Finding the pathways to crime prevention for socially disadvantaged communities: theory, evidence and practice. Long-term scientific evaluations of interventions that 'get in early' before crime problems emerge or become entrenched have consistently shown that such approaches work. However, governments and community agencies struggle to use this evidence to mount effective programs in areas of concentrated disadvantage because the evidence comes in the form of 'program packages' rather than mode ....Finding the pathways to crime prevention for socially disadvantaged communities: theory, evidence and practice. Long-term scientific evaluations of interventions that 'get in early' before crime problems emerge or become entrenched have consistently shown that such approaches work. However, governments and community agencies struggle to use this evidence to mount effective programs in areas of concentrated disadvantage because the evidence comes in the form of 'program packages' rather than models of practice that take account of local contexts and the challenges involved in achieving effective and sustainable engagement with local people and institutions. This project will show how models of effective crime prevention practice for disadvantaged communities can be developed, tested and implemented on a large scale in an economically efficient way.Read moreRead less
Interactions between Young People and the Police: Developing Strategies for 'Best Practice'. Youth typically hold a negative perception of police producing conflict and problematic interactions. The impact of such negative interactions is greater risk to youth and police, lower confidence in the police, and reluctance to complain about police misconduct. An effective relationship between police and young people is vital to promote efficient and smooth conduct of law and order, and to create h ....Interactions between Young People and the Police: Developing Strategies for 'Best Practice'. Youth typically hold a negative perception of police producing conflict and problematic interactions. The impact of such negative interactions is greater risk to youth and police, lower confidence in the police, and reluctance to complain about police misconduct. An effective relationship between police and young people is vital to promote efficient and smooth conduct of law and order, and to create healthier, safer communities. Our aim is to develop best practice strategies for police service delivery and for the processing of complaints against police. An intervention to promote more successful and positive police-youth interactions will be trialed and evaluated.Read moreRead less
What about the children? A study of the intergenerational consequences of paternal incarceration. Parental incarceration may have a profound and detrimental effect on children, heightening risk of offending and extreme disadvantage. The proportion of children affected is certain to increase as prison populations continue to grow. This research will identify policies and prevention strategies that will interrupt the cycle of disadvantage for children of prisoners and prevent social exclusion. Sig ....What about the children? A study of the intergenerational consequences of paternal incarceration. Parental incarceration may have a profound and detrimental effect on children, heightening risk of offending and extreme disadvantage. The proportion of children affected is certain to increase as prison populations continue to grow. This research will identify policies and prevention strategies that will interrupt the cycle of disadvantage for children of prisoners and prevent social exclusion. Significant cost-savings and prevention of victimisation could result from effectively targeting this high-risk population, reducing risk of offending and increasing the young person's ability to contribute meaningfully to society. Appropriately timed programs can deliver a range of long-term benefits for children, families and communities.Read moreRead less
Vulnerable families: A study of the impact of parental offending and incarceration on children's developmental outcomes. The limited evidence available suggests that parental incarceration severely compromises the development and well-being of children and increases the risk of delinquency. The financial and personal costs to the community of individuals embarking on an offending career are substantial. Significant cost-savings and prevention of victimisation could result from effectively target ....Vulnerable families: A study of the impact of parental offending and incarceration on children's developmental outcomes. The limited evidence available suggests that parental incarceration severely compromises the development and well-being of children and increases the risk of delinquency. The financial and personal costs to the community of individuals embarking on an offending career are substantial. Significant cost-savings and prevention of victimisation could result from effectively targeting this high-risk population. This research will identify where and when scarce government resources should be targeted. Appropriately timed programs can deliver a range of long-term benefits for children, families and communities. The research will also investigate the reintegration of prisoners into their families, with the aim of reducing prisoner recidivism.Read moreRead less
Challenges, Possibilities and Future Directions: A National Assessment of Australia's Children's Courts. Children's Courts occupy a unique position in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in responding to often marginalized delinquent youth and vulnerable children and families. Philosophical and structural shifts in Australia and overseas suggest community and legal system responses are often ineffective and contribute to longer-term problems, creating social challenges for governments ....Challenges, Possibilities and Future Directions: A National Assessment of Australia's Children's Courts. Children's Courts occupy a unique position in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in responding to often marginalized delinquent youth and vulnerable children and families. Philosophical and structural shifts in Australia and overseas suggest community and legal system responses are often ineffective and contribute to longer-term problems, creating social challenges for governments and communities alike. This national study will examine how key stakeholders, including, significantly, judicial officers, view the Children's Court's contemporary responses and challenges, their preferred alternatives responses and the viability of suggested reforms, thus offering a unique contribution to informing legal and social policy change.Read moreRead less
