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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:34 am
Time: 1:34 am
Results for offense seriousness
3 results foundAuthor: MacKinnell, Ian Title: Measuring Offence Seriousness Summary: The aim of this report is to present and assess two new measures of offence seriousness in NSW. The first measure of offence seriousness, Median Sentence Ranking (MSR), was constructed by identifying the median sentence actually imposed in each Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) group. The data used for this purpose consisted of cases finalised in the NSW Children's, Local, District and Supreme Courts between 3 April 2000 and 31 March 2005 where the offender had no prior criminal record. The second measure, Median Statutory Maximum Ranking (MSMR), was constructed by reference to the median statutory maximum penalty applicable among offences in each ASOC group. Logistic regression was used to compare the MSR and the MSMR to the current National Offence Index (NOI) in terms of (a) their ability to predict who will be sentenced to imprisonment, and (b) their ability to identify the principal offence, that is, the offence that incurred the most severe penalty. The MSR proved superior to both the NOI and MSMR both in its ability to predict a sentence of imprisonment and to predict the principal offence. The MSMR proved superior to the NOI in its ability to predict a sentence of imprisonment, however, the NOI proved superior to the MSMR in predicting the principal offence. It was found that the MSR is the better choice when the aim is either to investigate or control for the influence of offence seriousness on the likelihood of imprisonment or to identify which of two offences will incur the more severe sentence. The NOI is a relatively robust measure of seriousness which may make it useful when alternative measures are not available or cannot be derived or when the aim is to predict outcomes outside the criminal justice system where public opinion is a salient factor. Details: Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2010. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Crime and Justice Bulletin, No. 142: Accessed October 7, 2010 at: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/CJB142.pdf/$file/CJB142.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/CJB142.pdf/$file/CJB142.pdf Shelf Number: 119883 Keywords: Offense SeriousnessSentencing |
Author: Lulham, Rohan Title: Change in Offence Seriousness Across Early Criminal Careers Summary: Aim: To investigate whether the crimes committed by offenders early in their criminal careers change in severity over consecutive offence episodes. Methods: Offence seriousness was measured across conviction episodes for a cohort of people born in NSW in 1994. We examined the relationship between offence seriousness and conviction episodes using two techniques. The first analysis involved stratifying offenders by total number of episodes and then using non-parametric tests to compare offence seriousness between and across episodes. The second analysis involved using group based trajectory modelling to investigate if there were groups of offenders who had different trajectories of offence seriousness over their first three conviction episodes. Results: Across all offenders, non-parametric tests showed no consistent relationship between offence seriousness and conviction episode. In contrast, group based trajectory modelling provided evidence for four offence seriousness trajectory groups: (1) an escalating group (16.1% of sample), (2) a low stable group (32.7% of sample), (3) a high stable group (26.0% of sample), and (4) a de-escalating group (25.2% of sample). Discussion: Group based trajectory modelling provided evidence that the relationship between offence seriousness and conviction episodes varies for sub-groups of offenders. Potential implications for understanding and informing the prevention of serious crime are highlighted. Limitations of this study and challenges for future research are discussed. Details: Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2010. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Contempoary Issues in Crime and Justice, No. 141: Accessed November 7, 2011 at: http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/CJB141.pdf/$file/CJB141.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/CJB141.pdf/$file/CJB141.pdf Shelf Number: 123253 Keywords: Crime TrajectoriesCriminal Careers (Australia)Offense Seriousness |
Author: Victoria (Australia). Sentencing Advisory Council Title: Community Attitudes to Offence Seriousness Summary: The Community Attitudes to Offence Seriousness report presents key findings from community panels conducted by the Council throughout Victoria. The report outlines the 244 participants’ judgments of offence seriousness and how they weighed the factors that render different offences more or less serious. The research was conducted as part of the Maximum Penalties project, a review by the Council of the maximum penalties for 250 offences to be included in a new Crimes Bill. The findings indicate that community members have divergent views about the relative seriousness of offences. The judgment of offence seriousness is subjective and can be influenced by a range of factors. Judgments of offence seriousness by individual members of the community can vary according to each person’s experiences, perceptions and views. If the views of this group of respondents are representative of community thinking, it appears the community does not share a single set of common attitudes towards relative offence seriousness. However, despite the variation in attitudes to offence seriousness for some offences, there was consensus among participants that offences involving direct harms to people are considered the most serious. In particular, there was a high level of agreement among participants that offences involving the deliberate infliction of harm, sexually violent offences and sexual offences against children are among the most serious offences. Details: Melbourne: Sentencing Advisory Council, 108p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessede May 8, 2012 at: https://sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/files/community_attitudes_to_offence_seriousness.pdf Year: 0 Country: Australia URL: https://sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/files/community_attitudes_to_offence_seriousness.pdf Shelf Number: 125181 Keywords: Offense SeriousnessPublic OpinionPunishmentSentencing (Australia) |