CJM CRMSALMHMTHS 'S YOUNG OFFENDERS

Juvenile Delinquency: nor offences, such as truancy, criminal damage and bus fare eva- A Self-report study sion were also fairly widespread, but twenty two different offence With the recent decline in the juvenile types were committed by fewer population in over the than one tenth of the group (see last 10 years, it has not been surprising to Table). note a decline in juvenile court convic- tions. In 1992 for istance 588 juveniles Only a very few young people (10-17 years), of whom only 42 were reported a wide variety of deviant female, were found guilty in the magis- behaviours, girls and those in full- trates and Crown courts, most commonly time education averaging fewer for theft and handling (42%), burglary than boys and those who had left (27.9%), criminal damage (13.9%) and school. The type of schooling was offences against the person (7.8%). The not significantly associated with existence of police cautioning and some the number of different offences diversion from court schemes, together however. with the low reporting of certain of- Certain offences tended to oc- fences may, however, be concealing the cur together, thus if one had stolen true picture. .a" from school it was most likely one o had also stolen from a shop, and It is well known that much juvenile ~~> then progressively less likely from offending does not reach the notice of o home, work, telephone kiosks and the authorities, and studies of self-re- to a car. Underage drinking was as- ported delinquency and teachers' ratings **- sociated with those involved in reveal a very different scenario to offi- public disorder and also more than cial statistics. While self-reporting is out jointly by the Centre for Independent twelve differnt delinquencies, but half of known to be affected by concealment Research and Analysis of Crime those reporting the use of hard drugs had and forgetting, and sometimes puts the (CIRAC) and the Northern Ireland Of- never used soft drugs. The more serious prevalence of delinquency spuriously fice. This article describes the result of the offence reported the more likely it high because of the trivial infractions this survey. was that an individual admitted a wide admitted, it nevertheless provides a valu- A sample of 310 young people aged range of other offences. able alternative insight into the nature of 14-21 years were selected from the city undetected and unreported youth devi- of Belfast using a modified random walk The earliest age reported for the onset ance. method and interviewed face-to-face in of offending behaviour ranged from 4 Theorists such as Becker (1962) sug- confidence about a range of behaviours years for truancy, spraying graffiti and gest that much secondary deviance occurs from status offences and criminal dam- shoplifting to 13 or 14 years for stealing because minor delinquencies are unnec- age to stealing, drugs and violence. There from work and using drugs. However, in essarily processed judicially, resulting were 161 males and 149 females in the general very little offending began be- in the young person committing further sample distributed fairly evenly over the fore the age of crininal responsibility (10 misdemeanours because he has been la- age range, 60% of whom were still in years), but even at this early age it did belled a delinquent by the police and full-time education (including further include theft and break-ins. Cars were courts. It has been argued therefore that education college and university). reported stolen or driven for the first time by juveniles as young as 10 or 11 minor infringements of the law are in It was found that the vast majority years, but the average age overall for fact very widespread among normal ado- (95%) reported having committed at least first time offenders was 14 years. lescents and that they will grow out of one "offence" at some time in their lives, these tendencies given time. although this figure includes status of- The frequency and recency of the In order to estimate the true nature fences, underage drinking and breaking delinquency presented a different pic- and extent of adolescent offending there- copyright. ture to the overall prevalence rates, as fore, representatives from several Despite the criminal justice system's only 47% of the sample had offended European countries, the United States of dealing with a much greater proportion during the previous year, although aver- America and Canada met under the aus- of males, almost half of the some time aging approximately nine times. The less pices of the Ministry of Justice, Holland, offenders were female. Certain offences serious offences were also the most fre- in 1988 as a first step to construct a however were more predominant among quent, such as breaking copyright, standard instrument for measuring self- males, such as driving without a licence underage drinking, spraying graffiti, tru- reported delinquency. Each country or insurance, public disorder and carry- ancy and bus fare evasion. validated the pilot questionnaire in a ing weapons. Three quarters of the sample Over half of all the most recent of- standardised fashion during 1990, and in had drunk alcohol underage and two Northern Ireland the study was carried thirds had broken copyright. Other mi- Continued over....