The contribution of youth development programs in preventing youth crime, drug and alcohol misuse and suicide. The key question is how much youth organizations (e.g., Scouts) promote positive development in at-risk youth and reduce crime and other problems. The effectiveness of youth programs in achieving this goal will be assessed through an audit of organizational activities, interviews and questionnaires with leaders and young people, and observation. Despite reports that up to 20% of partici ....The contribution of youth development programs in preventing youth crime, drug and alcohol misuse and suicide. The key question is how much youth organizations (e.g., Scouts) promote positive development in at-risk youth and reduce crime and other problems. The effectiveness of youth programs in achieving this goal will be assessed through an audit of organizational activities, interviews and questionnaires with leaders and young people, and observation. Despite reports that up to 20% of participants are at-risk young people, there is no evidence to support claims of positive outcomes for this group. This project will measure how much risk factors for youth crime are reduced and participation in school, family and community organizations is enhanced through involvement in youth programs, and analyse the ways in which positive outcomes are achieved.Read moreRead less
Testing theoretical propositions concerning the onset and progression of child-sex offending, and field testing a new sexual abuse prevention model. Child sexual abuse poses serious threats to the health and well-being of Australian children. Data from a variety of sources indicate that, for a variety of reasons, Indigenous children are exposed to a heightened risk of sexual abuse. The present project is expected to lead to new discoveries about the causes of sexual abuse and to new evidence-bas ....Testing theoretical propositions concerning the onset and progression of child-sex offending, and field testing a new sexual abuse prevention model. Child sexual abuse poses serious threats to the health and well-being of Australian children. Data from a variety of sources indicate that, for a variety of reasons, Indigenous children are exposed to a heightened risk of sexual abuse. The present project is expected to lead to new discoveries about the causes of sexual abuse and to new evidence-based prevention methods both within Indigenous communities and in the wider community. The project will therefore contribute at a national level, as well as at a local community level, to broader efforts to improve the life chances of Australian children.Read moreRead less
Restorative justice and re-offending. Restorative justice conferences are meetings between young offenders and their victims to discuss crimes and negotiate ways of responding to conflict. Restorative justice advocates claim that because young offenders leave conferences with a better understanding of how their behaviour has affected others, they are less likely to re-offend. This research project will directly test this claim. It will show, for the first time, what young offenders know and u ....Restorative justice and re-offending. Restorative justice conferences are meetings between young offenders and their victims to discuss crimes and negotiate ways of responding to conflict. Restorative justice advocates claim that because young offenders leave conferences with a better understanding of how their behaviour has affected others, they are less likely to re-offend. This research project will directly test this claim. It will show, for the first time, what young offenders know and understand about conference events and how this relates to future offending. This project is the first scholarly analysis of restorative justice conferencing that examines how and why conferencing works to reduce crime.Read moreRead less
A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving ....A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving child-sex offenders, and decisions about the suitability for release of child-sex offenders from prison. Finally, more effective approaches to treatment may be developed from a better understanding of risk factors involved in recidivism.Read moreRead less
Community variations in crime: A spatial and ecometric analysis. Collective Efficacy (CE) is a new theoretical construct (that has never been investigated in Australia). It is a task-specific process for mobilising social capital to tackle specific neighbourhood problems. Research in Chicago finds that communities with high levels of CE experience lower levels of violence regardless of poverty levels. We will conduct a spatial and ecometric analysis of CE and crime using a survey of 3000 residen ....Community variations in crime: A spatial and ecometric analysis. Collective Efficacy (CE) is a new theoretical construct (that has never been investigated in Australia). It is a task-specific process for mobilising social capital to tackle specific neighbourhood problems. Research in Chicago finds that communities with high levels of CE experience lower levels of violence regardless of poverty levels. We will conduct a spatial and ecometric analysis of CE and crime using a survey of 3000 residents in 50 Brisbane communities. We will compare similar data from Chicago and Stockholm to investigate the Australian contribution of CE to spatial crime patterns and its potential for future crime prevention programs.Read moreRead less