.html">lack of sustained funding</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Red bumper sticker on a snow-covered guardrail" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349428/original/file-20200724-33-k2dwb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CeaseFire Chicago worked, while it lasted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ceasefire-sticker-is-posted-on-a-guardrail-near-a-homicide-news-photo/456895181?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p>That’s what happened to CeaseFire Columbus, an Ohio program <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20110531/news/305319787">modeled after Chicago’s program</a> but with a religious orientation. </p>
<p>CeaseFire Columbus was run by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/M4M43206">Ministries for Movement</a>, an anti-violence community organization founded in the deadly summer of 2009. After <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20090814/NEWS/308149680">20-year-old Dominique Searcy</a> became Columbus’ 52nd murder victim that year, Dominique’s uncle, Cecil Ahad, teamed up with local youth and the former gang leader Dartangnan Hill for a “homicidal pain” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPuxtUuY4qU">march through their community</a> of South Side Columbus. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young musicians walking" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349688/original/file-20200727-17-1vqwvd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teen drummers lead a march to Columbus’s Family Missionary Baptist Church.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Deanna Wilkinson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A local pastor, Frederick LaMarr, offered his Family Missionary Baptist Church to host the group’s anti-violence work, giving rise to Ministries for Movement. In 2010, having studied Columbus’ crime data, I invited the group to implement a local CeaseFire program.</p>
<p>CeaseFire Columbus adopted many of Chicago’s violence interruption tactics, but the guiding philosophy of Pastor LaMarr and <a href="https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/cbusnext/profile-cecil-ahad/">Brother Ahad</a> was to meet everyone with compassion and openness, whether they were a grieving mother or a gang member. </p>
<p>To convince high-risk young people to stop killing each other, they used positive motivation – not threats of jail time, as <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188741.pdf">some CeaseFire programs do</a>. Evidence shows young people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20278">trapped in a cycle of violence</a> are often willing to drop their guns for the chance of a better life: a high school degree, say, or a job offer in a field of interest. </p>
<p>LaMarr and Ahad also encouraged perpetrators of violence to take responsibility for their actions. Sometimes, that meant turning themselves in to authorities. Other times, it meant making amends through community service. </p>
<p>Ministries for Movement has helped several hundred young Columbus residents <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20110530/news/305309864">escape gangs</a>. My evaluation for The Ohio State University found that between 2011 to 2014, CeaseFire Columbus helped to reduce shootings by 76% in our <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20130101/NEWS/301019918">40-block target area</a>. For one 27-month period, no one was murdered.</p>
<p>The first homicide after those two years of peace was <a href="https://medium.com/@jgrabmeier/guns-gangs-and-gardens-c839908ffdfe">heartbreaking</a>. The victim, 24-year-old <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20141017/NEWS/310179781">Rondell Brinkley</a>, had been turning his life around with the help of Ministries for Movement. Days before his murder, Brinkley had inspired attendees at a community event with his personal story of change.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Group photo of people holding anti-violence signs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349703/original/file-20200727-27-tycjli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CeaseFire Columbus in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the Ohio State University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gardening for change</h2>
<p>Violence interruption works, but it takes intensive and sustained effort. That can be difficult with a volunteer staff. </p>
<p>CeaseFire Columbus achieved its best results after getting US$125,000 in grants to expand its street outreach, community mobilizing, public health messaging and conflict mediation. Funding came from <a href="https://engage.osu.edu/past-outreach-and-engagement-grant-recipients">The Ohio State University</a>, the Ohio attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. </p>
<p>Ministries for Movement is still active in South Side Columbus: It leads a <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20130107/news/301079701">healing march</a> on the first Sunday of each month, among other activities. But CeaseFire became a casualty of lost funding and city politics. With gun violence quieter in our area but <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200204/rsquoalarming-uptickrsquo-in-gun-violence-worries-columbus-police-mayor">spiking in other parts of Columbus</a>, Ministries for Movement is now sharing its approach with community members and faith leaders in those areas. </p>
<p>[<em>You’re too busy to read everything. We get it. That’s why we’ve got a weekly newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybusy">Sign up for good Sunday reading.</a> ]</p>
<p>It is also trying something new to stop the violence: gardening. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Boy waters plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349434/original/file-20200724-15-9vmwkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Urban Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability participant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrator-carrying-a-cross-heads-to-an-anti-violence-news-photo/993519942?adppopup=true">Deanna Wilkinson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2015, with Department of Agriculture funding, I worked with Ohio State to launch the <a href="https://urbangems.ehe.osu.edu/">Urban Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability</a> program and planted a garden at Pastor LaMarr’s church, replacing the overgrown rusty fence line of an abandoned neighboring house. </p>
<p>Urban Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability helps young people build skills, strengthen social connections and improve health in their communities by growing and selling fresh food. Many of the program’s 300 participants have witnessed gun violence and deaths. Many say they find gardening therapeutic. </p>
<p>Surveys I’ve conducted find that Urban Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability improves participants’ eating habits, problem-solving and leadership skills, persistence and workforce readiness. </p>
<p>“Personally, it has taught me a lot of things: How to eat healthier, how to grow produce,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoUMAdEkVa8&feature=youtu.be">said Nasir Groce</a>, who is now 13 years old, back in 2017. “It’s taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deanna Wilkinson receives funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-41520-23772. She has previously received funding from The Ohio State University, the Ohio Criminal Justice Services which distributed public safety dollars from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio's office. She is an active partner in Ministries for Movement.</span></em></p>
Gun violence has killed hundreds of Americans, including kids, this summer. There are proven ways to bring peace to city streets, says an expert in violence prevention – but someone has to pay for it.
Deanna Wilkinson, Associate Professor. Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141242
2020-07-02T14:49:19Z
2020-07-02T14:49:19Z
Football betting among young Nigerians may create problems but a ban isn’t the answer
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344781/original/file-20200630-103688-1kitj3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">European football leagues' popularity and increased internet access make football betting attractive among young people in Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manchester-uniteds-nigerian-striker-odion-ighalo-celebrates-news-photo/1223098301?adppopup=true">Catherine Ivill/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Nigeria, football betting has a long history that can be traced to colonial times, when pool betting was popular, especially among older adults. Since then, more younger people have taken up betting on the results of football matches, including <a href="https://8brand.co.za/the-rise-and-rise-of-sports-betting-in-nigeria/">European league</a> football. </p>
<p>The country has many betting outlets where people can place a bet manually. They can also open an account online with a betting company, using a debit card, and place bets on the website or app. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190412005143/en/Nigeria-Sports-Betting-Sector-Report-20192020--#:%7E:text=According%20to%20a%20report%20by,N730%20billion%20in%20a%20year.">report</a> revealed that about 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 are involved in active sport betting. They spend almost ₦2 billion on sports betting daily. This translates to about ₦730 billion annually. In an economy where the 2020 national budget is <a href="https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/11/senate-passes-the-revised-n10-8-trillion-2020-budget/">almost ₦11 trillion</a>, this is huge. </p>
<p>Two factors are responsible for increasing football betting among youth in Nigeria. One is the increase in poverty and unemployment. Among Nigeria’s estimated population of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG">around 200 million</a>, around <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2018/06/19/the-start-of-a-new-poverty-narrative/">87 million</a> are said to be extremely poor. The youth unemployment rate in 2018 was put at <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/youth-unemployment-rate">36.5%</a>. </p>
<p>According to the National Bureau of Statistics, <a href="https://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/q1-q3_2017_unemployment_report_VOLUME_1-1.pdf">29.7% of youths</a> between the ages of 15 and 34 were unemployed at the third quarter of 2018. Betting may appear to be a way to make quick money, either as a betting operator or as a gambler.</p>
<p>The second factor driving and enabling football betting in Nigeria is the growing use of the internet and smart mobile phones. In 2017, <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigerias-mobile-phone-penetration-hits-84-per-cent/">84% of Nigerians</a> had mobile phones. The number of internet users in Nigeria is <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/stakeholder/media-public/news-headlines/614-ncc-hinges-nigeria-s-122-million-internet-users-protection-on-effective-governance">122 million</a> based on figures from the <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/the-ncc/who-we-are">Nigerian Communication Commission</a>. This is more than half of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG">Nigeria’s estimated population</a>. The increase in internet users in Nigeria can be attributed to affordability of internet access; with less than ₦100 (less than US$1), internet connectivity is assured. It is easy and convenient for people to place bets online using their phones. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-smartphone-gambling-is-on-the-up-among-african-millennials-127251">Why smartphone gambling is on the up among African millennials</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I was interested in the potential consequences of this situation for Nigerian society and particularly for young people. I wanted to know whether the ease of online betting for economically hard-pressed young Nigerians was creating any social problems such as conflict, crime and addictive behaviour.</p>
