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The law has long since recognized that there are many young people who “come of age” and are due to have their sentences transferred to the adult system at age 18, but who may not be able to withstand incarceration for a number of reasons. Specifically, in New South Wales, s19(3) of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 recognizes that a young person under the age of 21 may be able to serve some or all of their term of imprisonment as a juvenile offender if the young person is deemed to meet criteria of “special circumstances”. Section 19(4) specifies those circumstances as illness or disability, access to educational, vocational and therapeutic programmes and the risk of psychological or physical risk of harm. The underlying principle in this regard is that juveniles are typically at a different developmental stage from adults and have unique levels of need as compared with adult offenders. Thus, juveniles are considered to be potentially subject to a number of factors related to “vulnerability” that may invoke consideration of s19. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study investigates the relationships among ethnicity and culture and offending in an incarcerated sample of 242 young offenders in New South Wales, Australia. Findings indicated greater similarities between young offenders from Indigenous and English speaking background (ESB) than between these two groups and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) young offenders. CALD young offenders made up 15% of the sample and were disproportionably more likely to commit a violent offence. Compared with Indigenous and ESB offenders, CALD offenders reported less social disadvantage and lower levels of substance abuse. Compared with CALD offenders, ESB and Indigenous offenders were more likely to commit a crime either under the influence of, or to obtain drugs or alcohol. Indigenous offenders began offending earlier than the other two groups and committed a larger number of offences. CALD offenders were more likely to commit the more serious offences of aggravated sexual assault and homicide than ESB or Indigenous young offenders. Compared with both ESB and CALD groups, Indigenous offenders reported more troubled family backgrounds and higher levels of conduct disorder. A number of factors amenable to policy interventions contribute to such observations, such as differential levels of substance use and social disadvantage, and issues leading to overrepresentation of particular cultural groups in the juvenile justice system. The similarities between ESB and Indigenous young offenders on most of the factors assessed in this study, based on commonalities in the kind and relative degree of social disadvantage experienced by these two groups, warrants closer attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades young women have been increasing their representation in the juvenile justice system in Australia. Most young women are not, however, incarcerated and investigations into the correlates of female juvenile offending have largely been undertaken on small samples of incarcerated girls. The current study reports on a review of 7 studies of young offenders, 2 of which involve relatively large samples of girls in treatment or on community orders. The analysis finds that girls use illicit drugs at least as much, if not more than boys, and have similar pattern of alcohol use. Considerable variation in drug use for substances other than marijuana and alcohol is observed between the samples, and drug use patterns appear sensitive to the time and place of the survey. Girls present with much higher levels of psychopathology, although data from the treatment sample indicate that such psychopathology settles quickly if young girls can be retained in treatment. In addition, girls present with much more concerning backgrounds of abuse, although girls tend to rate their families of origin, if anything, more beneficently than do boys. A complicated pattern of interaction of family dysfunction, mental health concerns, and abuse is mediated by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young offenders internationally have a higher incidence of mental health problems compared with adolescents in the general population. Mental health issues, particularly comorbid presentations, affect the response to and outcome of rehabilitation and hence recidivism of offending. Most information on the mental health of young offenders has derived from studies of incarcerated young offenders, potentially a more disturbed sample of young people than the majority of young offenders who are placed on community orders. Our study investigated young offenders serving community-based orders (n = 800); the sample comprised almost 29% of the available population. Approximately 40% had at least one score in the severe range for psychopathology as assessed by the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale-Short Form (APS-SF) and 17% reported at least one comorbid condition. Twenty-six percent (26%) and 19% of young offenders scored in the severe range on the Substance Abuse and Conduct Disorder scales respectively and 8% scored in the severe range on both scales. Eighteen percent (18.5%; n = 145) had scores in the severe range for Substance Abuse and at least one other subscale (excluding Conduct Disorder); 10.8% (n = 85) had scores in the severe range for Conduct Disorder and at least one other subscale (excluding Substance Abuse); and 2.7% (n = 21) had scores in the severe range for at least two scales excluding Substance Abuse and Conduct Disorder. Young women reported between two and four times greater internalizing pathology and self-harm behavior than young men; however, young women were more characterized by externalizing disorders and anger than they were by depression or anxiety. Notwithstanding, high/very high levels of psychological distress were reported (25%) on the Kessler-10. This sample also reported high rates of child abuse and neglect on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and these experiences were associated with more severe externalizing pathology. In the year prior to the study, 8% of the sample had considered suicide, 5% had attempted suicide and 16% had considered or attempted other forms of self-harm. Although as a group the sample revealed high levels of behavioral disturbance and high needs for treatment, a low number reported engagement in any treatment. Recommendations for early intervention as well as tertiary treatment programs are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Both international and Australian studies reveal very low rates of treatment utilization for substance abuse among young offenders despite very high problematic rates of substance abuse among this group. The current study reports on substance use patterns of a representative sample of 712 young offenders serving community orders with the New South Wales Department of Juvenile Justice (Australia) and their history of and attitudes toward treatment. Most (87%) young offenders had used marijuana, and 47% had used amphetamines in the last 12 months. One third of the sample reported problematic use of alcohol (being drunk at least weekly, on average). Forty-three percent reported that they engaged in crime to maintain their substance use. On the substance abuse scale of the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale—Short Form, 36.4% of the sample fell into the moderate to severe problem range. Despite such problems, treatment motivation was poor: 10% reported willingness to access treatment for their drug problems. Eighteen percent reported accessing some form of treatment in the past; the most common form of help seeking was approaching their family (12%). Self-reported access to other drug treatments was even lower, with the more intensive treatments revealing low rates of treatment completion. Despite almost 40% of the sample revealing significant substance abuse problems, referral for treatment was also low, with only 18% of the sample being offered an appointment with juvenile justice drug and alcohol workers. This study reveals the gap between awareness of problematic drug use and treatment-seeking behavior, and has implications for improving outreach to young offenders with substance abuse problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Descriptions of the refugee experience, together with an analysis of access, use, and appropriateness of mental and physical health services as perceived by members of the Afghan immigrant or refugee community living in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, are reported in this article. Using focus groups and semistructured interviews in a variety of settings, the study included 13 key informants and 25 general informants, together with health care agencies providing services to the Afghans and organizations providing resources. Analysis of interviews with Afghan people revealed a number of themes. These include emotional responses to trauma, migration, and resettlement experiences; culture-specific health maintenance strategies; barriers impeding access to and appropriateness of Australian health care services; and informant-suggested strategies to enhance accessibility and the appropriateness of health care and community services. These findings are significant and have relevance for improving the quality of culture-specific health care for the Afghan community in NSW Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into juvenile delinquency has established a strong connection between delinquent behaviour and drug usage. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a number of young people coming into detention in Queensland are suffering physical, behavioural and emotional consequences of their drug use prior to detention. Between December 1995 and January 1996, a total of 118 young people in detention were surveyed regarding their drug use behaviour prior to detention. This represented 90% of the average total population in detention. The average age of the sample was 15.6 years; 90% were males. Over 90% of the population had used (or at least tried) pain relievers, other medicines, cannabis, alcohol and tobacco. The use of the so called 'hard drugs' was high, with 47% having tried amphetamines, 35% admitting to having tried heroin, and 64% having used hallucinogens at least once. Data regarding harm-minimization practices revealed that 42% had injected drugs and of these half had shared a needle at least once, while around 90% are sexually active and of these only about 20% always use a condom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses arguments in favor of the establishment of a specific youth detoxification center in Brisbane, Queensland. Age appropriation program; Means for drug types by decision to leave; Gaps in service provision.

