ABSTRACT
Much of society’s concern with extremely difficult and disturbed young people centres on offending, particularly the repetition of serious and violent crime. Conviction during the two years after leaving treatment institutions is the benchmark most used to measure the efficacy of reformatory interventions. It is certainly true to say that gaining any personal insight into crime will count for little if offences continue. Reconviction rates for prison department young offender institutions are generally in the range of 65% – 90%. The discussion of the social and anti-social behaviour of the 204 graduates of specialised treatment begins with simple misbehaviour and then explores who offends and the seriousness of the crimes committed. Subsequent calculations are made to find out how many of those who were at liberty during the two year period got into trouble; a figure which is a more realistic indicator of the treatment centres’ ability to influence offending behaviour.