<p>For my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2020.1753710">study</a>, I collected data from in-depth interviews with fans of European football clubs, betters, parents and guardians of fans and betters, security personnel, owners and operators of betting outlets as well as football viewing centres in Lagos, Ibadan, Oyo State, south west Nigeria and Yola, Adamawa State, north east Nigeria. In addition, I observed betting activities and collected data from recent online news reports and other published works.</p>
<p>From the various interviews conducted and my observation, I found there was a link between football betting by young Nigerians and a perceived increase in violence and criminal activities. But in my view the answer is not to ban such betting but to address the unemployment and poverty which propel people into it.</p>
<h2>Behaviour around betting</h2>
<p>My interviews and observations in the field show that there is a concern about teenagers stealing to fund their football betting. I was in a security meeting in Adamawa State where parents complained to the police that they had noticed unprecedented theft of their money by their teenage children/wards to fund football betting. A parent interviewed in Adamawa State explained that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I noticed that money was getting lost in our house on daily basis. At first I thought it was mere misplacement. Later I started to hear from my neighbours also complaining of loss of money within their homes. We later got to know that our sons were the ones stealing the money to play football betting because we always see them with receipts of bet and we know that they do not have business from where they can get money for betting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interactions with these teenage betters show that they spend between ₦1,000 (about $2) and ₦3,000 (about $7) on betting daily. But the jackpot rarely comes. At football viewing centres, customers are routinely warned about fighting. One operator of a viewing centre in Yola told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In recent times, we have witnessed <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325697911_Comfort_or_Conflict_Investigating_the_Attitude_and_Experiences_of_European_Football_Fans_in_Television_Viewing_Centers_in_Nigeria">outbreaks of violence</a> among our viewers. Some of these fights are over unresolved longstanding issues. Sometimes, it is as a result of anger sustained from major loss in football betting. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Football betting may also sometimes promote ritualism, especially the use of “good luck charms”. I spoke to one gambler who said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You cannot just go and put a huge amount of money into betting without any form of spiritual enhancement that will guarantee and insure you. If you do that without spiritual enhancement, you will just continually give your
money to bet companies with their managers and staff to feed fat on while you continue to stay broke. Even bet company operators use spiritual power to ensure that their clients do not win…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There have been calls from moralists, especially in religious circles, for the government to criminalise betting, especially football betting. I witnessed two such discussions during an Islamic preaching in Yola, Adamawa State. In fact, <a href="http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/borno-govt-urged-to-ban-football-betting-nigerian-monitor/">one state</a> has been urged to take the first step. I believe this is unlikely to be effective. It would only push betting into the background and make it more difficult for the government to regulate and control it. Government should instead pay more attention to widespread poverty and unemployment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saheed Babajide Owonikoko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What needs attention is the lack of opportunity that drives sports betting.
Saheed Babajide Owonikoko, Researcher, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/138883
2020-06-14T12:27:48Z
2020-06-14T12:27:48Z
Canada’s ‘crossover’ youth need a children’s commissioner
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340738/original/file-20200609-21238-1cp6ktk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=147%2C54%2C4570%2C3119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canada needs to address the problems facing what are known as crossover youth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Denis Oliveira/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government of Canada has identified populations <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/vulnerable-populations-covid-19.html">that are vulnerable</a> to contracting COVID-19.</p>
<p>Canadians at high risk include those with economic barriers, unstable employment, difficulty accessing medical care and who have ongoing supervision needs and unstable housing. </p>
<p>These vulnerabilities are consistent with the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/exploring-youth-outcomes-after-aging-out-care#:%7E:text=The%20data%20overwhelmingly%20show%20compromised,were%20not%20involved%20in%20care.&text=An%20evidence%2Dbased%20child%20protection,of%20vulnerable%20children%20and%20families.">outcomes of youth who have been involved in the child welfare system.</a></p>
<p>Children often enter child welfare systems <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/CIS-2008-rprt-eng.pdf">as a result of abuse or neglect</a> through no fault of their own. Those between the ages of 12 and 18 who commit crimes <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/01/19/a-shocking-report-details-how-ontarios-most-vulnerable-youths-are-shuttled-from-child-protection-to-the-justice-system.html">and “cross over” to the federal youth justice system</a> while still involved in the child welfare system are referred to as crossover youth.</p>
<p>Crossover youth, whose rights are concurrently governed by federal and provincial legislation, urgently need a national strategy that addresses their situation. Since the vision of the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/youth/programs/policy.html">federal government’s Youth Policy</a> is for young people to be “equipped to live healthy and fulfilling lives and feel empowered to create positive change for themselves, their communities and the world,” the federal Minister of Youth should ensure that young people raised with the government as their legal guardian have the tools required to fulfil this vision. </p>
<h2>More likely to be charged with offences</h2>
<p>Canadian research on <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/april-2018/breaking-cycle-crossover-youth/">crossover youth</a> is sparse, with few provinces having publicly available information.</p>
<p>In British Columbia, youth involved with child welfare are <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de1a/6355e733bcf4b67dc85b7742a184eb298bdd.pdf">seven times more likely</a> to be charged with an offence than their peers who have not been in the child welfare system, and are more likely to be sentenced to custody (10.4 per cent compared to 0.5 per cent of youth not in the child welfare system). </p>
<p>A <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/BC-YouthJusticeReport.pdf">2009 report</a> by the British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth found that more youth in the child welfare system crossed over to the justice system (35 per cent) than graduated high school (24 per cent). </p>
<p>Children and youth involved with child welfare are more likely <a href="http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-concerns-about-child-welfare">to be marginalized</a>, and what is known as the <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/nation-to-nation/child-welfare-to-prison-pipeline-feeding-rising-indigenous-incarceration-rates/">care-to-custody pipeline</a> requires more attention. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, and long known by those of us who work with criminalized populations, a recent meta-analysis found that <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304855?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed&">half of all prisoners in Canada experienced abuse in childhood</a>. Provincial, federal, youth — Canadian jails are filled with survivors of trauma. </p>
<p>Crossover youth present with high rates of mental health and substance abuse problems, with American research estimating that 83 per cent live with a <a href="https://cjjr.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BridgingTwoWorlds_2008.compressed.pdf">concurrent disorder</a>. Furthermore, youth who are <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/child-welfare-and-youth-homelessness-canada-proposal-action-0">experiencing homelessness</a> are 193 times more likely to have a history of child welfare involvement than the general public. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341365/original/file-20200611-80784-ebj9fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many crossover youth struggle with substance abuse issues.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The case for a children’s commissioner</h2>
<p>Indigenous child welfare, federal penitentiaries and the Youth Criminal Justice Act fall under federal jurisdiction, so the Minister of Youth should create a federal child and youth advocate — a <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/">children’s commissioner</a> — in order to provide crossover youth the opportunity to meet the vision and objectives of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/youth/programs/policy.html">Canada’s Youth Policy</a>.</p>
<p>The commissioner would fall under the powers of Parliament, making child welfare a shared power between the federal and provincial governments. Given that outcomes for child welfare are not published, the children’s commissioner would ensure that all provinces and territories are tracking the outcomes of the children and youth they raise and comparing their results nationally. </p>
<p>The children’s commissioner should require all provinces and territories to have an independent child and youth advocate that would work in concert with the federal mandate. This oversight is in the best interests of youth, and consistent with the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">United Nations Convention of the Rights of a Child</a>, of which Canada is a signatory. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/Committee/391/huma/rep/rep10apr07-e.pdf">2007 report by the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights</a> called on the government of Canada to improve its compliance with international human rights treaty obligations. </p>
<p>It further called for the creation of an independent commissioner “ … to monitor government implementation of children’s rights at the federal level and liaise with provincial child advocates.” </p>
<h2>No ability to affect change</h2>
<p>As outlined by the <a href="http://www.cccya.ca/content/index.asp">Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates (CCCYA)</a>, some provinces have an ombudsman, representative or commissioner; some of them are employees of the government, but all lack the ability to bring about systemic change. </p>
<p>While they claim to operate independent of government control, if that were the true, Ontario would not have been able to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/child-advocate-office-closes-jobs-1.5029935">eliminate the office of their child advocate</a>. </p>
<p>The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers has repeatedly called for the creation of a <a href="http://nscsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CYAO-Backgrounder.pdf">child and youth advocate</a> without success. Provincial and territorial calls for an independent advocate showcase the importance and need of federal intervention to support all Canadian children who have experienced child welfare involvement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138883/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristyn Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The federal government should create a federal child and youth advocate — a children’s commissioner — in order to help Canada’s crossover youth.
