Convicted juveniles - later higher risk of recidivism
A study shows that a quarter of male and female juvenile offenders born in 1992 are re-sentenced as adults. The risk of reconviction in adulthood tends to be higher for males. Other risk factors include numerous previous convictions in adolescence and serious crimes committed during childhood and adolescence. This is the result of an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office.
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has investigated how many offenders recorded in the juvenile criminal conviction statistics later also appear in the adult criminal conviction statistics. For this purpose, a group of 6649 underage Swiss nationals born in Switzerland in 1992 who committed an offense against the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC), the Swiss Road Traffic Act (SVG) or the Swiss Narcotics Act (BetmG) was selected. The analysis concluded that 25 percent of these juvenile offenders (1664 persons) were re-sentenced by an adult court between the ages of 18 and 23.
More relapses in men
Not only are males overrepresented among adjudicated juveniles (73% boys and 27% girls), they are also more likely to commit additional offenses after reaching the age of majority. Boys convicted as minors are nearly four times more likely than girls to be subsequently convicted by the adult criminal justice system (adult recidivism rate: males 31%, females 8%).
The more previous convictions, the more recidivism
The more juvenile adjudications against an individual, the more likely they are to be convicted in adulthood. Among minors who received criminal convictions once, twice, three times, and four times or more, the recidivism rate is 20 percent, 34 percent, 49 percent, and 64 percent, respectively.
The more serious the crime, the more likely recidivism will occur
The results suggest that recidivism in adulthood depends in part on the severity of the offenses committed in adolescence. The reconviction rate in adulthood is 17 percent for juveniles who had committed only misdemeanors and 29 percent for minors who had committed a misdemeanor or felony.
Drug trafficking and SVG delinquency increase recidivism
Recidivism in adulthood seems to be related to the fact that the juvenile convictions involved an offense against the BetmG or the Road Traffic Act. In this context, however, the FSO has found that diversity (i.e., citing multiple offenses of different natures) increases the likelihood of recidivism. Diversity occurs more frequently for offenses against the BetmG or SVG than for offenses against the StGB. This could explain why the recidivism probability increases in the case of road traffic delinquency or trafficking in narcotics.
The results on the influence of age should be treated with caution, as not all methodological stumbling blocks could be fully eliminated. In general, the data indicate that juveniles who were convicted in the last two years before reaching the age of majority are particularly likely to be resentenced as adults. The exception here is the results on age at first conviction. Here, it is those who received a juvenile adjudication at a very young age who are particularly likely to reoffend once they reach adulthood.
Source: Federal Statistical Office
