Youth Court Offending Rates

Abstract | Introduction | Method | Results | Conclusion | References | Appendix 1 Area data | Appendix 2 Raw data

Results

Youth Court national data

Figure 1 presents data on the rates for all offenders appearing in the Youth Court from 1988 to 2001 by graphing the rate per 10,000 young people (10-16 years) of distinct cases and distinct offenders in each year.
Figure 1 Rates per 10,000 aged 10–16 years of charges, distinct cases and distinct offenders in the Youth Court for the June/July years 1987 to 2001.

The data in Figure 1 show that the rates of charges, distinct cases and distinct young people
appearing in the Youth Court decreased considerably from 1988 to 1991, following the
introduction of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. The rate of
charges dropped by about 60%, the rate of distinct cases decreased to less than a quarter of the
number prior to the Act, and the rate of offenders appearing dropped to less than a third of the
previous rate. In terms of numbers as well as rates, it is clear that the greatest decrease occurred in the number of charges being laid.

Since 1991 there has been a rise in the rates of charges, distinct cases and distinct offenders
but these rises do not in any way reach the levels prior to the introduction of the 1989 Act. In
the year 2000 compared with 1991, rates of charges had increased by 61%, distinct case rates
by 58% and distinct offenders by 48%. As with the earlier drop, the amount of change is
greatest in the rate at which charges are laid and least when distinct offenders are considered.
It is possible that the greater changes with relation to charges could be accounted for by
changes in Police charging practice over the period.[3]

Youth Court national data by sex

Figures 2 and 3 graph the rates per 10,000 young people for each year of distinct cases and distinct offenders in each year by sex.

Figure 2 Rates of distinct cases per 10,000 boys and girls aged 14-16 years for 1988-2001 in all Youth Court areas.

Figure 3 Rates of distinct offenders per 10,000 boys and girls aged 14-16 years for 1988-2001 in all Youth Court areas.

The data in Figures 2 and 3 show a similar overall pattern for both boys and girls: rates dropped markedly for both cases and offenders with the introduction of new legislation but, since 1991, rates have gradually increased to about double the 1991 figure.

However, boys appear in the Youth Court at a significantly higher rate and have a higher ratio of distinct cases to distinct offenders than girls. The data for boys show a gradual increase between 1991 and 2001 by nearly 50% in both rate of cases (from 11 257 to 399) and rate of distinct offenders (from 214 to 322). For girls the differences in the number of cases compared to offenders (see Figure 3) is generally smaller indicating that girls, not only offend less often, but that they are also less likely to reappear in the same court in the same year compared to boys. This pattern remained fairly consistent over the entire period.

Youth Court national data by ethnicity

The patterns of changes in rates of distinct cases are similar across all ethnicities in showing major decreases from 1988 until 1991. Data show that European [4] rates of distinct cases (see Figure 4) nearly double over the following 10 years (78 cases to 150 cases per 10,000 population).

Figure 4 Rates of distinct cases per 10,000 European, Maori and Pacific youth aged 14-16 years for 1988-2001 in all Youth Court areas.

This pattern is repeated for Maori rates, except that the rates are much higher in every year. In 1991 the rate (432 cases) was over four times the European rate, and the rate of cases (618) in 2001 was just over four times the rate for European.

For Pacific young people, the pattern is somewhat different from 1991 to 2001. The biggest increase in rates occurred from 1991 to 1993 (a rate of 197 to 292 cases per 10,000 Pacific young people) with a fluctuating pattern from 1998 to 2001. Overall the rate of cases involving Pacific young people is approximately twice the rate for European young people but only about half the rate of Maori.

Figure 5 Rates of distinct offenders per 10,000 European, Maori and Pacific youth aged 14-16 years for 1988-2001 in all Youth Court areas.

Comparisons of distinct offenders for each year and each ethnicity are set out in Figure 5. These data show identical patterns for distinct offenders to that for distinct cases. Over all years, the rate for Maori young people is approximately four times that for European young people and twice that for Pacific Island young people.

Youth Court area data

Figures A1a-A16a in Appendix 1 set out the rates of distinct cases and distinct offenders for each Youth Court area from 1988 to 2001. Detailed numbers of cases and offenders for the years 1988-2001 for each Youth Court area are set out in the Appendix 1 Tables A1-A16, along with data on the population in each Youth Court area for that year. These data have been analysed and graphed in these different ways.

