Australian young people from rural areas, particularly Aboriginal young people, are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. Apart from broad evidence regarding the entrenched social disadvantages experienced by young people in rural communities, the literature is limited in describing why this might be case. Due to these social disadvantages, it is hypothesised that young offenders from rural communities will have higher levels of offending risk factors, as measured by the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory—Australian Adaption (YLS/CMI-AA). A total of 6,750 archival records were analysed, showing that significantly more Aboriginal young offenders live in rural areas. Contrary to the hypothesis, urban young offenders had significantly higher risk scores than rural young offenders. These findings suggest that there may be particular ecological factors that are not assessed in the current risk assessment instrument or that rural young people have a range of protective factors that may insulate against the broader context of social disadvantage.
AllanJ.CliffordA.BallP.AlstonM.MeisterP. (2012). “You’re less complete if you haven’t got a can in your hand”: Alcohol consumption and related harmful effects in rural Australia: The role and influence of cultural capital. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47, 624-629. doi:10.1093/alcalc/ags074
2.
AllardT.Rayment-McHughS.AdamsD.SmallboneS.McKillopN. (2015). Responding to youth sexual offending: A field-based practice model that “closes the gap” on sexual recidivism among Indigenous and non-Indigenous males. Journal of Sexual Aggression: An International, Interdisciplinary Forum for Research, Theory and Practice, 22, 82-94. doi:10.1080/13552600.2014.1003107
3.
AndrewsD.BontaJ. (2010). The psychology of criminal conduct (6th ed.). New Jersey: Routledge.
4.
AtkinsonR.TaylorE.WalterM. (2008). The urban and regional segregation of indigenous Australians: Out of sight, out of mind? (Paper No. 12, Housing and Community Research Unit). Australia: University of Tasmania.
Australian Institute of Criminology. (2010). Community policing in Australia (Research and Public Policy Series 111). Canberra: Author.
9.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2009). Rural, regional and remote health: Indicators of health status and determinants of health (Rural Health Series no. 9. Cat. no. PHE 97). Canberra: Author.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Youth justice in Australia 2016-17 (Cat. no. JUV 116). Canberra: Author.
12.
BarclayE.DonnermeyerJ.ScottJ.HoggR. (2007). Crime in rural Australia. Sydney, Australia: The Federation Press.
13.
BlaggH.Bluett-BoydN.WilliamsE. (2015). Innovative models in addressing violence against Indigenous women: State of knowledge paper. Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety.
CampbellC.OnifadeE.BarnesA.PetersonP.AndersonV.DavidsonW.GordonD. (2014). Screening offenders: The exploration of the youth level of service/case management inventory. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53, 19-34. doi:10.1080/10509674.2013.861314
16.
CorradoR.KuehnS.MargaritescuI. (2014). Policy issues regarding the overrepresentation of incarcerated aboriginal young offenders in a Canadian context. Youth Justice, 14, 40-62. doi:10.1177/1473225413520361
CunneenC.WhiteR. (2007). Juvenile justice: Youth crime in Australia. Sydney, Australia: Oxford University Press.
19.
CunneenC. (2006). Racism, discrimination and the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system: Some conceptual and explanatory issues. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 17, 247-329.
DollmanJ.MaherC.OldsT.RidleyK. (2012). Physical activity and screen time behaviour in metropolitan, regional and rural adolescents: A sectional study of Australian’s aged 9-16 years. Journal of Science and Medicine and Sport, 15, 32-37. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2011.05.011
22.
DudgeonP.MilroyH.WalkerR. (2014). Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice. Barton, Australia: Attorney General’s Department.
23.
DwyerA.BallM.BakerE. (2015). Policing LGBTI in rural spaces: Emerging issues and future concerns. Rural Society, 24, 227-243. doi:10.1080/10371656.2015.1099264
24.
EdwardsK.MattinglyM.DixonK.BanyardV. (2014). Community matters: Intimiate partner violence among rural young adults. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53, 198-207. doi:10.1007/s10464-014-9633-7
FarringtonD. P.TtofiM. M.PiqueroA. R. (2016). Risk, promotive, and protective factors in youth offending: Results from the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 63-70. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.02.014
27.
FinchH. (2005). Comparison of the performance of nonparametric and parametric MANOVA test statistics when assumptions are violated. Methodology, 1, 27-38. doi:10.1027/1614-1881.1.1.27
28.
GravetterF.WallnauL. (2014). Essentials of statistics for the behavioral sciences (8th ed.). Belmont, Ontario, Canada: Wadsworth.
29.
HalseyJ. (2018). Independent review into regional, rural and remote education. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
HemphillS.SmithR.ToumbourouJ.HerrenkohlT.CatalanoR.McMorrisB.RomaniukH. (2009). Modifiable determinants of youth violence in Australia and the United States: A longitundial study. The Australian New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 42, 289-309.