17 CJM CRIMKAL JUSTICE SATTEBS BELFASTS YOUNG OFFENDERS Continued from previous page.. offending was very similar, frequency truancy and running away were excluded, differentiated the sexes. However, no the police had detected only 5% of the fences had occurred either at home or significant relation was found between last offences committed, illustrating how within a ten minute's walk, while two frequency and employment status, liv- much youth crime does not appear in the thirds happened in the company of two ing with parents, educational level or official statistics. other people, roughly a quarter with one hours spent playing sport, although the It was difficult to discover what makes other and only 4% were solo efforts. In latter was statistically significant for those one young person commit deviant be- general 80% of all the different kinds of still in full-time education. haviours and not another. Regression offence were committed with at least one Approximately 8 out of 10 of the analyses were carried out on participa- other person. most recent offences went undetected, tion in offending, entering over 12 The frequency of offending decreased and those young people whose offences possible explanatory variables into the significantly in those who had left full- were discovered were found out mainly analysis. However the predictors of par- time education behind and also as the by their parents, followed by the police. ticipation in nine different offence young person grew older. A greater pro- Police were mostly involved in the de- categories were quite limited and con- portion of boys that girls were recent tection of public disorder, graffiti, sisted variously of age, sex, weekly offenders, thus while participation in running away and driving offences. If income, living with parents and the age the offence was first committed. If you were younger, female and had PER CENT ADMITTING EVER' a smaller weekly income you were less COMMITTED AN OFFENCE likely to truant or commit theft, whereas being young and female meant you were Offence Frequency Per cent Per cent Per cent less likely to be involved in vandalism. of sample of males of females Being young, female and living with Underage drinking 235 75.8 48.5 51.5 parents meant less underage drinking Breaking copyright 210 67.7 46.6 53.4 and living with parents less drug use. Criminal damage 149 48.1 58.4 41.6 The model for copyright breaking pre- Truancy 135 43.5 51.8 48.2 dicted well using the age at which the Bus fare evasion 135 43.5 55.5 44.5 young people first started this offence, Spray graffiti 105 33.9 58.1 41.9 while females were less likely to drive Steal school 72 23.2 52.8 47.2 without a licence or insurance or evade Steal shop 68 21.9 47.1 52.9 transport fares. Finally age and weekly Drive without licence 53 17.1 69.8 30.2* income differentiated between those who Public disorder 47 5.2 68.1 31.9* had or had not committed some kind of Run away home 34 11.0 64.7 35.3 violence against the person, but because Soft drugs 31 10.0 61.3 38.7 the numbers involved were small this Carry weapon 26 8.4 76.9 23.1* effect is probably of dubious validity. Break in house/building 25 8.1 52.0 48.0 Because these were the paticular ex- Obscene/threatening phone calls 25 8.1 56.0 44.0 planatory variables entered into the Train fare evasion 24 7.7 45.8 54.2 analysis this might as such suggest that 22 7.1 50 50 Steal home there is little which those involved in 6.4 Steal work 20 50 50 crime prevention can actually change in Buy stolen goods 20 6.4 50 50 order to reduce the chance of a young Injure outside family 15 4.8 66 33* person committing an offence. Obvi- Hard drugs 14 4.5 50 50 ously this is only true for variables Steal telephone/vending machinei 13 4.2 69.2 30.8 measured and there are a whole range of Sell stolen goods 12 3.9 58.3 41.7 educational, psychological and socio- Take away car 8 2.6 87.5 12.5* logical measures that are widely and Take bike/motorbike 7 2.3 57.1 42.9 successfully used to help reduce adoles- Steal something else 7 2.3 57.1 42.9 cent offending. However the widespread Steal from car 4 1.3 25 75* nature of minor offending at some time Injure with weapon 4 1.3 50 50 during adolescence suggests that devi- Threaten with weapon/force 3 1.0 66 33 ant behaviour is actually 'normal' at this Injure family 2 0.3 50 50 stage for both sexes, and that if it is not Pickpocket 2 0.3 100 0 given undue emphasis the majority will Snatch purse 2 0.3 100 0 start to outgrow it as they leave school and take on adult responsibilities. * gender differences Continued on page 20