Distinct cases and distinct offenders by area

The Figures labelled a) that describe the rates per 10,000 young people of distinct cases and distinct offenders can be compared with Figure 7 below, which presents the same data for the whole country drawn to the same scale.

Figure 6 Rates of distinct cases and distinct offenders per 10,000 population aged 14-16 years for 1988-2001 in all Youth Court areas.

From 1991 the graphs show a pattern developing where areas have either:

a) doubled their rates of cases and/or rates of offenders, or
b) show a noticeable increase, although not a doubling of the rates, or
c) show little change or stable rates of cases and offenders.

The Youth Court areas where the rate of distinct cases in 2001 was double those in 1991 were in Northland, Christchurch, Otago and Southland. Areas that saw increases in 2001 from 1991 rates were Greater Auckland, Central Plateau, East Coast, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Greater Wellington and Nelson/Manawatu. Those areas where rates from 1991 had remained relatively stable for the last 10 years were Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay and the West Coast.

he Youth Court areas where the rate of offenders in 2001 were double those of their 1991 rate were Northland, Taranaki, Christchurch and Southland. Areas that saw increases in 2001 from 1991 rates were Greater Auckland, Central Plateau, East Coast, Waikato, Wanganui, Manawatu, Greater Wellington Nelson/Manawatu, West Coast and Otago. Those areas where rates from 1991 had remained relatively stable for the last 10 years were Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay.

Comparing distinct cases and distinct offenders by area

For each area, a Figure b) graphs changes in rates of cases in a slightly different way. These graphs compare the rate of cases from 1988 to 2001 as a percentage of the national average rate of cases in each year. In each figure, the national average is drawn as a straight line.

These graphs show a variety of patterns:

a) The rate of cases is usually below the national average: Greater Auckland, Manawatu, Nelson, West Coast.
b) The rate of cases is usually above the national average: Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau, East Coast.
c) The rate of cases has risen over time compared to the national average: Northland, Taranaki, Greater Christchurch, Southland.
d) Rate of cases has declined over time compared to the national average: Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui.

In addition, the rate of cases has risen and then declined in Greater Wellington, while the opposite has occurred in Otago.

Ratio of cases to offenders by area

The final group of graphs for each area compare the data on cases with the data on offenders. The bigger the difference between cases and offenders, the more reappearances will have occurred in a particular court for a particular person in the same year. These data have been expressed as a ratio of cases to offenders (WYRR) and graphed for each area against the total ratio of cases to offenders for all areas. (Figures A1c-A16c).

Several areas are fairly similar to the main pattern; for example, Greater Auckland, Central Plateau, Manawatu, Wellington and Otago. Two areas, Christchurch and Southland, show a generally higher rate of reoffending than for the total over all areas. Northland, however, showed less reoffending overall compared to the total over all areas. Wanganui showed some fluctuation with somewhat more reoffending in some years compared to others.

Two areas, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, showed more reoffending in the early years after the introduction of the Act, but in more recent years are similar to the overall pattern. On the other hand, Taranaki and Hawkes Bay show a pattern where the ratio of cases to offenders is rising, possibly indicating more reoffending. The remaining areas have relatively small numbers of cases, and differences from the overall pattern are therefore unlikely to be significant.

In general, one might expect that the large urban areas where there tends to be more serious offending, would show higher rates of Youth Court cases and offenders. That this is not always so could be a function of two factors. First, where the relative population of Maori is high in areas without very large population cases, this could explain why figures are sometimes similar to or greater than the national average. Another important factor is undoubtedly patterns of Police practice; in some areas at some points in time, Police charge more relatively non-serious cases to the Youth Court rather than referring them directly for a family group conference (Maxwell et al 2002a).

Footnote

3 For example, the reports by Maxwell et al (2002a) and b)) on Achieving Effective Outcomes in Youth Justice and Police Youth Diversion shows that Police Practice in laying charges in the Youth Court (compared to referring for a diversionary family group conference) varies across the country and over time in particular areas.

4 The data referred here as “European” also includes all other who are not classified as “Maori”
or “Pacific Island” on the Youth Court statistics.