Abstract | Introduction | Method | Results | Conclusion | References | Appendix 1 Area data | Appendix 2 Raw data
Abstract
Comparisons of offending by young people over time and across areas has been bedevilled by the lack of appropriate statistics. Recent changes to recording systems have now made it possible to use data on Youth Court appearances to compare rates of offending over time and by sex, ethnicity and area. This report describes a methodology for making these comparisons and sets out the relevant data from 1988 to 2001.
The results show that rates of Youth Court appearances dropped markedly with the introduction of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, but have risen slightly over the subsequent ten years. These rises are consistent with increases in the number and seriousness of all offending in New Zealand. Differences between girls and boys and as a function of ethnicity are described and discussed. Data is also presented for 16 main Youth Court areas, showing how each area compares to the national average in terms of cases and in patterns of reappearances in the same court in the same year. Such data can be used in future to explore the impact of local practice on numbers of Youth Court referrals and offender reappearances.
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