NCJ Number
162953
Journal
Justice Matters Issue: 1 Dated: (April 1996) Pages: 1-3
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Offending by children in New Zealand and the desirability of lowering the age of criminal responsibility was examined by means of interagency research initiated in 1994.
Abstract
The analysis revealed that a relatively small number of child offenders ages 10-13 were likely to be identified in any year. Few have been involved in very serious offenses, although many have been chronic offenders. Eighty-six percent were experiencing problems in school; 76 percent of their parents were not able to cope; 60 percent had experienced trauma such as abuse, neglect, or domestic assault; and 48 percent of the families had a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Forty-two percent of the children had a history of running away, 38 percent were known to have lived in families with a history of criminal involvement, 72 percent had a history of involvement with the Children and Youth Persons Service, and 80 percent had at least three adverse background factors. Findings indicate that court procedures and orders would be unlikely to overcome the problems of disadvantage and lack of suitable services. Recommendations included leaving the age of criminal responsibility as it is now, developing a protocol for sharing information on child offenders between the police and the child welfare agency, development of a protocol for accepting referrals of child offenders for family group conferences, and a checklist for police use in recording information on the family background of child offenders. Additional recommendations