Research done by Who and Why?

The research of the chosen article was done by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare which is an Australian national agency that oversees information and statistics on the health and welfare of the Australian people. The information and statistics reported by the agency are often used for informed discussion and policy formulation for better community health. This research was undertaken to analyse the characteristics of young people who are under youth justice supervision to understand the recent trends in youth crime. The research for the report is based on specific research methods to consider a population of young people between ages 10 and 17 since this age group is frequently represented in the youth justice supervision system.

To be more specific, this report is helpful in policy formulation for addressing youth crime issues. It is important to understand why more research is required in this area. Youth are the future of every society and hence it is crucial to take care of them so that are on a socially accepted path while progressing in life. Cunneen (2014) noted that particular attention has to be paid towards sentencing policies for youth offenders and overall better legislative framework to deal with juvenile justice. This was the primary and essential reason to have a detailed report in this area since safeguarding the youth from crime is an important element for national success. It is crucial to prevent more young people from getting involved in crime through intervention, education and rehabilitation (White 2019). Appropriate policies can be formed when the problem and the extent of the problem are understood in detail. When it comes to policies, human rights agencies have always favoured a restorative justice approach for youth. The restorative justice model used in Australia includes conferencing, victim-offender mediation and circle sentencing based on section 19 of the Criminal Procedure Regulation 2005 (Sewak et al, 2019). Considering such positive approaches for dealing with youth crime, it is important that more public agencies work together for better evidence-based findings and policy formulation based on those findings. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) reported that there were about 4700 young people from age 10 to 17 under youth justice supervision in 2021 out of which 81 per cent are male. This is an alarming number considering the restricted age group and period of time because children are supposed to be away from criminal scenarios obtaining education and positive social learning. When that does not happen, it is very reasonable to claim that social, legal and political gaps exist that are not sufficiently addressing youth crime problems. More research is required on the specific causes with the help of strain and social learning theory to analyse the problems and address them accordingly (Butcher et al, 2021). The research undertaken by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is thus focused on understanding the numerical extent of the youth justice problem by looking at the characteristics of young people under youth justice supervision. This research is expected to facilitate any further public agency research aimed at understanding youth crime and justice issues.

Research Questions and Aims

The research aims to understand the specific characteristics of young people who are engaged in crime and are under youth justice supervision. The purpose is to formulate better policies to reduce youth crime and recidivism. This is because youth recidivism has been an issue and a factor of consideration for the government (Hamilton et al, 2024). The increased involvement of young people in crime led to the emergence of analysing the numbers as well as the causes behind the same. The Australian government has been dealing with the youth justice system carefully so that children's youth justice supervision can be reduced. The research also aimed to deliver better outcomes for the Aboriginal children under youth justice supervision with the help of evidence-based assessment so that proper care and rehabilitation programs can be used to educate and make behavioural corrections.

Summary of Qualitative Method

As far as the method of research is concerned, it uses a mixed-method approach since the research is based on both qualitative and quantitative evidence collected by the agency. Data has been collected from during the year 2020-2021 during which the social restrictions for COVID-19 were in place. Around 4700 young people over the age of 10 who are under youth justice supervision were studied and analysed. Apart from the collection of data and the use of statistics, the report also looked at qualitative factors like the proportion of detention, and comparison between male and female offenders. The report also used data from the Indigenous community who are already overrepresented in the justice system. This helps in providing a comparative analysis between various states to understand and form better supervision plans. For example, the report noted that the remoteness of an area is a geographical factor since remote areas are less likely to be supervised. The qualitative method also included analysing socio-economic factors, sentencing, detention and parole orders.

Evaluation of the Success of the Research Project

The report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is comprehensive as well as detailed. This is the primary reason why this research project can be considered successful in its purpose. It not only studies the numerical extent of youth justice supervision but also provides several qualitative aspects in relation to legal procedures and the legislative framework of the youth justice system. The way statistical data has been disclosed, graphical representation are made, and critical analysis are given by the author of the report making it easier for the policy-makers and the legislature to get a detailed insight into broader scenarios of youth crime issues.

To elaborate further, it must be noted that the purpose and aim of the research have been achieved sufficiently. From a critical point of view, the report can be considered direct and transparent. The mix of quantitative evidence and qualitative analysis from various authentic sources like the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Capital Territory, judicial bodies and state governments ensured that the findings of the report were correct and appropriate to be used for policy-making. The data collection method was suitable and appropriate for the focus of the analysis. Data has been thoroughly represented and analysed to clearly portray the results.

Finally, as far as the limitations of the research is concerned, there are not many. However, it can be said the report is a study from 2020-2021 during the COVID-19 period when there was a sudden surge of crime rate in some places due to varied reasons. Hence, the results could have been different if the COVID-19 period was not considered to analyse the characteristics of young people in youth justice supervision in general. Hence, for better results, it is important to consider recent evidence from the last two year which will give an appropriate picture of youth crime in the last two years to evaluate whether previous policies are successful.

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