The concentration of offending
Flood et al. (2000) found that the great majority of young people
who commit offences do so infrequently. But a small hard core of persistent young
offenders is responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. This is evidenced
by the fact that the survey revealed that:
nearly 50% of those young people who said that they had offended in the last
year admitted one or two offences, which were relatively minor, e.g. criminal damage
and buying stolen goods;
the most prolific 10% of offenders were responsible for nearly half of all
crimes by the sample. These 10% represented only 1% of all those
questioned for the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey.
23% of young people aged 12 to 17 who were persistent offenders had been cautioned or taken to court at least once in the last year.
Proportion admitting one or more offences in
the last year, by age
.gif)
Click here for an
enlarged version of the above graph
The following tables taken from the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey provide information
on the number of offences committed by offenders by age and gender. It also provides
some data profiling Persistent and Serious Offender's offending history in the last
year.
Number of offences
committed by offenders; by age
| No of offences |
Percentage of
offenders |
|
12-13 |
14-15 |
16-17 |
18-21 |
22-25 |
26-30 |
All |
| 1 |
30 |
23 |
12 |
26 |
23 |
39 |
26 |
| 2 |
22 |
25 |
35 |
21 |
39 |
17 |
26 |
| 3-5 |
32 |
31 |
24 |
31 |
29 |
25 |
29 |
| 6-9 |
0 |
10 |
15 |
16 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
| 10 or more |
15 |
12 |
13 |
7 |
7 |
13 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Number of offences committed by
offenders; by sex
|
Males |
Females |
|
12-17 |
18-30 |
12-30 |
12-17 |
18-30 |
12-30 |
| 1 |
17 |
27 |
24 |
25 |
33 |
29 |
| 2 |
27 |
23 |
24 |
30 |
31 |
30 |
| 3-5 |
31 |
29 |
30 |
25 |
26 |
26 |
| 6-9 |
13 |
11 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
| 10
or more |
11 |
10 |
11 |
16 |
4 |
10 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Note:
1 Not all columns
add to exactly 100% because of rounding
2
These figures are based on those who stated the number of offences
they committed in the last year. Six percent of males and teo
percent of females admitted committing an offence in the last year
but did not state the number of times. These offenders are omitted
from the above analysis.
Profile of
serious or persistent offenders, offending history in the last year
|
12-17
year olds |
18-30
year olds |
All
12-30 |
|
Males |
Females |
All |
Males |
Females |
All |
year
olds |
| Persistent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| -no
serious offences |
48 |
63 |
54 |
71 |
86 |
74 |
65 |
| Persistent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| -at
least one serious offence |
30 |
13 |
24 |
14 |
0 |
11 |
17 |
| Serious
Offender |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| -
not persistent |
22 |
24 |
23 |
15 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Flood-Page, C., Campbell, S., Harrington, V.
& Miller J. (2000) Youth Crime: Findings from the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles
Survey, Home Office Research Study 209. Home Office: London.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors209.pdf
Some of those young offenders are known to relevant agencies already, suggesting
the importance for Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships to target preventative
initiatives to reach this high-offending group.
|
