Research exploring online fraud has largely focused on victim characteristics, limiting our knowledge of the factors influencing individuals’ risk of engaging in fraud offenses. It is essential that researchers understand the early-onset risk factors for fraud offending to develop better strategies to prevent behavior and reduce victimization. To address this gap in the literature, this study explored the relationship between self-control, opportunity, and two forms of online fraud in a sample of youth. The results illustrated that self-control and deviant peer associations increase the risk of acquiring personal information and funds from victims, though different online behaviors were associated with each offense. The implications of this study for our understanding of both criminological theory and policy are discussed in detail.

This study synthesises the prevalence of self-reported child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) perpetration by adults from the general population. We conducted a systematic review and proportional meta-analysis, searching eight electronic databases and grey literature sources up to August 1, 2025, supplemented by citation tracking. Inclusion criteria specified quantitative observational studies in English that sampled community-based adults (aged 18 and older) and reported primary, self-report data (numerator and denominator) on CSEA perpetration (contact or noncontact) against children (under 18). Studies using clinical, forensic, or specialised samples were excluded. Thirty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Proportional meta-analysis using random-effects models (with Hartung-Knapp adjustment to account for sparse data) yielded a sex-standardised prevalence for contact offending of 4.5% (any child age), 2.0% (pubescent), and 1.5% (prepubescent). Noncontact offending prevalence was 6.5% (any age), 6.2% (pubescent), and 1.7% (prepubescent). Subsequent analysis of sex-separated estimates, excluding influential outliers, found the prevalence of contact and noncontact offending against prepubescent children to be 1.6% and 2.5% for men and 1.0% and 0.5% for women, respectively. Among men, noncontact offending was approximately twice as prevalent as contact offending, whereas for women, contact and noncontact prevalences were similar. These findings are the first attempt to provide population-level benchmarks for self-reported CSEA perpetration, though results should be interpreted cautiously due to high heterogeneity and reliance on non-representative samples.

Using a sample of 145 men convicted for sexually assaulting a woman, we examined perceived risks and difficulties in the context of noncompleted and completed sexual offences against women to help further understand the decision-making process of individuals who commit those crimes and offer complementary insights from a prevention point of view. The participants were 29 years old on average. We looked at the individual’s accounts of their offending. First and foremost, the dominating response in regards to high ratings of difficulties in noncompleted offences was woman resistance. Second, intoxication was reported by participants to justify both high risk and the absence of risk during their offending. Third, participants who perceived no risk and completed a sexual offence against a woman further indicated, in almost half the cases, that they thought (or assumed) the woman had given her consent initially. Fourth, very few participants referred to environmental conditions when assessing the risks and difficulties of committing an offence. Lastly, the results are discussed in light of considerations for crime prevention.

Researchers have increasingly explored the negative consequences of Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images (NCSII) for victims, though less work has considered the factors associated with offending, particularly among youth populations. Few have explored offending using criminological frameworks, calling to question how well existing models of offending may account for this behaviour. This study attempted to address this gap in the literature through an assessment of youth participation in non-consensual sharing of images in a sample of 864 South Australian youth. Using binary logistic regression modelling, this study examined the relationship between self-control, opportunity and youth involvement in NCSII. The implications for our understanding of both image abuse and criminological theory were examined in detail.

Objectives: This study presents a quasi-experimental evaluation of a specialized treatment program for young people in Australia who have committed sexual offences. Methods: Using administrative data from Queensland's Department of Youth Justice and Victim Support, the study examined 1489 young people processed for sexual offences between 2010 and 2024, 286 of whom were referred to and received treatment at a specialized service in the state. Covariate-adjusted and propensity scorebased methods, along with Cox regression analysis, were used to assess treatment effects on violent, non-violent, and sexual recidivism for 144 young people who received treatment from the service and 303 who did not. Results: Results indicate that treatment reduced overall recidivism by 34 %-44 %, with the greatest reductions observed in sexual recidivism (78 %-90 %). Conclusions: These findings support the effectiveness of specialized treatment for young people who have committed sexual offences. The implications of methodological decisions in quasi-experimental research designs with this population are also discussed.