Kristyn Anderson, PhD (Health) student, MSW, RSW, RMFT, Dalhousie University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126941
2019-11-18T05:04:52Z
2019-11-18T05:04:52Z
Humans light 85% of bushfires, and we do virtually nothing to stop it
<p>It’s hard to comprehend why someone would deliberately light a bushfire. Yet this behaviour regularly occurs in Australia and other countries. We would go a long way to preventing bushfires if we better understood this troubling phenomenon.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/11/2946">Experts estimate</a> about <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2010/2010/33-chapter9-chapter.pdf">85% of bushfires</a> are <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/FINAL_ARC_SCEP_Fire_season_preparedness_7_July_2016.pdf">caused by humans</a>. The word “bushfires” in this context refers to any fire where vegetation is involved.</p>
<p>A person may accidentally or carelessly start a fire, such as leaving a campfire unattended or using machinery which creates sparks. Or a person could maliciously light a fire. </p>
<p>This criminal behaviour is <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/11/2946">not widely recognised or understood</a> by the public, fire authorities or researchers. This means opportunities to prevent bushfires are generally being missed and resources devoted to tackling the cause are far from commensurate with the devastating consequences.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302090/original/file-20191118-66917-ydd196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2013 fire at Wallan, Victoria, was thought to be deliberately lit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MARK DADSWELL/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Profile of an arsonist</h2>
<p><a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tbp/tbp027">Research has shown</a> about 8% of officially recorded vegetation fires were attributed to malicious lighting, and another 22% as suspicious. However, about 40% of officially recorded vegetation fires did not have an assigned cause. When unassigned fires were investigated by fire investigators, the <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2010/06/apo-nid21608-1354551.pdf">majority were found</a> to be maliciously lit. </p>
<p>But official fires are just the tip of the iceberg: the actual number of bushfires in Australia is thought to be <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.150241">about five times</a> that recorded. Virtually none of these unrecorded fires are investigated.</p>
<p>Young men comprise the largest group of people who maliciously light fires. <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2010/06/apo-nid21608-1354551.pdf">These youth are usually troubled</a>, likely to have absent fathers and little home supervision. They are likely to have experienced child abuse and neglect and associated with an antisocial peer group. Lighting fires <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-35523-001">may give a feeling of excitement</a>, defiance and power, or it may be an expression of displaced anger. Some offenders have an intellectual disability.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-surprising-answer-to-a-hot-question-controlled-burns-often-fail-to-slow-a-bushfire-127022">A surprising answer to a hot question: controlled burns often fail to slow a bushfire</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Offenders may make no attempt to extinguish the fire, and give little consideration to the consequences. Some may have no feelings of remorse or fear of punishment. Others may never have intended to create such wide devastation.</p>
<p><a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/the-psychology-of-arson-a-practical-guide-to-understanding-and-ma">Older males</a> who light malicious fires also have a history of social and educational disadvantage, poor family functioning in childhood, low self-esteem, and often a pathological interest in fire. However the older the person gets, the less likely they are to light fires. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302092/original/file-20191118-66932-1uw9kmt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Convicted Black Saturday arsonist Brendan James Sokaluk arriving at the Supreme Court in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So why don’t we talk about arson?</h2>
<p>During last week’s east-coast bushfire crisis, a handful of news reports covered people lighting fires. They include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/14/nsw-and-queensland-fires-fourth-person-confirmed-dead-in-bushfires-near-kempsey">a teenager who allegedly lit a Queensland bushfire</a> that razed 14 homes, and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/man-charged-after-allegedly-starting-fire-with-fireworks-20191115-p53au0.html">a man charged with</a> starting a Sydney fire by letting off fireworks.</p>
<p>Media attention on a fire’s cause is generally scant and the public rarely hears much beyond initial charges being laid. This is in stark contrast to blanket news coverage of the consequences of bushfires.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-when-the-firies-call-him-out-on-climate-change-scott-morrison-should-listen-127049">Grattan on Friday: When the firies call him out on climate change, Scott Morrison should listen</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A staggeringly low apprehension and conviction rate for offenders - <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2010/06/apo-nid21608-1354551.pdf">less than 1%</a> - is a further barrier to public awareness of the problem. Conviction <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/227906/Arson_and_Deliberately_Lit_Fires_Final_Report_No_1.pdf">rarely</a> leads to a substantial punishment. </p>
<p>Fire brigades in most states offer a limited education course for some children who light fires, usually led by volunteers. But there are few targeted treatment programs for those who light bushfires.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302094/original/file-20191118-66979-138f5qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Firefighters near Sydney in November 2019 conducting controlled burning - a common fire mitigation method.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Piper/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rethinking the bushfire problem</h2>
<p>Rather than tackling the cause of the problem, the major response to bushfire in Australia is mitigation. This largely involves one blunt approach: hazard reduction burns to reduce bushfire fuel loads. This is an increasingly difficult task as climate change makes weather conditions more unsuitable for controlled burns.</p>
<p>This business-as-usual approach has <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/2/150241">not halted the upward trajectory</a> of bushfire ignitions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/12-simple-ways-you-can-reduce-bushfire-risk-to-older-homes-122712">12 simple ways you can reduce bushfire risk to older homes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A much greater focus on prevention would require a significant rethinking of the bushfire problem. This would include collaboration between government, business, non-government organisations, communities and others. </p>
<p>Victoria’s Gippsland Arson Prevention Program provides a promising model. Through public education, media engagement and other means, it informs communities on how to help prevent arson. The committee includes Victoria Police, government and fire authorities and local power generators.</p>
<p>In one example of an on-the-ground response, local authorities organised the removal of dumped cars, which are commonly seen by bored and troubled youth as an invitation to start a fire.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VkpvK2-B9Cg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Arson prevention also includes addressing long-term problems such as youth disadvantage and unemployment, especially in rural-urban fringe areas where <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/black-saturday-urban-sprawl-and-climate-change-remain-key-dangers">most human-lit fires occur</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263327276_Environmental_criminology_and_the_potential_for_reducing_opportunities_for_bushfire_arson">Shorter-term approaches</a> include providing support and treatment to at-risk youth, and situational crime prevention such as good lighting and cameras in places vulnerable to fire lighting.</p>
<p>We must open up a society-wide discussion of bushfire prevention, which includes listening to local communities about what they value and what can be done about the problem. As climate change worsens – and bushfires along with it – a radical rethink is required.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The caption on the lead image of this article has been amended to say that an estimated 85% of fires are lit by humans, both deliberately and accidentally. A definition of the term “bushfire” has also been added, for clarity.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Stanley has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>
Australia devotes countless resources to fighting bushfires, but precious little to examining the main cause - humans.