Identifies associations among temporal extension, temporal attitude and temporal structure. Details on time perspective; Method; Results and discussion.

Provides information on two studies about time perspective. Methodology; Measurement of time estimation; Bias in the direction of estimation errors; Details on previous studies made.

This study aimed to understand the expectations of and the agreement between professional groups regarding the quality of single‐expert reports written by psychologists (known as child custody evaluations in the United States). 13 psychologists, 18 family lawyers, 26 children's lawyers, and 8 judges (N = 65) in New South Wales, Australia, rated the overall quality of reports and the quality of various components of them. Interprofessional congruence on importance ratings allowed key components to be derived. The results revealed that the overall quality of reports was rated positively, however, significant discrepancies were found between importance and quality ratings on the various components, indicating that reports fall short of expectations in many areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychological services are increasingly provided within a context in which third party payers impose limits on the number of sessions available to the client and therapist. Considerable research has addressed the effect of time limits on therapeutic outcomes, while effects on therapeutic process have received less attention. This article reports on research that assessed the perceived impact of externally determined time limits on therapeutic process from the perspective of practicing psychologists. Methods: This study used a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods design. Study 1 was a repeated measures questionnaire that was both qualitative and quantitative in nature, and Study 2 utilised qualitative semi-structured interviews. Twenty-seven Australian psychologists treating clients within externally imposed time limits were interviewed, and 85 completed a questionnaire to obtain their perspective on the impact of time limits on the therapeutic process. Results: Therapeutic approach was impacted by time limits, including choice of therapeutic modality, shifts in problem definition and approach, and increased directiveness, prompting concern about a focus on symptom removal over facilitating maintenance of treatment gains. Conclusions: This research contributes to an understanding of how temporal constraints influence treatment, and managed care funding policies may need to be considered in the light of this understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing research in the area, there remains much uncertainty about the effectiveness of community-based treatments for sexual offenders. The present study aims to add to the literature by evaluating an existing Sydney-based group community programme in two ways. First, eight prior participants of the programme were interviewed, and themes that emerged were analysed using qualitative methods. The participants discussed their treatment experiences and personal development following treatment. The eight participants discussed what aspects of the programme they found helpful and unhelpful. These areas were then matched with the opinions of four experts on the effectiveness of sex offender treatment. The findings are reviewed with reference to the current literature available and in terms of implications for future treatment. We conclude by providing some suggestions about how to improve community-based sex offender treatment programmes by focusing on motivational processes within treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study investigates whether youths with childhood-onset antisocial behavior have higher rates of psychiatric illness, neuropsychological and psychosocial dysfunction than youths who engage in antisocial behavior for the first time in adolescence. Prior studies have generally focused on single domains of function in heterogeneous samples. The present study also examined the extent to which adolescent-onset antisocial behavior can be considered normative, an assumption of Moffitt’s dual taxonomy model. Method: Forty-three subjects (34 males, 9 females, mean age = 15.31, age range 12–21) with a diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) were recruited through Headspace Services and the Juvenile Justice Community Centre. We compared childhood-onset antisocial youths (n = 23) with adolescent-onset antisocial youths (n = 20) with a conduct disorder, across a battery of psychiatric, neuropsychological and psychosocial measures. Neuropsychological function of both groups was also compared with normative scores from control samples. Results: The childhood-onset group displayed deficits in verbal learning and memory, higher rates of psychosis, childhood maltreatment and more serious violent behavior, all effects associated with a large effect size. Both groups had impaired executive function, falling within the extremely low range (severely impaired). Conclusions: Childhood-onset CD displayed greater cognitive impairment, more psychiatric symptoms and committed more serious violent offences. The finding of severe executive impairment in both childhood- and adolescent-onset groupings challenges the assumption that adolescent-onset antisocial behavior is a normative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]