Effective community-based supervision of young offenders

A lot has been written about what works in interventions with offenders (eg Andrews and Bonta 2008; Mclvor and Raynor 2008; McNeill et al. 2005). In recent years, there have also been a small number of studies focusing on what works in the routine supervision of offenders on probation, parole or other community-based orders. These studies have found that certain supervision skills offered by supervisors can lead to reduced levels of reoffending (Bonta et al. 2011; Dowden and Andrews 2004; Robinson et al. 2011; Trotter 1996). These studies have been predominantly undertaken with adult offenders. This paper describes a study that examined the relationship between the use of these practice skills by supervisors in Juvenile Justice in New South Wales and reoffending rates by their clients (those under their supervision). It was hypothesised that it would be possible to identify the extent to which supervisors used particular practice skills through the direct observation of interviews by trained research officers. It was also hypothesised that the more the effective practice skills highlighted in earlier research were used, the less frequently the offenders under supervision would reoffend.