Examining adult-onset offending: a case for adult cautioning

This paper argues that extending formal police cautioning to include first-time, less serious adult-onset offenders is a cost-effective strategy that would enable scarce criminal justice resources to be redirected to provide evidence-based interventions for more serious and prolific offenders who present an ongoing risk of offending. Foreword Very little is known about adult-onset offenders. This makes it difficult to know the most effective way for the criminal justice system to respond to these offenders. This project examined the nature of adult-onset offending in the 1983–84 Queensland Longitudinal Data Cohort and explored whether adult cautioning may be a suitable and cost-effective alternative to current court processing. Half of all offenders in this cohort started offending in adulthood (between 18 and 25 years), however, most adult-onset offenders had just one or two relatively less serious officially recorded offences. The authors argue that extending formal police cautioning to include first-time, less serious adult-onset offenders is a cost-effective strategy that would enable scarce criminal justice resources to be redirected to provide evidence-based interventions for more serious and prolific offenders who present an ongoing risk of offending

From Childhood System Contact to Adult Criminal Conviction: Investigating Intersectional Inequalities using Queensland Administrative Data

It is well known that youth justice contact is associated with criminal conviction in adulthood. What is less well understood is whether ‘cross-over’ children, who have contact with both child welfare and youth justice systems, experience relatively worse outcomes and, if so, whether these outcomes vary by important demographic factors, such as sex and race. Criminal careers scholars have examined patterns of adult convictions for different groups, but attempts to understand intersectional variation in these outcomes have been constrained by limitations of standard statistical analysis. Using administrative data from the Queensland Cross-sector Research Collaboration, we adopt a flexible regression model specification to explore the cumulative effects of both child welfare and youth justice contact on adult conviction trajectories, and how these associations vary by sex and Indigenous status. We find clear evidence across all demographic groups that contact with both justice and welfare systems in childhood is associated with increased likelihood and severity of conviction trajectories in adulthood. The cumulative effect of cross-over status results in greater equity of negative outcomes across groups, although the conviction profile is worst for Indigenous men. Evidence of an additional inequality is present only for non-Indigenous women, who have the lowest likelihood of conviction overall. We conclude that while cross-over children are at elevated risk of conviction in adulthood, the nature and seriousness of their conviction pathways is conditional on pre-existing intersectional inequalities. The model specification used is a promising method by which to explore the existence of such inequalities

Not all dimensions of work self-efficacy are equal: Understanding the role of tertiary work placements in the development of the elements of work self-efficacy

This paper examines the relationship between a final year tertiary work placement for criminology students at Griffith University in Brisbane and the development of their work self-efficacy. Using a work self-efficacy instrument developed by Professor Joe Raelin at Northeastern University in Boston, a pilot phase in 2006 and a larger study in 2007 investigated the students’ responses across seven self-efficacy factors of learning, problem-solving, teamwork, sensitivity, politics, pressure, and role expectations. Both studies utilised a pre- and post-test and comparisons between these indicated that they believed their abilities to participate constructively in their professional work contexts significantly improved as a result of their placement experience except in the areas of learning, teamwork and sensitivity. This finding will allow us to continue to refine the processes of work placements in order to ensure the integrity of this method for student learning

Who is responsible for child maltreatment?

Hurren Paterson, EJ ORCiD: 0000-0001-5135-5790Ensuring that children are safe and cared for is a priority for government. The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009-2020 emphasises the need for interventions to be appropriately timed and to target the risk factors for child maltreatment. While most existing interventions in child protection focus on the family, there is a need to understand more about those responsible for child maltreatment over their life course, to inform prevention activities. This study explores whether different groups of maltreaters can be identified based on their frequency of contact with child protection agencies. It also explores differences among individuals identified as responsible for harm across age, gender, Indigenous status, relationship with victim and harm type. Findings suggest the need for effective interventions targeted at Indigenous people and individuals who have multiple contacts with child protection authorities. The study highlights the need for a greater understanding of the life-course experiences of people found responsible for child maltreatment. This information will enable more effective interventions that efficiently target the risks and needs of those responsible for child maltreatment to ensure the safety of children in their care. © 2016 Australian Institute of Criminology. All rights reserved

sj-docx-1-cjb-10.1177_00938548241234373 – Supplemental material for Offending Trajectories in an Australian Birth Cohort: Differences and Similarities Across Sex

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-cjb-10.1177_00938548241234373 for Offending Trajectories in an Australian Birth Cohort: Differences and Similarities Across Sex by Aydan Kuluk, Troy Allard, Carleen Thompson, James M. Ogilvie and Lisa Broidy in Criminal Justice and Behavior</p

Supplemental Material - Intergenerational (Dis)continuity of Child Maltreatment: Variation by Parents’ Childhood Victimization Experiences and Sex

Supplemental Material for Intergenerational (Dis)continuity of Child Maltreatment: Variation by Parents’ Childhood Victimization Experiences and Sex by Emma F. McKenzie, Carleen M. Thompson, Emily Hurren, Stacy Tzoumakis, and Anna Stewart in Child Maltreatment</p

Who are the perpetrators of child maltreatment?

This is the first large longitudinal study in Australia focused on the perpetrators of child maltreatment. The study explored maltreatment perpetration by a cohort of individuals born in 1983 and 1984. The data were administrative records regarding individuals’ (N=3,217) substantiated contacts with the Queensland child protection system as perpetrators from the age of 10 to 30 years. Results provide a life-course profile of maltreatment perpetrators and illustrate considerable perpetration heterogeneity with reference to age, gender, race, perpetrator-victim relationships and maltreatment characteristics. Meaningful proportions of individuals had multiple victims, and multiple contacts with the child protection system, indicating many opportunities for intervention. The heterogeneity of maltreatment pathways over time means that interventions could potentially be targeted based on the diverse characteristics of perpetrators and their maltreatment. Indigenous Australians were markedly overrepresented as maltreatment perpetrators, highlighting the need to ensure that interventions are appropriate, accessible and effective for Indigenous Australians. There is an ongoing need for additional longitudinal research using perpetrators as the unit of analysis