32.
HoggR. (2005). Policing the rural crisis. The Australian New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 38, 340-360.
33.
HubertyC. J.PetoskeyM. D. (2000). Multivariate analysis of variance and covariance. In TinsleyH.BrownS. (Eds.), Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modeling (pp. 183-208). New York, NY: Academic Press.
34.
IndigD.FewenA.MooreE. (2016). Predictors and correlates of re-incarceration among Australian young people in custody. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 49, 73-89. doi:10.1177/0004865814550534
35.
Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network. (2015). 2015 young people in custody health survey. Malabar, Australia: Author.
36.
KennyD.SchreinerI. (2009). Predictors of high risk alcohol consumption in young offenders on community orders. Psychology, Public Policy and the Law, 15, 54-79. doi:10.1037/a0015079
37.
KlepfiszG.DaffernM.DayA. (2016). Understanding dynamic risk factors for violence. Psychology, Crime and Law, 22, 124-137. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1109091
38.
LockwoodI.Peterson-BadaliM.SchmidtF. (2018). The relationship between risk, criminogenic need, and recidivism for Indigenous justice involved youth. Criminal and Justice Behaviour, 45, 1688-1708. doi:10.1177/0093854818785404
39.
MalvasoC. G.DelfabbroP.DayA. (2017). The child protection and juvenile justice nexus in Australia: A longitudinal examination of the relationship between maltreatment and offending. Child Abuse & Neglect, 64, 32-46. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.028
40.
MaruY.McAllisterR.SmithM. (2007). Modelling community interactions and social capital dynamics: The case of regional and rural communities of Australia. Agricultural Systems, 92, 179-200.
41.
MaunderR.CrafterS. (2018). Schooling bullying from a sociocultural perspective. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 38, 13-20.
42.
McGregorC. (2001). An examination of support for local sustainability initiatives in small town communities of the tropical savanna region of northern Australia (PhD dissertation). James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
43.
MeierM.SlutskeW.ArndtS.CadoretR. (2008). Impulsive and callous traits are more strongly associated with delinquent behaviour in higher risk neighborhoods among boys and girls. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 377-385.
44.
MercerN.HoweC. (2012). Explaining dialogic process of teaching and learning. The value of the sociocultural theory. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 1, 12-21.
OgloffJ.DavisM. (2008). Advances in offender assessment and rehabilitation: Contributions of the risk-need-responsively approach. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10, 229-242. doi:10.1080/10683160410001662735
49.
OhmerM. (2016). Strategies for preventing youth violence: Facilitating collective efficacy among youth and adults. Journal of the Society of Social Work and Research, 7, 681-705.
50.
OnifadeE.DavidsonW.CampbellC. (2008). Predicting recidivism in probationers with the Youth Level of Service Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI). Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 35, 474-478. doi:10.1177/0093854807313427
RhewI.HawkinsJ.OestereleS. (2011). Drug use and risk among youth in different rural contexts. Health and Place, 17, 775-783. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.02.003
53.
SentasV.PandlofiniC. (2017). Policing young people in NSW: A study of the suspect targeting management plan. A report of the youth justice coalition. Sydney: Youth Justice Coalition.
SpivakovskyC. (2009, January). The construction of the racially different Indigenous offender. ANZ Criminology conference proceedings, Melbourne.
56.
ThompsonA.McGrathA. (2012). Subgroup differences and implications for contemporary risk need assessment for juvenile offenders. Law and Human Behaviour, 36, 345-355.
57.
ThompsonA.PopeZ. (2005). Assessing juvenile offenders: Preliminary data for the Australian adaptation of the youth level of service/case management inventory (Hoge & Andrews). Australian Psychologist, 40, 207-214.
58.
VerrecchiaP.FetzerM.LemmonJ.AustinT. (2010). An examination of direct and indirect effects of maltreatment dimensions and other ecological risks on persistent youth offending. Criminal Justice Review, 35, 220-243.
59.
VidalS.PrinceD.McConnelC.CaronM.KaufmanJ.TebesJ. (2017). Neglect, maltreatment, family environment, and social risk factors: Determinants of the child welfare to juvenile justice transition among maltreated children and adolescents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 63, 7-18. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.013
60.
YampolskayaS.ArmstrongM.McNeishR. (2011). Children placed in out of home care: Risk factors for involvement with the juvenile justice system. Violence and Victims, 26, 231-245. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.26.2.231
61.
Youth Affairs Council of Victoria. (2013). Young people in out of home care in rural and regional Victoria: A discussion paper. Retrieved from http://www.yacvic.org.au
