Pilot analysis of recidivism among convicted youth and young adults

Six out of every 10 convicted offenders aged 18 to 25 in 1999/2000 had at least one previous conviction, either in adult court since 1994/95 or in youth court since 1991/92, according to a new pilot study of court-based recidivism in seven provinces and two territories.

The study, released today by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics uses data from the court systems in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia and Nunavut are excluded, as time series data are not available for these jurisdictions.

This is a pilot study to explore the possibility for ongoing and improved measures. As such it has several limitations. Not all criminal offences committed result in a charge being laid, and about one-third of those cases heard in court do not result in a finding of guilt. Consequently, using convictions within the same jurisdictions only to define recidivism, this pilot study provides a lower bound estimate of the extent of repeat criminal acts by offenders. Further, this study does not identify offenders with prior convictions who did not have at least one conviction in 1999/2000 nor those who may have been found guilty in a different province or territory.

This study examined the conviction profiles of men and women aged 18 to 25 who were found guilty of at least one charge in adult criminal court in 1999/2000. In view of data coverage limitations, a recidivist was defined as an offender with at least one conviction in 1999/2000 and at least one more conviction in an adult court since 1994/95, or in a youth court since 1991/92, within the same province or territory.

In 1999/2000, 60% of the 57,000 convicted offenders in the population under study aged 18 to 25 had at least one prior conviction either in adult criminal court or youth court. Among these repeat offenders, 28% had one prior conviction, while 72% had multiple prior convictions.

Among repeat offenders, 40% were found guilty of a property offence in 1999/2000; violent offences and other Criminal Code violations each represented approximately 15% of guilty cases, and administration of justice and other federal statute offences each represented 10%. Less than 10% of the guilty cases were for Criminal Code traffic offences.

The majority of repeat offenders convicted in adult criminal court in 1999/2000 had been previously found guilty at least once in youth court (62%). Among this group, 38% had one prior conviction in youth court, and 62% had multiple prior youth convictions.

About 37% of recidivists had custody as the most serious sentence, compared with 12% of first-time offenders. In every jurisdiction reporting to the survey, first-time offenders had the lowest incarceration rates. Offenders with the most prior convictions - repeat offenders with multiple adult convictions and multiple youth convictions - had the highest incarceration rates.

Nearly two-thirds of recidivists sentenced to custody in 1990/2000 had been previously incarcerated; 20% were sentenced to custody four or more times.

Juristat: Pilot analysis of recidivism among convicted youth and young adults 1999/2000, Vol. 22, no. 9 (85-002-XIE, $8/$70; 85-002-XPE, $10/$93) is now available.

Results are based on a composite file developed from the Youth Court Survey and Adult Criminal Court Survey. For more information, to order custom tabulations, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023; ccjsccsj@statcan.gc.ca), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.