NCJ Number
214429
Date Published
February 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of police cautioning on subsequent juvenile offending among two birth cohorts in Australia.
Abstract
Results indicated that the majority of juvenile offenders (69 percent) who received a police caution following their first juvenile offense were less likely to have subsequent juvenile justice contact before the age of 17 years than their counterparts who were brought before a court. Other findings revealed that cautioned males (36 percent) were nearly twice as likely as cautioned females (22 percent) to have re-contact with the juvenile justice system. In fact, sex, age, and maltreatment were found to be significant risk factors for re-contact with the juvenile justice system. Maltreated youth were nearly four times more likely to have re-contact with the juvenile justice system following a police caution than their peers who had not been maltreated. The authors conclude that diverting youth away from the juvenile court system is likely an efficient means of responding to young people who have committed their first juvenile offense. This research was part of a larger study that examined the link between child maltreatment and juvenile offending in Australia. The study collected data from three Queensland Government administrative databases on all juvenile justice contacts by children born in 1983 and 1984. A total of 14,730 children in these 2 birth cohorts were cautioned between the ages of 10 and 16; the analysis is based on these children and utilized logistic regression analysis to examine the main research questions. Limitations of the research include its failure to follow youth beyond the age of 17 years. Followup research should focus on uncovering the relationship between juvenile offender cautioning, court appearances, and subsequent adult offending. Figure, table, references