A disproportionally large number of adolescents engage in cyber-deviance. However, it is unclear if distinct patterns of adolescent cyber-deviance are evident, and if so, whether and to what extent low self-control is associated with different patterns of cyber-deviance. The current study addressed this research gap by examining the relationship between self-control and distinct latent classes of adolescent cyber-deviance net of potential confounders among a cross-sectional sample of 1793 South Australian adolescents. Four latent classes were identified, each characterized by varying probabilities of involvement in six types of cyber-deviance that were measured. The versatile class (n = 413) had the lowest average level of self-control, followed by the harmful content users (n = 439) and digital piracy (n = 356) classes, with the abstainer class (n = 585) characterized by the highest self-control. Analysis of covariance indicated that the abstainer group had significantly higher self-control than other classes of cyber-deviance. Although the versatile class had noticeably lower average self-control scores than the harmful content users and digital piracy groups, this difference was not significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Collectively, these findings suggest that self-control appears to distinguish between those who do and do not engage in cyber-deviance but may not distinguish between distinct patterns of cyber-deviance net of other factors.

This study provides an evaluation of recidivism outcomes for a specialized, field-based treatment program for youth who perpetrate sexual offenses in an Australian jurisdiction. Using survival analyses, recidivism outcomes for the treatment group (n = 200), who were followed for an average of 5.07 years (SD = 3.13), were contrasted with a sample of sexually offending youth who were either referred but not accepted or not referred to the program (n = 295). Rates of sexual recidivism were low and not significantly different between the groups (9.5% for treated and 10.8% for untreated). Unadjusted Cox regression results indicated that the treated group were less likely to violently recidivate compared to the untreated group (HR = 1.41, 95% CI [1.01, 1.96]), but this effect became nonsignificant when controlling for offense history covariates (HR = 1.22, 95% CI [0.87, 1.72]). Both groups exhibited high rates of nonsexual offending during the follow-up period, and treatment factors including clinician-rated success, were found to be associated with a lower frequency of reoffending after treatment. Findings highlight important considerations for both practice and research. First, findings suggest the need for specialized programs to ensure factors associated with general recidivism are also addressed in treatment; second, findings reinforce potential utility for clinician-rated and structured assessments to inform treatment planning and outcomes. Finally, the findings raise the importance of appropriate comparison groups when designing evaluation studies, to accurately inform policy and practice.

Research has shown that psychosocial and behavioral factors are associated with engagement in a range of deviant behaviors across offline settings. To date, however, very little research has explored the impact of these factors in online contexts. This article addresses this gap by examining the psychosocial and behavioral factors associated with common types of adolescent cyberdeviance. This is accomplished through an empirical study of 327 adolescents enrolled in a high school located in a large Australian city. The study assesses various aspects of psychosocial and behavioral functioning using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (total difficulties, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, prosocial behavior), as well as numerous types of cyberdeviance relevant to young people, including cyberfraud, cyberhate, cyberviolence, sexting, digital piracy, hacking, and cyberbullying. A series of multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to demonstrate the association between psychosocial and behavioral difficulties and various types of cyberdeviance, independent of gender, school grade, socioeconomic status, and engagement in offline delinquency. Results indicate that total difficulties, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems were significantly associated with greater likelihood of engagement in most types of cyberdeviance examined in this study, whereas prosocial behavior was associated with a lower likelihood of engagement in digital piracy only. A discussion of the findings highlights the importance of understanding these factors in a digital context, as well as demonstrating the need to account for them when designing targeted interventions.

The rise of the Internet has dramatically increased the degree to which youth may be exposed to online hate content, and simplified the process of sharing this content with others. Viewing messages that contain hate speech or language vilifying others can increase an individual's risk of radicalization to extremist views and the acceptance of violent ideologies. Researchers have begun to explore the risk factors for exposure to such content, with prior studies demonstrating a relationship between low self-control and online activities being important correlates. Few studies have utilized youth samples to assess these relationships, or explored the voluntary consumption and sharing of content. This study attempts to address this gap in the literature using self-report responses provided by a sample of 1,193 youths in South Australia. A series of quantitative models are estimated assessing the relationships between self-control, opportunities to view content using both on and off-line measures, and four dependent variables related to exposure to or sharing of hate content. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of the utility of criminological theory to radicalization and countering violent extremism are discussed in detail.