Janet Stanley, Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121279
2019-08-02T10:53:59Z
2019-08-02T10:53:59Z
Lifelong anonymity orders: do they still work in the social media age?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286723/original/file-20190802-117866-1b0od5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-person-silhouette-over-white-1022189416?src=-1-22&studio=1">GlebSStock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lifelong anonymity orders for adults who were convicted of crimes as children are rarely granted. In theory, these orders legally prevent a person ever being identified. But given that information is now shared at lightning speed across different platforms, can these orders still work in practice?</p>
<p>Recently, a child approaching the age of 18 – referred to in court as “<a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/RXG-v-MoJ-2019-EWHC-2026-QB-Final-Judgment-as-handed-down-003.pdf">RXG</a>” – was granted an anonymity order which will protect him from being named for the rest of his life. RXG is the youngest person ever to be convicted of a terrorist offence in the UK. Twice in March 2015, when he was 14 years old, RXG incited <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-30/sevdet-besim-pleads-guilty-anzac-day-terror-plot/7557574">another person to commit acts of terrorism overseas</a> from his home in the UK. The plot was stopped by the Australian Federal Police. After pleading guilty, RXG was sentenced to detention for life with a minimum term of five years.</p>
<p>The principle of protecting children who offend from stigmatisation, thereby increasing their chances of resettling into society, is long established in English law. It is at <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">the heart of</a> several <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/beijingrules.pdf">international standards</a> too. </p>
<p>At the time of RXG’s original trial, <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/RXG-v-MoJ-2019-EWHC-2026-QB-Final-Judgment-as-handed-down-003.pdf">the sentencing court</a> imposed <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/23/contents">reporting restrictions</a> prohibiting his identification, but these only last until a defendant turns 18. Legislation provides extended protections for children involved in criminal proceedings after the age of 18, but only if they are victims or witnesses, not defendants. </p>
<p>There have been past exceptions, however, but in only a handful of cases. The most well known is that of <a href="https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2001/32.html">Jon Venables and Robert Thompson</a> who, in 1993, were convicted aged 11 of the murder of two-year-old James Bulger. They were named on conviction but given new names and granted anonymity when they turned 18. Only three other cases have seen the exception being used – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/may/22/privacy.childprotection">Mary Bell</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/feb/24/pressandpublishing.privacy1">Maxine Carr</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/09/edlington-attack-two-brothers-granted-lifelong-immunity">Edlington brothers</a>. </p>
<p>The process of being granted anonymity and confidentiality as a minor is not always straightforward, but serious problems arise if the crime is still in the public consciousness by the time the convicted child turns 18, and <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/23/contents">reporting restrictions</a> cease to protect them. As RXG approached his 18th birthday, the High Court was asked to grant an injunction against anyone identifying him after he turned 18. </p>
<p>Unlike Thompson and Venables, the High Court was not satisfied that there was a real and immediate risk of RXG coming to serious physical harm if his identity was released into the public domain. But, in light of the evidence, the court found that identification would have a “<a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/RXG-v-MoJ-2019-EWHC-2026-QB-Final-Judgment-as-handed-down-003.pdf">profound impact on his psychological well-being</a>”. It concluded that RXG’s individual characteristics, vulnerability to exploitation, and the prospect of his rehabilitation tipped the balance in his favour. </p>
<h2>Protecting anonymity online</h2>
<p>The problem here is not the granting of anonymity orders but whether such exceptional interference with freedom of expression can be realistically upheld in the internet age. When the first lifelong anonymity orders were made in the early 2000s, technology was very different. Now many <a href="https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2019/news/law-column-will-lifelong-anonymity-orders-become-ever-rarer/">critical commentators</a> argue that such orders are likely to be made redundant because information moves so fast that individuals’ identities may already be widely known. </p>
<p>Media and public interest in high profile cases remains long after convictions, and in the digital age coverage can be widely accessed for years. The internet brings permanency of imagery and details that would not have been possible before news went online. Social media platforms also provide opportunities for people to share details – although doing so can result in members of the public being charged with contempt of court. Earlier this year actress <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/committal-for-contempt-of-court-at-the-royal-courts-of-justice-malone/">Tina Malone</a> was charged with contempt of court for reposting a photo said to be of Venables on Facebook. And a 51-year-old man has been jailed after tweeting a photo and alias which is also said to have <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-who-tweeted-image-new-18811645">revealed Venables’s identity</a>.</p>
<p>When making its decision to grant RXG anonymity, the High Court was shown evidence of the violence being threatened against him in comments on news articles and social media. <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137606815">Research has shown</a> that comments can stir up anger in communities and leave children vulnerable to physical violence and mental abuse. Although RXG himself was physically protected from the public within a secure institution, there were doubts over whether he could be psychologically protected. The exposure of his traumatised family was also taken into account.</p>
<p>Despite digital challenges, cases like RXG’s demonstrate that there can still be a pressing need to place limits on open justice in order to protect other fundamental human rights. Anonymity orders are not taken lightly, courts undertake a balancing exercise between privacy and freedom of expression in these cases. But we believe that is essential that children’s rights are given sufficient weight in that exercise. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-really-anonymous-online-your-friends-on-twitter-may-give-you-away-71860">Are you really anonymous online? Your friends on Twitter may give you away</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In cases where this is a continued risk for children into adulthood, lifelong anonymity orders should automatically continue, with reporting restrictions seriously enforced. After all, irresponsible communication is not in the public interest. Meanwhile new and more effective methods of ensuring that information and imagery do not originate online need to be urgently devised, as do new ways of promptly removing anything that may break an anonymity order. </p>
<p>Breaches of lifelong anonymity orders that have occurred to date show that policymakers, social media platform providers and media regulators need to keep up with <a href="https://theconversation.com/guilty-until-proven-innocent-how-a-legal-loophole-is-being-used-to-name-and-shame-children-86073">advances in online and social media practices</a>. They have a duty to ensure that rights are not being breached and safety is not being put at a higher risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Lifelong anonymity orders are a rare and exceptional interference with freedom of expression.
Faith Gordon, Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University
Julie Doughty, Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/119897
2019-07-23T13:25:25Z
2019-07-23T13:25:25Z
Police won’t solve the knife crime epidemic – but community work can
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285357/original/file-20190723-110195-11blixk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/college-students-teamwork-stacking-hand-concept-489271987?src=67y2uZ4B9VskLSxB1QtDKw-1-49&studio=1">Rawpixel.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Knife crime is a growing concern in England and Wales, with the UK government pledging an additional <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-funding-for-police-to-tackle-violent-crime">£100m</a> to tackle what West Midlands Police have named a “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-48721595">national emergency</a>”. Figures show that the number of knife crime incidents is rising. In England, there were <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04304#fullreport">5,053 knife assaults</a> recorded in 2017-18, an increase of 14% since 2016-17 and 39% higher than in 2014-15. Just over <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04304#fullreport">one in five</a> knife offenders are between the ages of ten and 17.</p>
<p>Recent media focus has suggested that budgetary cuts and the fall in police officer numbers are to blame. Commentators also question the long-term efficacy of preventive methods such as police stop and search powers, mediation and test-purchasing of weapons in shops, ensuring only those 18 or older are able to buy weapons.</p>
<p>Worryingly, research points to a <a href="https://www.ippr.org/files/2017-10/making-the-difference-report-october-2017.pd">close correlation</a> between knife crime and a raft of social problems such as poverty, school exclusions, ill mental health and rising numbers of children with complex needs and vulnerabilities. But it is hard to say how <a href="https://theconversation.com/knife-crime-why-harsh-prison-sentences-arent-the-answer-for-young-people-who-carry-knives-113233">these factors</a> relate to each other and whether they cause – or are caused by – knife crime.</p>
<p>The recent increase in budget to tackle knife crime indicates that the issue is being taken seriously by the government. For example, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-48721595">£1.5m</a> has been earmarked for activities such as purchasing new police cars and hand-held metal detectors, gaining new staff and mentoring programmes. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284541/original/file-20190717-147270-1t733e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police search an unknown protester during a Stop The War Coalition protest, March 7 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-united-kingdom-07th-march-2018-1041949144?src=gq--0iFNt6ZYwoy0gNi65A-1-0&studio=1">Ben Gingell/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But stop and search and test-purchasing of weapons cannot address the complicated social problems that are linked to knife crime. Stop and search powers do not help to positively change an area’s culture, for example. They can <a href="https://talkradio.co.uk/news/stop-and-search-campaigner-police-are-alienating-black-community-racial-profiling-18090427735">alienate</a> community members and can foster feelings of mistrust and division within communities already divided by offending and anti-social behaviour. </p>
<p>Those living within communities where there are problems are often those best placed to understand what is going on and why. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-48721595">Police understand</a> that outreach is an effective way of getting to know community members and hearing their concerns. For example, in the West Midlands, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-48721595">£100,000</a> of funding is to be given to young people to help them improve their communities “via local initiatives”. This isn’t a very large amount of funding: police budgets for outreach are under pressure and the majority of police powers only equip officers to deal with knife crime after the fact, rather than focusing on prevention. </p>
<h2>The power of community</h2>
<p>Community outreach involves community members coming together in attempts to tackle a shared problem, typically an issue affecting the community’s local area. Community outreach groups can work in partnership with other organisations, which can often be helpful in gaining funding to further the impact of activities. </p>
<p>For example, a community outreach group that wants to address food poverty in their community may want to work with a local food bank, food store or university. Community outreach sees residents as a part of the solution to social problems and encourages proactive behaviour, rather than passively waiting for issues to be solved by, for example, the police or government departments. </p>
<p><a href="https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/oa/vol8/iss1/8/">Our research</a> explores new techniques of community outreach undertaken in partnership with a local theatre in a deprived area of the West Midlands, UK. Here the police were not leading the workshops: instead they were facilitated by theatre practitioners. A variety of creative methods, including poetry, craft and drama, helped to tailor activities to those in attendance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284537/original/file-20190717-147275-16k610q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workshop members build models to explore what community means to them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Helen Millward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We attended the workshops and participated with the aim of gaining an understanding of the issues facing the local area, as seen by community members themselves. The creative methods used at the workshops helped us to understand a variety of issues such as local crime, to get to know those affected and to build better relations between community members. Longer term, the aim was to kindle trust, reduce fear and tackle some of the underlying social disadvantages which can lead to offending. </p>
<p>At the heart of these workshops is the concept of co-creation and its core principle of social equality. The practical effect of this is to remove issues of hierarchy and promote discussion between practitioners, academics and community members. </p>
<p>During the workshops all participate in planning and choosing approaches and feel equal ownership of the process. Nobody is the “expert”. The activities are “fun” - usually organised around a practical process such as craft - and serious issues only emerge when participants feel they should. These are not focus groups and because of that, we have noted little tension or confrontation. Instead, we think that reflections and ideas develop naturally. As one theatre practitioner noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The project was about personal choice and how things from the past don’t have to haunt you, and you can change it … so you just have to be conscious make the right choice next time.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284538/original/file-20190717-147312-7ejc75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artwork made by the workshop members.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Helen Millward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Changing hearts and minds</h2>
<p>Results have been positive, with particular success in supporting new social networks and connections. One elderly lady who participated in an outreach workshop said that she was initially quite wary of young offenders within the community, for example, but this changed when she met some of the people in question at a workshop. She realised they were not “thuggish, they were just kids”.</p>
<p>The degree of reflection was also noted among ex-offenders. Some even came forward to volunteer at the theatre after the project finished. Practitioners realised that some of the ex-offenders had gained “the confidence to go back into education” or to feel “confident enough to apply for a job and start working”. This suggests that these people are less likely to offend again and are increasing their capacity to make positive social and cultural contributions. </p>
<p>There is also potential for these changes in attitude to generate community-wide impact because, as one of the workshop leaders explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you change one individual and they get the opportunity to change another individual then it spreads throughout their group … slowly you spread the word, whole group change is quite a big thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These results are promising within the context of knife crime, particularly as it seems increasingly out of police control. At the very least, our work shows that community outreach can make a positive contribution to tackling local issues. But further government funding would significantly benefit the impact of such creative work. This would improve the ability of communities themselves to address issues such as knife crime in their local areas, rather than relying on the methods of those who may have little understanding of the best placed solutions to fit the local area.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Stop and search and other police tactics cannot address the complicated social problems that are linked to knife crime.
