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Violent offending by young people in New Zealand:
perception versus reality
Presented by:
Dr Anna Duncan, Senior Advisor, Youth Justice Team
Leigh McPhail, Advisor , Youth Justice Team
Zoey Caldwell, Advisor, Youth Justice Team
2
Presentation overview
• Media portrayals
• Statistical overview
• Public perceptions
• Implications for practice
• What are your experiences?
3
“If it bleeds it leads!”
• Media portrayals are conveyed in newspapers / TV / radio / video / books and the internet
• Content analyses show that media are saturated with accounts of crime, control and criminal justice
• A Canadian study found that half of newspaper and TV news coverage and two-thirds of radio items were focused on crime, deviance and control
• Media portrayals of crime differ from the picture portrayed by official crime statistics
• Media tend to focus on individual cases without examining the broader context of offending
4
Examples of media headlines
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Effects of media portrayals
• Foster moral panics
• Construct crime waves
• Selected nature of crime reporting tends to play on public fears
• Long-running and controversial debate on whether violence in the media ‘causes’ violent behaviour
• Increase in reality and forensic drama has blurred lines between crime news and crime entertainment
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Statistical overview: Police apprehensions
Apprehensions of 14-16 year olds
1997 2006
Total apprehensions 31,027 30,451
Violence apprehensions 3,156 4,655
Proportion of total 10% 15%
Raw # of youth violence apprehensions ↑ 47.5% in last 10 years
Youth violence apprehension rate (population adjusted) ↑ 25.3%
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Statistical overview: violence apprehension rates
Violence apprehension rate per 10,000 population, by age group, 1997 to 2006
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year
Ap
pre
hen
sio
n r
ate
0-9
10-13
14-16
17-20
21-30
31-50
51-99
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Statistical overview: violence apprehension rates by offence type
Police apprehension rate of 14-16 year olds for violence per 10,000 population, by offence type, 1997 to 2006
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year
Homicide
KidnappingAnd Abduction
Robbery
GrievousAssaults
SeriousAssaults
Minor Assaults
IntimidationAnd Threats
GroupAssemblies
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Statistical overview: prosecutions for violence offences
• In 2006, there were 6,202 prosecuted cases
involving young people (a 5% increase from
2004)
• 24% of these cases involved violence offences
• Outcomes of these cases:
– 7% - Convicted in District or High Court
– 27% - Proved in Youth Court
– 27% - s.282 discharge
– 39% - Not proved
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Statistical overview: self-report data
• Youth 2000 survey: Violence and NZ young people
– 49% of male students and 32% of female students reported that they had physically hurt someone else, on purpose, in the last year
– 28% of males and 15% of females reported being in a serious physical fight in the last year
– 9% of males and 3% of females reported carrying a weapon (e.g. a knife) in the last year
– 3% of males and 1% of females reported using a weapon in the last year
– Students who were victims of violence were more likely to be the perpetrators of violence
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Public perceptions of youth offending
• Public perceptions and understandings of youth offending and youth justice are largely informed by the media
• Public knowledge of trends in youth offending and of youth justice systems is poor
• Opinion polls show that many people:
– over-estimate the amount and seriousness of youth offending
– think youth justice systems and sentencing practice are too lenient
– favour punitive responses to youth offending
• However, opinion polls ask simple questions that provide little context, which tend to evoke quite punitive responses
• More in-depth research, where people are given more information about specific cases, evoke less punitive responses favouring prevention and rehabilitation
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Implications for practice
• Risk factors for violent offending include:
- Behavioural difficulties e.g. conduct
disorder
- Mental and other health related issues
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Being a victim of violence
• Good assessment is crucial to determining
appropriate intervention
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What are your experiences?
• Are your caseloads for violent offences
increasing?
• What kinds of violence are you seeing?
• What do you think are the drivers of the
increase in youth apprehensions for violence?
• What kinds of responses are needed?
- Locally?
- Nationally?
• Any other thoughts?
14
References
Dowler, K., Fleming, T. & Muzzatti, S. (2006) Constructing crime: media, crime, and popular culture. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, October 2006 , Vol 48, No 6 pp837-850.
Doyle, A. (2006) How not to think about crime in the media. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, October 2006 , Vol 48, No 6 pp837-850.
Fleming, T.M., Watson, P.D., Robinson, E., Ameratunga, S., Dixon, R., Clark, T.C., Crengle, S. (2007) Violence and New Zealand Young People: Findings of Youth 2000 – A National Secondary School Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey. Auckland: The University of Auckland.
Hough, M. & Roberts, J.V. (2004) Youth crime and youth justice: public opinion in England and Wales. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Maxwell, G. (1999) Youth offending: putting the headlines in context. www.justice.govt.nz?youth/media/rates1099.html accessed on 18 June 2007.
Moffitt, T.E., Silva, P.A., Lynam, D.R., Henry, B. (1994) Self-reported delinquency at age 18: New Zealand’s Dunedin Multi-Disciplinary Health and Development Study. In J. Junger-Tas & G.J. Terlouw (Eds.) The International self-report delinquency project (pp. 356-371). Den Haag; Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands.
Nacro (2001) Youth Crime Briefing: Public opinion and youth justice. London: Nacro.
Roberts, J.V. (2004) Public Opinion and the Evolution of Juvenile Justice Policy in Western Nations. In: M. Tonry and A. Doob (eds.) Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Comparative and Cross-National Perspectives. Crime and Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Soler, M. (2001) Public Opinion on Youth, Crime and Race: A guide for advocates. United States: Youth Law Centre
Police official statistics. www.stats.govt.nz
Youth Court statistics. www.justice.govt.nz
For further information or discussion please feel free to contact us:
Dr Anna Duncan – [email protected](currently on parental leave)
Leigh McPhail – [email protected] Caldwell – [email protected]
www.justice.govt/youth-justice/