18 CJM CRIM&AL JUSTICE MATTERS FANTASIES, FIGURES & FICTIONS

Crime in Northern Ireland appears significantly less affected by in Britain than in Northern Ireland. from a literary perspective crime than other parts of Europe" (p 11). The emphasis on the low incidence of ordinary crime has been unconditionally It is difficult to obtain an overview of the Research Findings accepted. It has been repeated as a incidence and pattern of crime in The official statistics, contained in constant litany, whilst the very questions Northern Ireland. As elsewhere, there the Chief Constable's Annual Reports and contradictions which this raises are are various perceptions from different seem to bear this out. There it is claimed ignored. The NIO discussion document sources, each of which produce a series that ordinary crime is significantly lower refers to 'areas of multiple deprivation' of snapshots rather than one coherent than in Britain and that the clear up rate (p 11), but does not consider why, given image. It is particularly difficult to find is higher. While there may be some the prevalence of such areas in Northern meaningful measures of crime in doubt about the levels of reporting, Ireland, this does not result in more Northern Ireland because of the range, international victimisation studies seem ordinary crime similar to that experienced and often stark diversity, of the by corresponding areas in Britain and perceptions that do exist. The image of Northern Ireland has a Ireland. Equally the discussion document terrorism which is so vividly displayed particularly low level of what treats terrorist and ordinary crime as on television screens across the world being discrete entities, without discussion dominates, but this hides a more complex the security forces term whether they might overlap or subsume and conflicting reality. "ordinary decent crime" one another. In official discourse the fears that Official discourse may be unable to were expressed in the 1970s of a society to bear out this view of a low crime rate. explore these issues but the issues should about to teeter over the edge to A report 2 based on the 1987 be amenable to literary discourse and widespread disorder have been replaced international crime survey found those approaches which analyse it. It in the 1990s with the view that Northern Northern Ireland had the lowest crime may be that literature can use different Ireland is basically decent and peaceful rate out of 14 regions in Europe and the techniques to explore these questions. under the veneer of terrorism provided USA. A very recent report \ based on Metaphors, allegory and symbolism do by the "men of violence". Indeed, it is the 1989 and 1992 international crime perhaps reveal "truths" that escape the now argued widely in some circles that surveys, claimed that Northern Ireland notice of the harder forms of the social Northern Ireland has a particularly low was second only to Japan in having the sciences with their interview data and level of what the security forces term lowest overall victimisation rate for crime graphs. It has been suggested that, "ordinary decent crime". The most recent amongst the twenty industrialised 'Literary texts are ... able to escape or official expression of this view can be countries that took part in the surveys. smooth over strongly felt contradictions found in the Northern Ireland Office's The 1991 /92 survey of'Social Attitudes in belief or practice that other kinds of (NIO) discussion document Crime and in Northern Ireland'4 also found that texts have difficulty dealing with'.5 the Community ' published in March respondents in Northern Ireland 1993 where the context for discussion of expressed less anxiety about crime than Fictional depictions wider issues is set by the assertion that those in Britain and considered that there Unfortunately this does not seem to "Terrorism apart, Northern Ireland was a higher incidence of ordinary crime Continued over....

500 h PERSONS KILLED IN NORTHERN IRELAND 1969-92

400 C/3 Security Situation Deaths 300 Road Traffic Accident Deaths o

200 Source: RUC Chief Constable's Annual 100 Report 1992

0 196919701996919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911997 2 Year

