Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Youth crime is a major concern to authorities. It has been proven that people who commit their first offence younger are more likely to become career criminals. Therefore there is increasing emphasis on ensuring that young offenders are rehabilitated effectively.

Title: What Works in Reducing Young People's Involvement in Crime?
Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
Date Published: December 2002
Number of Pages: 61

This report aims to provide an overview of the current knowledge of what works in reducing offending in young people. The main section of the report focuses on what can be done to reduce youth offending and identifies interventions and programmes that can address this problem.

Although this is an Australian report, the findings are still very relevant in the UK. It compares the youth justice systems for developed countries and found that most are similar, the emphasis being on the offence committed rather than the offender.

The report examined a cross section of literature relating to the subject in order to establish which types of interventions are most effective. It found that if targeted correctly the following types of treatment worked best.

• Social Competence Training Programs - These help young people interact better with society, helping them to develop a more positive attitude.

• Programs that Divert from Custody - Mediation can break young people out of their offending lifestyle.

• Education-type Programs - Keeping young people in education has been shown to be effective in reducing delinquency and crime

• Mentoring Programs - These are shown to have positive short term results, however there is insufficient research to evaluate how successful they are long term.

• Comprehensive Programs - Comprehensive programs provide a holistic approach by using different interventions targeted at a number of different risk behaviours. This approach appears to be effective in reducing offending, however it is important to remember that removing a young person from their familiar environment and providing no aftercare when they return to the community has little effect.

• Recreational Programs - These programs can have a small effect in the short term.

• Programs Target Specific Groups - Targeting certain groups has been successful in the past when the program has been tailored to the setting & needs of that group.

Summary

The report finds that generally, programs targeted at the needs of individuals appear more effective. Finding the right program for young offenders is important so that the risk factors and problem behaviours can be addressed. In general the following principles are important:

• Programs addressing many risk factors have a greater effect.

• Programs that work across social settings can impact of the whole of someone's life, therefore these can have a more success than programs concentrating on just one area.

• Programs that alter the way a young person thinks and acts are particularly effective.

• Programs containing skill-based components can help offenders reintegrate into the community.

• School based programs which emphasise behavioural skills are effect. Young people not in school have are at much higher risk of delinquency.

• Programs should be culturally specific.

Download a copy of the report "What Works in Reducing Young People's Involvement in Crime?" PDF 2.5MB click here 

Thanks to the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN) for highlighting this publication.