Helen Millward, Teaching Fellow in Marketing, Keele University
Lindsay Hamilton, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Ethnography, Keele University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/115485
2019-06-21T10:43:20Z
2019-06-21T10:43:20Z
I research slang to help solve gang crime – and it’s clear how little politicians understand
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280700/original/file-20190621-61767-17ln3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C428%2C5607%2C3236&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Slang: sometimes difficult to decipher. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/29660769556/sizes/l">Thomas Hawk/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gang-related violent crime continues to affect young people across England and Wales, with the latest <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-48647788">reports suggesting that</a> gang leaders are offering teenagers up to £1,000 pounds to carry out stabbings. In their efforts to curb violence among young people, police and politicians must distinguish between those who are involved in crime and those who are innocent – or risk <a href="https://theconversation.com/treating-young-people-like-criminals-actually-makes-violent-crime-worse-91723">further marginalising</a> deprived communities. </p>
<p>To understand young people’s intentions, authorities have to get to grips with the slang they use to communicate. But the relationship between the street slang used by many young people every day and the secret codes deployed by gang members while planning and boasting about crimes is not always straightforward, and lends itself to misunderstandings. </p>
<p>That’s where I come in. I have collected slang for as long as I can remember, and since the early 1990s I have taught about it too, and published <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dictionary-of-contemporary-slang-9781408181799/">dictionaries</a> and articles to record and analyse it. Since 2009, I have been assisting law enforcement agencies and defence lawyers to make sense of evidence in criminal trials that hinge on slang terms most people are unable to decipher. Decoding and translating this language can help both young victims of violence and the young people who are wrongly accused of perpetrating it. </p>
<h2>Violence and vernacular</h2>
<p>Most academics and teachers in the UK pay slang little attention: it is, after all, the language of outsiders, of rebellion, of bad behaviour and mockery. But I find colourful, unorthodox language like slang inherently interesting: it creatively exploits English in a way that both renews the language and gives a voice to marginal, misunderstood communities. </p>
<p>This includes ways of speaking that mix local and imported words and pronunciations, that have developed in London as well as other European cities. One of these vernaculars – called “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-the-mouths-of-teens-422688.html">multicultural London English</a>” or Urban British English – has now spread far beyond the capital and can be heard even in rural streets and playgrounds.</p>
<p>Young criminals, of course, share the same accents, intonations, day-to-day vocabulary and grammatical novelties as all the other users of Urban British English. So I get involved when the meanings of slang terms are unclear, or when their interpretation is disputed by defence and prosecution in court. The same slang term may have more than one meaning: “plug”, for instance, may mean stab or shoot, or may refer to a drug contact or drug supply; “toys” can refer to drugs, drug paraphernalia, cars or guns.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280687/original/file-20190621-61756-1ursmyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people all over the UK use slang – that doesn’t make them criminals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/HZGkX1vKJvo">Alex Holyoake/Unsplash.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since the civil disturbances of 2011, during which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/09/london-riots-blackberrys-police">electronic surveillance was used</a> to monitor rioters’ conversations, frontline police officers have made themselves much more familiar with the jargon circulating on the streets. New terms are being coined all the time, but contrary to assumptions, slang doesn’t date quickly. Key terms in Urban British English – “bare” for many, “peng” or “piff” for attractive or good, “bait” for obvious, “p’s” or “gwop” or “lizzie(s)” for money, “food” for cannabis have been around for more than a decade.</p>
<h2>In defence of drill</h2>
<p>Law enforcers and social commentators <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/15/london-drill-rap-gang-banned-from-making-music-due-to-threat-of-violence">made the connection</a> between the slang used in the darker more violent forms of hip hop and knife crime some time ago. This has resulted in police issuing <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-music-videos-is-not-a-criminal-activity-no-matter-what-genre-97472">Criminal Behaviour Orders</a> to groups that produce this kind of music, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44281586">asking YouTube</a> to delete such content from its platform and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/31/skengdo-and-am-the-drill-rappers-sentenced-for-playing-their-song">prosecuting two up and coming artists</a> for breaching a gang injunction by performing in London in 2018. </p>
<p>Rap inherited a tradition of boasting, goading and insulting from the earlier dancehall styles, which featured rival MCs or DJs competing with one another. This can sound fantastically menacing to the uninitiated, and is taken to its furthest extremes – death threats, graphic descriptions of violence – by hyper-aggressive, macho drill music. </p>
<p>“Dissing” (insulting) and “bragging” (boasting) tracks reference “skengs”, “ramsays”, “shanks”, “swords” (meaning knives) as well as “spinners”, “mashes”, “burners” (meaning handguns), and celebrate “dipping” or “cheffing” (stabbing), “frying” or “wooshing” (shooting), “gliding” or “touring” (entering enemy territory) and “duppying” (killing).</p>
<p>Drill lyricists take their cues from slang spoken on the street – and slang speakers imitate them in turn. Some rappers are gang members themselves – and a small minority enact the atrocities they rap about in real life. But innocent young people and aspiring rappers also listen to drill music and adopt the violent vocabulary of established performers when writing and recording their own tracks. </p>
<p>It’s hardly surprising, then, that the police crackdown on drill music has met with resistance from <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-music-videos-is-not-a-criminal-activity-no-matter-what-genre-97472">academics</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/akalamusic/status/984784763520249856">activists</a> and artists, including Krept and Konan, who recently <a href="https://www.clashmusic.com/news/krept-konan-just-spoke-in-support-of-drill-in-the-uk-parliament">discussed the topic</a> with MPs in parliament. Writing for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/13/music-banning-drill-black-british-kids-violence">The Guardian</a>, Konan said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the murder of my stepdad, it was music that actually pulled me out of my former lifestyle. Before music, there was just jail, gangs and getting arrested. Without music, I do not know if I would be alive today. Best-case scenario, I’d be in prison.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-music-videos-is-not-a-criminal-activity-no-matter-what-genre-97472">Making music videos is not a criminal activity – no matter what genre</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Being able to understand the language of criminality may be a legal imperative, but there are social priorities too. Young people should be free to express their feelings, motivations and concerns in their own language. Authorities, teachers, parents and politicians should try to relate to the pressures of inner-city life and the sense of futility that many young people are experiencing – even when the words they prefer to use sound strange or menacing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115485/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Thorne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The relationship between street slang used by young people and secret codes deployed by gang members is not always straightforward.
