Working with Young Offenders

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Working with Young Offenders

• Troubles of Youth
• 5.3.09.

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Lecture Outline

• Measuring Re-offending
• Risk Assessment and ASSET
• Cognitive Behavioural Programmes
• Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme

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What do we mean by re-offending?

• Re-conviction?
• Court Appearances?
• Breaches / Revoking Orders?
• Same crime type?
• Pre-court disposals?
• Binary variable?

What do we mean by not re-offending?

• Reduction or Cessation of offending?
• Prolonging time until offending
• Changed Behaviour and Attitudes?

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Valid Comparisons

• Central Question e.g. comparison of re-offending
  by disposal or over time
• Direct Comparison of rate problematic
• Systematic differences in populations
• These differences are important predictors of
  (re-)offending

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Example Age and expected rate of offending
10 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
If comparison groups present different age
profiles, there is an inbuilt bias to different
levels of re-offending in the future,
irrespective of disposal.
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How to deal with systematic differences of
populations?

• (Methodological) Ideal random allocation to
  disposals Reality unlikely
• Matched Pairs? Possible, if design allows
• Statistically need to adjust re-offending rates
  to take into account of different population
  characteristics
• Copas and Marshall (1998) -gt OGRS
• Adjusted Re-offending Rates
• Estimates from analysis of re-offending patterns,
  using CJ data used to produced adjusted rates for
  different disposals
• Allow comparisons to be made having taken into
  account relevant characteristics
• Are all characteristics taken into account?

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Co-variants of Re-offending
Criminal Justice Variables Age Sex N (previous convictions) N (custodial sentences) Years since first conviction Type of offence (i.e. OGRS Data)
Social Variables Drug and Alcohol Use Accommodation Employment Financial Problems Relationships (Parents partners peers)
Qualitative Variables Turning Points Emotional / psychological preparedness to desist
More challenging to access
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Risk Assessment and ASSET

• Standard Risk Assessment Tool use within the YJS
  / YOTs
• identify the key factors contributing to
  offending by young people
• provide a prediction of reconviction
• help to identify young people who may present a
  risk of serious harm to others
• identify situations in which a young offender is
  vulnerable to being harmed
• identify issues where more in-depth assessment is
  required.
• Parallels with OASys, parole decisions

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Alternatives

• Clinical Assessment
• Traditional approach offered by probation
• Offers opportunity for qualitative / personal
  factors
• Problems with Clinical Assessment
• Biases
• Omission of relevant issues
• Variability of Practice
• Inaccurate Predictions

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What ASSET Does (1)

• ASSET Core Profile
• Background Information and 12 domains addressing
  dynamic criminogenic factors

Living Arrangements Physical Health
Family and Personal Relationships Emotional and Mental Health
Education, training and Employment Perception of self and others
Neighbourhood Thinking and Behaviour
Lifestyle Attitudes to Offending
Substance use Motivation to Change

• Each domain scored 0-4 by practitioner used as
  an indicator of risk of offending
• Anything scored 2 addressed in intervention plan

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Accuracy of Prediction
67 Accuracy
Source Baker, K et al (2003) THE EVALUATION OF
THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE YOUTH JUSTICE
BOARDS ASSESSMENT FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS, London
YJB

• Intra-rater reliability
• Individual raters shown to be consistent in how
  they rate
• Inter-rater reliability
• High level within YOTS some inconsistencies
  between YOTs
• Proposal include static factors in score
  improves accuracy of prediction and improved
  differentiation between score bands.

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Cognitive Behavioural Projects

• What is C-B? A model for changing (offending)
  behaviour
• Behavioural Therapy
• Behaviour is driven by factors external to the
  individual (ABCs)
• Behaviour is learnt
• Cognitive Psychology
• Focussed on thoughts, emotions and
  understandings these have to change before
  behaviour can
• C-B
• Combined empirical observation, the role of
  learning and gradual change (Behaviouralism)
  with self-reports, how subjects talked about
  crime, and the centrality of cognitive processes
  in self- regulation (Cognitivism)

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What does CB Look like?

• Tertiary crime prevention a wide range of levels
  of seriousness, persistence and rime types
• Not a single unified theoretical approach
  training using (combinations of)-

Moral Reassessing Victim Empathy
Problem-solving Techniques Patterns and consequences of Offending Behaviour
Interaction Skills Values, beliefs and Thinking
Self-management Peers and Assertion
Self-esteem work Relapse Prevention
Pro-social modelling
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Evaluating C-B

• Willingness to engage and motivation to change
• Literacy levels, maturity and level of
  understanding of participants
• Programme Integrity
• Cohorts rolling or closed-entry
• Group Dynamics
• Dosage Completion and Attendance Rates
• Consistency of Delivery discretion and
  accountability
• Offender focussed

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Eadie, T and Cantor, R (2002) Practising in a
Context of Ambivalence The Challenge for Youth
Justice Workers Youth Justice 2 14
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Intensive Surveillance and Supervision Programme
(ISSP)

• Intensive community programme for repeat or
  serious offenders est. 2001
• (charged/warned/convicted 4 dates within year,
  and received one community or custodial penalty)
• Aims
• Reduce re-offending and the seriousness of
  re-offending
• Reduce use of custody
• Tackle underlying problems a particular emphasis
  on educational needs
• Demonstrate consistency and rigour reassure the
  community and sentencers of their credibility and
  likely success.

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What is an ISSP?

• Most rigorous non-custodial sentence a
  specified activity on Supervision Order
• Six months intensive supervision (25 hours per
  week) for first 3 months, thereafter reduced
  supervision (5 hours per week)
• Types of surveillance (2 checks a day up to 24
  hour monitoring)
• Tracking
• Tagging
• Voice verification
• Intelligence-led policing

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Impact of ISSPs

• 41 Pilot Schemes
• Reduction of Use of Custody?
• April 2000 -gt Dec 2004 2.1 reduction
  nationally no particular effect in pilot areas
• Some diversion from custody also some
  net-widening
• Breaches
• 31 breach rate -gt 29 of whom then received
  custody
• Reconviction?
• Expected reconviction 79
• Actual Reconviction 89
• Non-Completion a significant predictor of
  reconviction

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The impact of ISSP upon the use of custody

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The impact of ISSP upon the use of other
community disposals