| Project title: | The Use of Curfews to Control Juvenile Offending in Australia: Managing Crime or Wasting Time |
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| Project type: | Situational and Social Crime Prevention |
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| Publication: | Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 5(2) Nov 1993; 184-199. |
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| Researchers/contact: | Brian Simpson and Cheryl Simpson |
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| Commencement date: | |
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| Location: | SA |
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| Funding body/institution: | Flinders University of South Australia |
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| Description of the study: | A concern in recent times with a perceived rise in juvenile offending has caused residents of a number of rural towns in Australia to propose or implement curfews on young people. This report examines which curfews are an attractive method to many rural communities to prevent juvenile crime as well as the problems, which are raised by their implementation. The authors provide a critical analysis of juvenile curfews within Australia. |
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| Description of the outcomes: | This study recognises the varying difficulties involved in the implementation of curfews to prevent/reduce juvenile crime. In concluding the authors make special reference to the fact that curfews fail to address the broader social issues of juvenile crime such as unemployment, education and homelessness.Moreover, the study recognises that during times of economic hardship, where unemployment rates and crime rates increase, communities and local governments emphasise the importance of control through parental and family responsibility. The likely consequence, it is argued would be that those families or individuals who are most in need of social support will be those most likely subjected to restraints such as curfews and under these circumstances such measures are likely to fail. |
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| Evaluation: | |
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