Tony Thorne, Director of Slang and New Language Archive, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/108776
2018-12-13T22:13:11Z
2018-12-13T22:13:11Z
Clemency for Cyntoia Brown was long overdue
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252788/original/file-20190108-32133-ovucy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This photo from May 2018 shows Cyntoia Brown at her clemency hearing at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, Tenn. On Jan. 7, 2019, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted executive clemency to Brown, serving a life sentence for a murder that happened after she was forced into sex work. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lacy Atkins /The Tennessean via AP, Pool, File)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cyntoia Brown will be released from prison in August — a surprising and welcome development in the case of a teenager who was convicted of killing a man when she was just 16 and forced into sex work.</p>
<p>In announcing his decision <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/us/tennessee-cyntoia-brown-granted-clemency/index.html">to grant clemency in the high-profile case</a>, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/cyntoia-brown-life-sentence-supreme-court_us_5c0c7f30e4b0ab8cf693f5c5?utm_hp_ref=ca-black-voices">recent ruling by the state’s Supreme Court</a> that Brown must serve 51 years in prison before being eligible for parole was “too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.”</p>
<p>News stories and social media have widely reported and shared Brown’s plight. Many compared her harsh sentence to lesser ones for white juveniles since the state of Tennessee first tried her case more than 10 years ago.</p>
<p>In 2004, Johnny Allen, 43, solicited sex in exchange for money from Brown, who was 16 at the time. Brown argued that she feared for her life and thought Allen was going to shoot her, <a href="http://tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/browncyntoiadeniseopn.pdf">so she shot and killed him in self-defence, according to court records</a>. Despite these details, <a href="https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/article/13037415/for-a-teens-impulsive-unthinkable-act-cyntoia-brown-got-an-adults-life-sentence-was-justice-served">the state of Tennessee still tried her as an adult and convicted her of first-degree murder</a>. </p>
<p>There was so much wrong about this story, which underlies the treatment of young, poor girls and women living in unstable situations. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13613324.2016.1168543">Many of these youth are regularly exposed to drugs, violence and multiple forms of trauma.</a> </p>
<p>A 2011 <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/me-facing-life/">PBS documentary</a> about Brown’s life and trial revealed the challenges Brown faced in her young life. The documentary showed Brown, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hair pulled into ponytails, waiting to hear from a judge to see if she would be tried as a juvenile or adult. </p>
<p>Her mother was raped at age 16 by an older man and she was given up for adoption. Her adoptive father routinely inflicted physical abuse on her. At 15, she ran away and met a 23-year-old drug dealer, “Kut Throat,” who raped her and forced her into sex work.</p>
<p>After a disagreement with him, she left and went to a local burger place. That is where she met Allen, who asked if she was looking for “action” — meaning was she selling sex? After bartering, they agreed on $150 for the “exchange.” They went to his home, ate, had sex and remained in his bed. Allen boasted about being a former soldier and said he had multiple guns in his home. He grabbed Brown and rolled over. She feared for her life, grabbed a gun and shot him.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250568/original/file-20181213-178567-merkf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cyntoia Brown reacts during her hearing in Nashville, Tenn. in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/The Tennessean, Jae S. Lee)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brown’s sentence seemed even harsher in light of the fact that the United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to give juveniles mandatory <a href="http://www.newser.com/story/268338/woman-i-killed-in-self-defense-court-51-years-behind-bars.html">life sentences without parole</a>. According to the Tennessee Supreme Court, Brown’s sentence fell within the parameters of the constitution because she would have been eligible for parole once she turns 67.</p>
<p>But thanks to the governor’s decision on clemency, she will be released from prison to supervised parole on Aug. 7 after serving 15 years.</p>
<h2>A cycle of incarceration</h2>
<p>Brown’s story mirrors other marginalized young women of colour living in the United States. I have conducted fieldwork with 50 incarcerated Latinas, age 12-19, in Southern California and wrote a book about their lives: <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520284883"><em>Caught Up: Girls, Surveillance and Wraparound Incarceration</em></a>.</p>
<p>The girls I spoke with often experienced abuse in their homes. They ran away to escape the abuse. They spoke about being left no choice but to engage in high-risk behaviour, including shoplifting, hitchhiking or soliciting. They were vulnerable prey for older predators who began “relationships” with them, exchanging sex for access to clothes, food and shelter. Many like the ones I spoke with end up behind bars. </p>
<p>Tragically, the experience of marginalized girls in the U.S. and Canada are eerily similar. The tragic stories of Cyntoia Brown and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/raymond-cormier-trial-verdict-tina-fontaine-1.4542319">Tina Fontaine,</a> a young Indigenous girl whose body was found in the Red River on Aug. 17, 2014, have parallel issues despite the roughly 2,000 kilometres between Nashville and Winnipeg where they lived.</p>
<p>A recent study by the <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/overlooked-women-and-jails-report/legacy_downloads/overlooked-women-and-jails-report-updated.pdf">Vera Institute</a> found that approximately 66 per cent of incarcerated women in the United States are women of colour — and 86 per cent of them have experienced sexual violence, often at the hands of an intimate partner or caretaker. Additionally, 79 per cent of these women care for children. Almost all incarcerated women included in the Vera Institute study lived in poverty.</p>
<p>These findings are confirmed by other <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/2907-are-prisons-obsolete">classic</a> and <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520283039/jacked-up-and-unjust">contemporary</a> research done with incarcerated women. What is staggering is that 82 per cent of women are incarcerated for non-violent offenses like shoplifting or using drugs. </p>
<p>In short, inequality, a lack of essential services and supports geared toward women help contribute to tragedy for so many poor, young women. </p>
<p>Ironically, <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/between-good-and-ghetto/9780813546155">when girls fight back against abuse they are often punished by authorities or others in power</a>. If they run away and are caught by the police they are arrested, incarcerated or often returned to the very home where they experienced abuse. They fight back against the abuse of friends, family or boyfriends they often face more mistreatment or end up behind bars. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250571/original/file-20181213-178570-oy2xui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once incarcerated, they face a slew of interpersonal and institutional forms of abuse. For example, research shows that <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/670771">once young women are incarcerated they face multiple forms of violence behind bars.</a> This includes having to fight other incarcerated individuals, experiencing violence at the hands of guards and being obligated to endure degrading strip searches. Additionally, there has been <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Our+Sisters%27+Keepers.%22+In+Prison+Nation%3A+The+Warehousing+of+America%27s+Poor%2C+by+Tara+Herivel+and+Paul+Wright%2C+258-261.+New+York%3A+Taylor+and+Francis+Books%2C+Inc.%2C+2003.&btnG=">historical patterns</a> of corrections officers sexually abusing incarcerated women. </p>
<p>This puts young women in a difficult position and sheds light on the immense gap in services needed. Research indicates that access to dependable and free transportation to shelters, and other supports, including outreach workers to make connections with them, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1557085117700265">are integral to young women leading healthy and productive lives.</a> </p>
<p>Researchers, politicians and leaders need to address the root issues that hurt poor, young, women in jail. These issues include <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/usmap-state-poverty-rate/">rising poverty</a>, abuse in the home, a lack of social services, inadequate education and the fact that many youth in the wealthiest countries like the U.S. and Canada still do not have access to <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Gender+on+the+run+jerry+flores&oq=gender">three meals a day, a safe home</a>, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-is-canada-denying-its-indigenous-peoples-clean-water/article31599791/">clean water</a> and reliable transportation. </p>
<p>As others have accurately pointed out on social media, white men and women who commit crimes in the U.S. are given lighter sentences compared to people of colour. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-multi-millionaire-sex-offender-settles-suit-apologizes-n943481">Jeffrey Epstein</a>, a 54-year-old accused of trafficking underage girls, received a 13-month prison term. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/13/us/texas-affluenza-ethan-couch/index.html">Brock Turner</a> raped an unconscious woman and was sentenced to six months in jail. Teen <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/02/us/ethan-couch-affluenza-jail-release/index.html">Ethan Couch</a> ran over and killed four people and injured several others while driving drunk and received no jail time. </p>
<p>Tennessee law has changed because of Brown’s case. That means minors can no longer be sentenced to life in prison. But that law did not apply to Brown.</p>
<p>Brown’s case attracted significant public support. The #FreeCyntoiaBrown campaign circulated widely on social media and <a href="https://twitter.com/womensmarch/status/1071579600264802305">there were plans to highlight Brown’s case along with other survivors during the annual Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 19</a>. Coincidentally, that’s also the last day of Haslam’s term as governor.</p>
<p>Granting clemency for Cyntoia Brown was the right thing to do. But there are still other women incarcerated under similar conditions. It’s time we stop punishing young women for defending themselves and address the real issues that lead young women into precarious situations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jerry Flores does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cyntoia Brown has been granted clemency for killing a man when she was a teenager and forced into the sex trade. The case showed why the justice system must stop punishing women for defending themselves.