19 CJM CPMMHICEMTEffi FANTASIES, FIGURES & FICTIONS

have been the case with fictional is more convenient, as with official "used to distinguish offenders with depictions of crime in Northern Ireland. discourse, to present them in discrete political motives from nice lads who Virtually all such depictions, whether in genres. Thus, for example, the novels of murder, rape and pillage for no particular novels, films or television, involve Gerald Seymour 7 can be generally terrorist crime without any specific classified as thrillers emphasising the reference to ordinary crime. They may confrontation between the security forces John Morrison and Ray Geary are both even repeat the litany of a low ordinary and the Provisional IRA. 's Lecturers in Law at Queen s University, 8 crime rate as in, for example, Frank 'Lies of Silence' appears as the novel of Belfast. Kippax's novel, 'Other People's Blood'6, the moral dilemma and the books of which is to be televised soon. This may M.S. Power ' focus on conspiracy and Footnotes be understandable in the context of multiple collusion. These may, of course, 1. NIO, Crime and the Community Northern Ireland and the seriousness of succeed in their own terms. And it might (Belfast: HMSO, 1993) terrorist offences, but the NIO discussion also be too much to ask them to address 2. Jan van Dijk et al., Experiences of document points out that 'most offences the issues of the inter-relationship of Crime across the World (Deventer: have nothing to do with terrorism' (p 5). ordinary and terrorist crime, or in fact to Kluwer, 1991) Many people's perceptions of crime in portray ordinary crime. In failing to do 3. Jan van Dijk and Pat Mayhew, Criminal Northern Ireland, however, may be so, however, they miss the opportunity Victimisation in the Industrialised World formulated by this fictional discourse to provide clarification and simply serve (Netherlands: Ministry of Justice, 1992) allied to the images which they receive to repeat the litany of a low ordinary 4. Peter Stringer and Gillian Robinson. from television and newspaper reportage, crime rate overlaid with terrorist violence. Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The which is again predominantly concerned In contrast, in Britain there has been a Second Report (Belfast: Blackstaff Press. with terrorist offences. 'Fiction' and 'fact' distinctive move in the depiction of crime 1992) consequently appear to confirm the from the international terrorism 5. Lincoln Faller, Crime and Defoe 'reality' of the low incidence of ordinary confronted by 'The Professionals' in the (Cambridge: Cambridge University crime and the separateness of ordinary 1970s to the more mundane issues facing Press, 1993) p.XV. and terrorist crime. Rather than producing 'The Bill' in the 1990s. Similar 6. Frank Kippax. Other People's Blood a coherent image, however, this may developments can be observed in the (: Fontana, 1993). produce a disjuncture: people outside of crime or detective novel. In Northern 7. See, for example, Gerald Seymour's. Northern Ireland simply see the imagery Ireland, though, the fictional Harry's Game (London: Fontana 1977): of terrorism, and those in Northern representation of crime has not witnessed Field of Blood (London: Fontana, 1986) Ireland, if they are not directly confronted any similar developments. and The Journeyman Tailor (London: by the terrorism, emphasise the low Fontana, 1992). incidence of ordinary crime. This may in Thus the inconsistencies and turn influence the views expressed in contradictions of the official discourse 8. Brian Moore, Lies of Silence (London: victimisation studies and the reporting have not been addressed and the fictional Arrow, 1991). of offences to the police. representation of crime in Northern 9. See, for example, M.S. Power's Ireland too has simply served to obfuscate Children of the North (London: Abacus. In confirming this consensus, writers further the dilemmas of ordinary crime. 1991) and Come the Executioner depicting crime in Northern Ireland may "Ordinary Decent Criminals" have so (London: Penguin, 1992). be contained by their genres and by the far been inadequately represented in both 10. Lionel Shriver, Ordinary Decent expectations of their readers. The fact and fiction. Indeed, as Lionel Shriver Criminals (London: Harper Collins. complexities of the problem do not lend points out in her novel, entitled Ordinary 1992)p.422. themselves to an easy formulation and it Decent Criminals', this is a term that is BELFAST'S YOUNG OFFENDERS Continued from page 18 Reported Delinquency. This will reduce and Analysis of Crime (CIRAC), Belfast. the methodological problems of the ear- One of the problems of this pilot lier studies, facilitate cross-cultural References study was the small sample involved and comparisons and provide the basis for Becker, H.S.(1962) Outsiders: Studies the preliminary nature of the question- further investigation of the nature of, and in the Sociology of Deviance. Free Press. naire. National and city based samples of reasons for delinquent behaviour among New York. a minimum of 1000 young people have young people. McQuoid, J. (1992) Self-Reported De- been therefore interviewed in approxi- linquency: A Pilot Study CIRAC Paper mately fifteen countries during 1992 as Joan McQuoid is Principal Research No.3. Extern: Belfast. part of an International Study of Self Officer,Centre for Independent Research

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