Repeat Juvenile Offenders

REPEAT JUVENILE OFFENDERS: THE FAILURE OF SELECTIVE INCAPACITATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA (2nd edn)

Edited by Richard W Harding

CONTENTS

1. Problems, Responses and Evaluations: A Conspectus of this Report
   1. Background
   2. Overview of the Report
      • Chapter 2: Carnage on the Road
      • Chapter 3: Subverting Criminal Justice
      • Chapter 4: The Phantom of Deterrence
      • Chapter 5: Crime and Justice Trends, 1990-1992
      • Chapter 6: Release
      • Chapter 7: Human Rights
      • Chapter 8: The Past Impact and the Future Likely Significance of International Standards
      • Chapter 9: Debasing the Issues and Lost Opportunity Costs
   3. Conclusion
2. The Courts Respond to the 'Carnage on Our Roads'
   1. Introduction: The 1992 Legislation
      • Redefining Offences and Increasing Statutory Maxima
      • Judicial Interpretation
      • Double Punishment
      • Summary
   2. Before the New Legislation: the Evolution of Sentencing Principle and Practice
      • The 1970s and 1980s
      • 1990-1991: The Tide Turns
      • 1992-1993: Responding to the 'Hard Core' Offenders
   3. Issues Arising from the Court of Criminal Appeal's Response
      • The Need for Other Strategies
      • Credit for Time in Custody
      • Deterrence and Prevalence
      • Constructing a Proportional Sentence
      • Truth in Sentencing and Early Release Mechanisms
      • Multiple Offenders and the Totality Principle
      • Victim Impact Statements
   4. Conclusion
3. The Sentencing Act 1992: Subverting Criminal Justice
   1. Introduction
   2. The Sentencing Act
      • General Description
      • The 'Triggering Conditions'
      • Sentencing Juveniles under the Schedule 3 Guidelines
      • Repeat Violent Offenders
   3. Conclusions
4. Selective Incapacitation and the Phantom of Deterrence
   1. The Crime (Serious and Repeat Offenders) Sentencing Act 1992
      • Sentencing Guidelines
      • Mandatory Indeterminate Detention
      • Contrary to Sentencing Principle
   2. Breaches of Human Rights
   3. Critique of the Claim to Effect Selective Incapacitation
      • False Positives, False Negatives and Exposure Time
      • Estimating the Number of 'High Risk' Juvenile Offenders
      • Prevalence of Juvenile Offending: Participation Rates in SA
   4. The Effect of the Act: Deterrence, Incapacitation or Both?
      • Changes in Official Records of Crime
      • Detection and Deterrence: A Relationship?
      • Other Factors
      • Policing a Juvenile 'Crime Wave'
   5. Conclusion

   References

5. Trends in Juvenile Crime and Justice, 1990-1992
   1. Introduction
   2. Data Sources
   3. Juvenile Offenders - Demographic Features
   4. Juvenile Offences
   5. Outcome and Penalties for Convicted Juveniles
   6. Juvenile Detention - Interstate Comparisons
   7. Recidivism of Juvenile Offenders
   8. Discussion: Cautioning and Diversion
   9. Conclusion

   References

6. Conditional Release from Indeterminate Sentences: Executive and Judicial Roles and Practices
   1. Introduction
   2. The Parole Board and Indeterminate Sentences
      • The Board's General Role
      • Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners
      • The Sentencing Act
   3. The Supreme Court's Power to Release Juveniles
      • The Constitutional Position
      • The Procedure and Practice of the Supreme Court
   4. Conclusion
7. A Human Rights Perspective
   1. Introduction
   2. Australia's International Obligations
      • Binding Provisions
      • Other International Standards
   3. Mandatory Indeterminate Custody
   4. Minimum Juvenile Justice Standards
      • Detention a Sentence of Last Resort
      • For the Shortest Appropriate Time
      • Must Not be Arbitrary
      • Must be Proportionate
      • Must be Capable of Review
   5. Conclusion
8. The Impact of International Standards upon the Law Making Process
   1. Introduction
   2. The Background
   3. The Proposed New Laws
   4. The Reaction: Justice Issues Coalesce and International Standards Enter the Agenda
      • Best Interests of the Offender
      • Social Conditions
      • The Target Group and Data Deficiencies
      • Selective Incapacitation and the 'Recruitment' Effect
      • Discrimination against Aborigines
      • Police Practices and High Speed Pursuits
   5. The Status of United Nations Instruments in Australian and Western Australian Law
   6. Measuring the Proposed Legislation Against the Yardstick of International Standards
   7. The Subsequent Debate: Invoking International Standards
   8. Evaluating the Impact of the UN Instruments
   9. Conclusion

   References

9. Opportunity Costs: Alternative Strategies for the Prevention and Control of Juvenile Crime
1. Introduction
2. The Epidemiology of Youth Crime
3. Crime Prevention and Control
   • Social Crime Prevention Programs
   • Situational Crime Prevention
   • Police Practices and Policies
   • Restorative Justice Model
   • Restoration of Self-Esteem
4. Alternative Juvenile Programs

Published November 1993
Price AUD $22.00 (incl gst)
ISBN 0-86422-298-X

Please send orders to crime.research@uwa.edu.au or post to The Crime Research Centre, C/- The University of Western Australia, 14 Parkway, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6907