Jerry Flores, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/106115
2018-11-01T11:48:21Z
2018-11-01T11:48:21Z
Congratulations, you’re ten! Now you can be arrested
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243295/original/file-20181031-122177-qrgtkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burning-candles-242560783?src=SuzQMMXmSlj02G1TOVWgEw-1-61">Pumatokoh/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not so long ago, my then nine-year-old daughter wandered into my office at home. She saw a book on a shelf: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Behind-Bars-Abuse-Imprisonment/dp/1447321537">Children Behind Bars</a> by Carolyne Willow. </p>
<p>“Children Behind Bars, Daddy? What does that mean?!” she exclaimed. I replied that this refers to children under the age of 18 held in prison. She then asked how many children there are in prison in the UK, guessing at 50. “Well, it’s almost 1,000,” I replied. The figure is actually 875 (or 969 if 18-year-olds are included), according to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-custody-data#history">data</a> compiled in August 2018.</p>
<p>My daughter was very surprised at this, and asked me how old these children were. I explained that most are 16 or 17, but some can be younger: as young as ten. This was the last straw: “Ten years old! But I’m nearly ten!” The following month, I congratulated her on her significant birthday – although something stopped me from mentioning the newly acquired eligibility for arrest.</p>
<p>This conversation with my daughter helped remind me of the importance of the issue, and that children often ask some of the most useful questions. The age of criminal responsibility refers to the minimum age that a child can be prosecuted and punished by law for a criminal offence. In England and Wales, this is ten years. (In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility is lower than that in England and Wales at eight years, but since 2010 it is not possible prosecute children below the age of 12: those between eight and 12 can only be dealt with through welfare mechanisms.)</p>
<h2>Ten and a criminal</h2>
<p>By international standards, this age of criminal responsibility is very low, falling below the internationally recommended absolute minimum of 12 years. Excluding the other jurisdictions within the United Kingdom, the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is the lowest in the European Union. It is, for example, 14 years in Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria, and 16 in Portugal and Romania.</p>
<p>And when jurisdictions outside of Europe are considered, England and Wales <a href="http://thenayj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2012-The-Age-of-Criminal-responsibility.pdf">remains an outlier</a>. In Cuba, Chile, the Russian Federation and Hong Kong, the age is 16; in Mongolia, Korea, Azerbaijan and Zambia it is 14; and in Canada, Costa Rica, Lebanon and Turkey, it stands at 12 years. A <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/7996/1/Cross_national_final.pdf">comparison</a> of 90 countries in 2008 for the Youth Justice Board found that the most common age (adopted by around a quarter of the sample) was 14 years.</p>
<p>England and Wales’s low age of criminal responsibility has attracted considerable international criticism from the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/crc/pages/crcindex.aspx">UN Committee on the Rights of the Child</a>. They have suggested that the age should be raised to at least 12 years old and that the government should support the <a href="https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/ageofcriminalresponsibility.html">Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill</a>, introduced by Lord Dholakia in the House of Lords in 2017.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://thenayj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2012-The-Age-of-Criminal-responsibility.pdf">considerable</a> <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473225413492054">evidence</a> <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/files/139101063/Ark_Feature_MACR.pdf">in support</a> of raising the age of criminal responsibility has not influenced policy. Indeed, in 2011 the minister with responsibility for youth justice <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110308/halltext/110308h0001.htm">told parliament</a>: “We have no plans to change the age of criminal responsibility.”</p>
<p>His main argument was that children aged ten are able to distinguish between “bad behaviour and serious wrongdoing”. This may be true for most children. But it is far less clear that children of this age commonly fully understand the consequences that flow from their actions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243444/original/file-20181101-83626-4b1qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is this reasonable?.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-on-pair-hands-child-teenager-665976883?src=sK8F5DxSoctgAbG3C8Lw5w-1-22">Jan H Andersen/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A historical view</h2>
<p>The law has long recognised that young children should not be held responsible for criminal acts. Before the 20th century, children under the age of seven were considered incapable of crime. Those aged seven to 14 years, meanwhile, were considered to be “<em>doli incapax</em>”, or incapable of comprehending the criminal wrongfulness of their actions, unless proven otherwise.</p>
<p>The age of criminal responsibility was raised to eight years in 1933. Then the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 legislated to prohibit the prosecution of any child below the age of 14, following advice from the Ingleby Committee. This legislation also contained a strong presumption against the prosecution of those aged 14-16.</p>
<p>But within a short period, the tide had turned and these provisions were not fully implemented. No government since has given serious consideration to increasing the age of criminal responsibility. There were unhelpful developments in the 1990s following a sustained period of increased police recorded crime, and the associated political rivalry to appear “tough” on crime: the abolition of <em>doli incapax</em> in 1998 effectively exposed children aged ten to 14 to the force of the criminal law. We still live with the consequences of that period and the systemic changes it led to. There is nothing inevitable about this. There has been a rather different direction of travel in Scotland, for example, which this year introduced a bill to raise the age to 12 years.</p>
<p>One of the practical consequences of having such a low age of criminal responsibility is that even younger children can also get caught up in the criminal justice net. An all-party parliamentary enquiry reporting in 2014 on <a href="https://www.ncb.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Policy_docs/appgc_children_and_police_report_-_final.pdf">children and the police</a> found that more than 1,000 children under the age of ten – and some as young as four – had been stopped and searched by the police in England and Wales over the previous five years.</p>
<p>Thankfully, while my daughter is now old enough to be arrested, she hasn’t had any involvement with the police and I sincerely hope that is the way it stays. But for the sake of children in our society more broadly, we need to debate, and change, something as important as the age of criminal responsibility. It says something about who we are as a society and how we treat the most vulnerable. </p>
<p>A low age of criminal responsibility means that we are responding to welfare issues with criminal justice responses, and potentially damaging the prospects of young people and their potential future contributions to society. To some extent, any age we choose is an arbitrary one. But raising the age in line with international requirements, particularly if accompanied by other system changes, would reduce social harm. Children in conflict with the law are among the most vulnerable people in society, even though that is not how they tend to be depicted in mainstream media.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Little is Chair, Board of Trustees, The National Association for Youth Justice.</span></em></p>
Why is the age of criminal responsibility in the UK the lowest in the European Union?
