• DOI:10.1037/e620572012-001
• Corpus ID: 53614130

The specific deterrent effect of custodial penalties on juvenile re-offending.

@article{Weatherburn2009TheSD,
  title={The specific deterrent effect of custodial penalties on juvenile re-offending.},
  author={Don Weatherburn and Sumitra Vignaendra and Andrew B McGrath},
  journal={BOCSAR NSW Crime and Justice Bulletins},
  year={2009},
  pages={1-8}
}

• D. Weatherburn, Sumitra Vignaendra, A. McGrath
• Published 2009
• Law
• BOCSAR NSW Crime and Justice Bulletins

The following paper deals with the question of whether custodial penalties are a deterrent to subsequent offending among young people sentenced in the NSW Children’s Court. It will do so by reporting the results of a study undertaken in the court between 2004 and 2007. The aim of this study, amongst other things, was to determine whether being sentenced to a control order led to greater or lesser offending compared to a group sentenced to community‐based orders. The structure of this paper will be as follows. Firstly, in my introductory remarks I will give some historical background to juvenile detention in NSW. I will then discuss justifications commonly given for incarcerating young people, and in particular the argument that such a sentence will act as a deterrent for the young person involved. How one might demonstrate this is an important matter to consider, and to this end, various methodological challenges facing researchers in this field will be discussed. I will then go on to describe the results of our study, and conclude by firstly raising alternate justifications for incarceration, notably the idea that by incapacitating known offenders it will reduce crime in the community, and secondly briefly describing possible alternatives to detention.