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Foreword | It is generally accepted that a person’s living situation, in particular their experience of homelessness and housing stress, can have both long-lasting and wide-ranging consequences. For criminal justice practitioners, the task of limiting homelessness and preventing crime remain key policy priorities in need of ongoing and integrated research.

End of school events, such as Schoolies Week, can attract large groups of unsupervised young people and are often accompanied by an increase in antisocial behaviour in an area (OCP 2007). When individuals, particularly young people, congregate, it is often a concern for members of the community and the prevention of group violence can pose policing and management challenges (White 2006). Strategies to reduce group misbehaviour for organised events include:

Foreword | It is well documented that alcohol-related problems compromise individual and social health, and wellbeing. The individual harms are numerous, including premature death, loss of enjoyment and loss of social utility through fear of crime and victimisation. The misuse of alcohol, particularly among those most at risk in our community, presents a major challenge for all levels of government. In this paper, a study is presented that provides a better national-level estimate of the costs of alcohol-related problems in Australia.

Foreword | The Australian Institute of Criminology is undertaking research on the drug use careers of adult males, females and juveniles incarcerated in Australian prisons. The objective of the Drug use careers of offenders (DUCO) female study is to contribute to the empirical evidence about the interaction between drug use and criminal offending among incarcerated women. The results of the DUCO male study were released in 2003 and the results of the DUCO juvenile study are expected in 2005.

This paper complements Child Abuse and Neglect: Part 1 -­ Redefining the Issues (Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 146), published in February 2000.

Personal security in public places has become an area of increasing concern to governments in the past 10 years in Australia and overseas. One response has been a significant increase in the use of closed circuit television (CCTV) in densely populated areas such as central business districts and entertainment districts. CCTV is employed as a surveillance measure in such areas to monitor behaviour of individuals and in public spaces as a deterrent and opportunity reduction measure (see AIC 2006).

Foreword | Carjacking literature is limited, and perceptions vary about the level of violence involved, diverse scenarios and the motivations of offenders. The media tends to overrepresent carjackings involving weapons and violence, although these are relatively rare incidents. Motivations range from instrumental triggers (where the car is used in some other crime) to acquisition for onselling the car or its parts. Similarly, methods vary from opportunistic to organised theft involving support.

In the 1990s, the number of known victims of armed robberies in Australia increased from around 5,000 per year to a peak of over 11,000 in 2001 (Figure 1). Between 2001 and 2005 the number dropped steadily to around 6,000 (ABS 2006). The number of banks robbed and the number of victims of armed robberies involving firearms have generally mirrored this pattern. It is unlikely that these statistics represent the full extent of armed robbery in this country, as these data reflect only offences reported to and recorded by police.

Proceedings of a conference held 22-24 September 1992

Contents

• Contributors
• Preface
  Lynn Atkinson

Juvenile justice: issues and overviews

• Opening address
  Michael Tate
• Preventing juvenile crime
  The Honourable Christopher Sumner
• Juvenile justice: the need to ask the right questions
  John Seymour
• Juvenile offending: new theory and practice
  John Braithwaite
• The courts, the judiciary and new directions: the limits of legislative change
  Kate Warner

Foreword | Arson is a crime that is often committed by young people. An important strategy for preventing deliberate firesetting is intervention with young people who show an unhealthy interest in fire. Fire services in all Australian jurisdictions conduct juvenile arson intervention programs for such young people. These programs are usually run by specially trained firefighters, are carried out in the home of the young person with the involvement of the parents, and focus on the young person's behaviour and their family environment.

This project was funded by the Crime Prevention Branch of the Criminal Justice Division, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department.

Prepared by the Australian Institute of Criminology for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

Proceedings of a conference held 19-21 April 1993, Canberra

Contents

• Contributors
• Preface
  David Biles
• Comprehensive criminal justice planning: successes, failures and lessons from the American experience
  John K. Hudzik

Strategic issues and criminal justice

• Strategic planning for the criminal justice system
  Laurie Glanfield
• Strategic issues in criminal justice system management
  Don Weatherburn
• The criminal justice system in New Zealand
  Heather Colby