Ross Little, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, De Montfort University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102791
2018-09-28T09:33:27Z
2018-09-28T09:33:27Z
Crime and nourishment – the link between food and offending behaviour
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238145/original/file-20180926-48644-1wzsgtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-boy-eating-hamburger-isolated-on-139151219?src=bu5P-HXo6P54ySIjZiOMgA-1-68">tiverylucky/shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is well known that eating a balanced diet is of vital importance for maintaining good health and well-being. It is also one of the great <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-topics/nutrition">social pleasures of life</a>. Yet, far too many young people in prisons are <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/09/Life-in-prison-Food-Web-2016.pdf">consuming a poor diet</a>, lacking in nutrition. </p>
<p>Alarmingly, research suggests over half of food items available for purchase in some prisons in the UK and <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/03/03/prison-food/">the US</a> are “high in fat or sugar”. It has also been suggested that in the US, prison food has been described as “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/12/prison-food-sickness-america/549179/">scant, joyless, and unsavoury</a>”. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Sant’angelo dei lombardi in Italy is said to have <a href="https://qz.com/654322/inside-the-italian-jail-where-inmates-run-a-typography-and-are-free-to-cook-pasta-at-night/">one of the best fed prisons in the world</a>, where prisoners work to produce organic fruit and vegetables and leave healthier than when admitted.</p>
<p>Poor nutrition can impact on concentration and learning and may result in episodes of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/13/liz-truss-prison-food-jamie-olvier-schools-poor-diet-behaviour">violent or aggressive behaviour</a>. In prison, a bad diet can also contribute to increased rates of poor <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.j1378">mental and physical health</a> compared with the general population. </p>
<p>To tackle this problem, a new UK government strategy aims to provide young people with healthy eating advice on arrival in prison. Inmates up to the age of 21 will be provided with nutritional guidance so they can make “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-6049211/Young-offenders-tips-healthy-eating-Government-drive.html">informed choices</a>” about their diets. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nutritional-psychiatry-is-the-future-of-mental-health-treatment-92545">Why nutritional psychiatry is the future of mental health treatment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Poor diet, aggression and impulsivity</h2>
<p>The amount and nutritional value of food available in prisons and the dietary choices prisoners make has a significant <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/prisons-and-health/focus-areas/nutrition">influence on the quality of a prisoner’s life</a>. Consuming highly processed and sugary foods can lead to sudden peaks and troughs in the amount of glucose in a person’s blood. This can cause fatigue, irritability, dizziness, insomnia and is even a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/27/too-much-sugar-could-increase-depression-risk-in-men-study-suggests">risk factor for depression</a> – particularly in men. It has been shown that a diet of whole foods can offer <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801825/">protection against depression</a>.</p>
<p>Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can lead to a number of issues. For example, low levels of iron, magnesium and zinc can lead to increased anxiety, low mood and poor concentration, leading to attention deficits and sleep disturbance. <a href="https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/DietBehaviourLearningChildren.pdf">Omega 3 is required</a> to improve cognitive functioning. </p>
<p>Recent government policies have recognised the problem of additives and the high sugar content of food, with the introduction of the sugar tax and moves to address the use of colourings, which have been found to have a negative effect on <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/food-additives">behaviour and hyperactivity</a>. A recent example of the UK government’s willingness to intervene in the purchasing decisions of young people is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/29/ban-sale-energy-drinks-to-children-uk-government-combat-obesity">outlawing of energy drink sales</a> to under-16s. </p>
<p>The types of problems associated with a poor diet, such as aggression, attention deficits and hyperactivity can make impulsive behaviour more likely. <a href="http://www.sascv.org/ijcjs/pdfs/higginsetalijcjs2013vol8issue2.pdf">Studies have shown</a> that “high levels of impulsivity are connected with high and stable levels of offending”. </p>
<h2>Addressing the problem</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lucy-vincent/uk-prison-food_b_13276460.html">Lucy Vincent</a> – a freelance journalist with a background in both food and fashion – has started a campaign to address the need for better food in UK prisons. She believes that decent nutrition has the power to positively impact self-esteem, health, learning and development. Young people in prison are likely to have struggled with these issues and providing a better diet is an important step in improving their emotional health and well-being.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cfItENpMSr8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>But there are obvious difficulties in improving the diets of young offenders. For example, Public Health England suggests that providing a balanced diet <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45420295">costs £5.99 per person</a>, per day. Yet some prisons have food budgets as low as <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/09/Life-in-prison-Food-Web-2016.pdf">£1.87 per person, per day</a>. There are obvious economies of scale to take into account, but providing a balanced diet for young offenders would still be a costly exercise – at a time when other parts of the prison service are starved of funds.</p>
<p>With experienced prison officers leaving the service and their remaining colleagues protesting over <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-prison-report-conditions-inspectorate-disturbing-jails-21st-century-a8442111.html">unacceptable levels of violence</a>, improving the diet of young people in prison will be difficult to achieve. </p>
<p>But if the UK is to come close to breaking the cycle of reoffending, it needs to meet the basic needs of young people in prison and respect the basic human right of adequate nutrition. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-6049211/Young-offenders-tips-healthy-eating-Government-drive.html">Government advice for young inmates</a> is one thing, but those in prison need to have healthy food to choose from if they are to have any hope of staying healthy in jail.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Creaney is affiliated with social justice charity Peer Power and Voice for Children. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hazel Flight and John Marsden do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
If the UK is to break the cycle of reoffending, it needs to meet the basic needs of young people in prison and respect the basic human right of adequate nutrition.
Hazel Flight, Programme Lead Nutrition and Health, Edge Hill University
John Marsden, Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy, Edge Hill University
Sean Creaney, Lecturer in Psychosocial Analysis of Offending Behaviour, Edge Hill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98202
2018-06-21T09:48:16Z
2018-06-21T09:48:16Z
Knife crime: I spoke to young people who carry blades – and they want to stop the violence
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223872/original/file-20180619-126556-1h1j22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-attack-knife-guy-hand-wearing-748504666">Shutterstock/diy13</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5853757/Zombie-blades-BANNED-knife-crime-crackdown.html">government crackdown</a> launched in the wake of the UK’s knife crime “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5696507/Britains-knife-crime-epidemic-spreads-Home-Counties-city-gangs-extend-grip.html">epidemic</a>” will target gangs, drugs and ban “zombie blades”. But after a year of speaking to young people up and down the country, I believe the solution is in the hands of children and teenagers themselves. <a href="http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=2&uin=uk.bl.ethos.707054">The people I encountered</a> were intelligent and thoughtful. Young people are, in fact, the front line against knife crime in this country – and they need support.</p>
<p>I interviewed 21 young people who had a conviction for a knife related offence, or were known to have carried a knife. I also conducted focus groups with a total of 67 youths who lived in areas with high levels of violence. I travelled around London and Yorkshire for over a year to do this and spoke to children and teenagers in Youth Offending Service offices, schools, churches and council run youth groups. </p>
<p>My <a href="http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=2&uin=uk.bl.ethos.707054">research</a> found that young people who had carried knives came to deeply regret their behaviour and saw it as both stupid and harmful. Those who had not carried a knife and who did not offend sometimes challenged violence in their schools and streets – but there is little recognition of this in the media or in government policy. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJa2iJ4IlFY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>A lot of media coverage focuses on the most <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5251268/london-stabbings-2018-knife-crime-statistics-harrow-northold-brixton/">extreme incidents</a>: terrible and tragic events that cause severe pain and trauma to individuals, families and communities. But these are not always representative of the problem. Many recorded <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42749089">knife related offences</a> are simply for the carrying of a knife. </p>
<p>Dividing young people into broad categories such as rich and poor, deprived and privileged also causes problems. It ignores the variety of individual circumstances in which they live and neglects the important role of sympathetic friends and adults in helping them to avoid offending.</p>
<p>Carrying a knife often started as a way to avoid becoming a victim and later developed into more dangerous activities such as street robbery and group fighting. Most of the people I spoke to who had carried a knife had been threatened, some on multiple occasions. Some had been attacked and a few had been severely injured. Others had gone to the authorities for help but had largely been ignored. One 17-year-old boy from London told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The one time I went to the police … when I was stabbed … they walked into the house and said how many people done it? I said so and so many people done it from that gang … and they all kind of looked at each other – as if it’s gang affiliated or whatever isn’t it? So they didn’t really care. But if it was just a normal person … they’d have taken it a lot more serious.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Taking responsibility</h2>
<p>But at the same time, many took responsibility for their own actions and were very aware of the risks of carrying knives. Of course, going to prison – or the threat of prison – certainly encouraged a lot of them to stop offending. But for more than half of the people I spoke to, simply growing up played a vital role. Building or renewing relationships with sympathetic peers and adults was also important. When I asked one 15-year-old boy from Yorkshire if he was still involved in gangs and knife carrying, he responded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No, no, no … left it behind … I had a preacher for a teacher. He was always pushing me on the right thing, challenged me, do this, do that … it’s people that push you. The environment changes, if you’re around positive people you’re going to be positive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those towards the other end of the spectrum who were living in or near to areas classed as “deprived” – but who were not involved in crime – were very knowledgeable about knives. Sometimes their friends had carried knives, usually out of a fear of victimisation. The decision not to carry a knife was often easier because of support from family and friends. This meant they were able to take a position between sympathy for, and objection to, knife carrying. As one young man from the Yorkshire focus group put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He pulled a knife out … I actually stood there and went “go on” … and he was like shaking … That’s why I just walked off … He’s my age, 14 … He said sorry though, he was alright about it … He was just a bit mad at the time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others actively challenged knife carrying among their social groups. In doing so they frequently benefited from the support of wise and skilled adults working in local government and charities. These adults were able to bring them together, build self esteem and show them that, even though they lived in difficult circumstances, they could still act with dignity and restraint.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1007917226207469570"}"></div></p>
<h2>No easy answers</h2>
<p>Services for young people were being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/05/cut-youth-services-violent-crime-sure-start-child-tax-credits">ruthlessly cut</a> at the time of my research. It will be interesting to see if the government’s new <a href="https://violenceandpolicy.co.uk/2018/06/15/the-serious-violence-strategy-upstream-or-downstream-on-knives/">Serious Violence Strategy</a> makes good on its promise to provide more funds for such activities. </p>
<p>I didn’t answer all of the questions posed by knife carrying but I gained some insight into a complex problem. It is important to recognise that many young people do not offend and often find themselves trying to resist and confront those who carry knives.</p>
<p>Part of the answer is to provide more support to them and their families. Support needs to be broadened to better catch those who fall through the cracks and end up doing stupid and violent things, which most will ultimately come to regret.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Traynor received funding for his research on knife crime from the Economic and Social Research Council. He is a (lapsed) member of the Labour Party and a sometime attendee of the West Yorkshire Guns Gangs and Weapons Forum. </span></em></p>
There are no easy answers when it comes to tackling knife crime but young people must be at the centre of any possible solution.
Peter Traynor, Senior Research Assistant: Policy Research and Evaluation Unit, Manchester Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.