Indigenous Perpetrators of Violence: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Offending

• NCJ Number: 230387
• Author(s): Joy Wundersitz
• Date Published: April 2010
• Length: 129 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: AIC Reports Research and Public Policy Series 105

Annotation

This report focuses on Indigenous perpetrators of violence, in Australia in an attempt to quantify the prevalence and nature of violent behavior, and examines empirical evidence on the relationship between violence and its associated risk factors.

Abstract

This report confirms that, according to both police apprehension data and self-report surveys, the rate of violent offending by Indigenous persons is consistently higher than that of non-Indigenous persons, with Indigenous males being strongly overrepresented in these figures. Levels of recidivism among violent Indigenous offenders were also disproportionately high while, conversely, the time taken to recidivate was disproportionately low. Indigenous violence seems to be linked, either directly or indirectly, to a broad range of factors, such as gender, age, Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander identity, alcohol consumption, childhood experiences of abuse, exposure to pornography, indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage, and mental and physical health. Its primary aim is twofold: 1) to provide data on the prevalence and nature of Indigenous violent offending and 2) to summarize the empirical evidence pertinent to the risk factors for Indigenous violence. Tables, figures, references, and appendixes A-B