Homelessness and predictors of criminal reoffending: A retrospective cohort study

IF 1.1 4区医学 Q3 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Pub Date : 2023-06-02 DOI:10.1002/cbm.2298

Rebecca J. Mitchell, Nicholas Burns, Nicholas Glozier, Olav Nielssen

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Background

There are not many longitudinal studies examining people experiencing homelessness and interacting with the criminal justice system over time.

Aims

To describe the type of criminal offences committed, court outcomes, identify probable predictors of reoffending, and estimate the criminal justice costs in a cohort of homeless hostel clinic attendees.

Method

A retrospective cohort study of 1646 people attending a homeless clinic who had had contact with the criminal justice system (CJS) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, using linked clinic, criminal offence, health and mortality data from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2021. Initial comparisons were made with the 852 clinic attendees without CJS contact in the period. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of recidivism.

Results

There were 16,840 offending episodes, giving an offence rate of 87.8 per 100 person-years (95%CI: 86.5–89.1). The most common index offences were acts intended to cause injury (22%), illicit drug (17%) and theft-related (12%) offences. Most people (83%) were found guilty of the index offence and received a fine (37%) or community-based sentence (29%). Total court finalisation costs were AUD $11.3 million. Three-quarters of those convicted reoffended within 24 months. Offenders were more likely to be younger, have a diagnosis of personality disorder (AOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.04–1.67), a substance use disorder (AOR: 1.60; 95% CI 1.14–2.23) and/or to have a previous charge dismissed on mental health grounds (AOR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.31–2.46). Within the offending cohort, reoffenders had almost twice the odds of having theft-related offences as their principal index offence (AOR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.29–2.66).

Conclusions

This longitudinal study finding of not only a high rate of criminal justice contact, but also a high rate of recidivism among people who have been homeless, lends support to a need for strategies both to address the root causes of homelessness and to provide a comprehensive systems-based response to reduce recidivism, that includes secure housing as well as mental health and substance use treatment programmes for homeless offenders.

Abstract Image

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无家可归与犯罪再犯的预测因素:一项回顾性队列研究

背景随着时间的推移，没有多少纵向研究调查无家可归者以及与刑事司法系统的互动。目的描述所犯罪行的类型、法庭结果，确定再次犯罪的可能预测因素，并估计无家可归者宿舍诊所参与者的刑事司法成本。方法采用2008年7月1日至2021年6月30日的相关诊所、刑事犯罪、健康和死亡率数据，对澳大利亚新南威尔士州一家无家可归者诊所的1646名与刑事司法系统有过接触的人进行回顾性队列研究。对这段时间内没有接触CJS的852名诊所就诊者进行了初步比较。多变量逻辑回归用于确定累犯的预测因素。结果共有16840起犯罪事件，犯罪率为87.8/100人年（95%可信区间：86.5-89.1）。最常见的指数犯罪是故意伤害行为（22%）、非法药物（17%）和盗窃相关犯罪（12%）。大多数人（83%）被判犯有指数罪，并被处以罚款（37%）或社区判决（29%）。法庭最终裁决的总费用为1130万澳元。四分之三的被定罪者在24个月内再次犯罪。罪犯更有可能更年轻，被诊断为人格障碍（AOR:1.31；95%CI:1.04-1.67）、物质使用障碍（AOR：1.60；95%CI 1.14-2.23）和/或之前因心理健康原因被撤销指控（AOR:1.79；95%CI:1.31-2.46），再犯者将盗窃相关犯罪作为主要指标犯罪的几率几乎是其两倍（AOR:1.85；95%CI:1.29-2.66），但无家可归者的累犯率很高，这支持了制定战略的必要性，既要解决无家可归的根本原因，又要提供基于系统的综合对策来减少累犯，其中包括为无家可归的罪犯提供安全的住房以及心理健康和药物使用治疗方案。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Multiple-

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health – CBMH – aims to publish original material on any aspect of the relationship between mental state and criminal behaviour. Thus, we are interested in mental mechanisms associated with offending, regardless of whether the individual concerned has a mental disorder or not. We are interested in factors that influence such relationships, and particularly welcome studies about pathways into and out of crime. These will include studies of normal and abnormal development, of mental disorder and how that may lead to offending for a subgroup of sufferers, together with information about factors which mediate such a relationship.