Juvenile populations face a substantial risk of emotional, physical, and psychological harm as a result of bullying and cyberbullying experiences. As a result, there is a need to assess the situational and individual factors contributing to the risk of bullying victimization. There is, however, little research examining cyberbullying victimization using frequency-based measures of victimization. To address this gap in the literature, this study utilized a sample of over 37,000 youth from South Australia to explore the risk factors associated with cyberbullying victimization through a routine activities framework while controlling for verbal, social, and physical bullying. The findings noted partial support for the routine activities theory framework to account for cyberbullying victimization. Additionally, the study found differences in cyberbullying risk factors relative to the frequency with which it was reported, as well as the role of school support from peers and adults in increasing risks.

Background: This study examined the effect of a residential drug and alcohol therapeutic community program on criminal convictions among young people who had different trajectories of conviction prior to referral.Method: Data was derived from linked administrative records of all young people referred to a modified thera-peutic community for serious alcohol and drug related difficulties located in New South Wales, Australia (n = 3059). Group-based trajectory modelling and propensity score matching estimated the potential treatment effect at age 17 on subsequent convictions up to 22 years of age, by three pre-referral trajectories of convictions from ages 10 to 16 years, designated "no or low convictions", "moderate incline convictions", and "high incline convictions".Results: Treatment was associated with a significant decrease in convictions for only the high incline convictions trajectory after double adjustment of propensity scores and post-discharge incarceration. The reduction in the number of convictions for the high incline group was substantial (Cohen's d = 0.96), corresponding to 4.36 fewer convictions over five years post referral.Conclusions: Residential therapeutic communities may be an effective intervention to reduce future convictions among young people with drug and alcohol problems who have a high number of convictions prior to referral.

INTRODUCTION:This study examined the association between program duration and rate of criminal conviction and hospitalisation for substance use up to 15 years later among young people admitted to a short-term residential program for drug and alcohol use.METHODS:Data were derived from linked administrative records of all clients referred to a modified therapeutic community for young people from January 2001 to December 2016 in New South Wales, Australia (n = 3059). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses examined the rate of conviction (separately for any offence, violent offence, non-violent offence and administrative offence) and hospitalisation for substance use, up to 15 years post-program among young people who attended treatment for 1-29 days, 30-59 days, 60-89 days and 90-120 days.RESULTS:Thirty days or more in treatment was independently associated with a lower rate of conviction for any offence and a non-violent offence, as well as hospitalisation for substance use, while 60 days or more was associated with a lower rate of conviction for a violent and administrative offence, relative to those who spent 1-29 days in the program. Additional months in the program were also associated with reduced rates of conviction and hospitalisation, although 90-120 days appeared to confer no additional benefits than 60-89 days.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:At least 60 days may be the minimum duration needed for short-term, therapeutic community programs to reduce the risk of conviction across all crime types and hospitalisation for substance use.

The development of online technologies in recent decades has led to the proliferation of the distribution, consumption, and sale of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. This trend has arguably also contributed to the sexual abuse of children offline. In this context, many organizations, including financial institutions and police agencies, have invested human, financial, and technological resources to address this problem. Combining statistics on recent crime trends with data collected from online police investigators suggests the critical need for this phenomenon to be taken more seriously on a global scale. Using data obtained from interviews conducted with online CSAM police investigators across several Australian police agencies, this study presents a detailed view of what is needed to best support police work in this domain. The most frequent responses obtained from investigators grouped around three dimensions: (1) knowledge and skills related to the tools used during investigations, such as computers, information technology, the Internet, and legislations; (2) knowledge related to offenders, how they operate, and how investigators should interact with them virtually; and (3) mental health wellbeing of investigators.

This study examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a representative sample of young people under youth justice supervision in South Australia. The analysis showed that not only was the prevalence of ACEs particularly high in this population (89% experienced a combination of maltreatment and household dysfunction), but so too were trauma symptomatology, substance use, and internalising and externalising behaviours (with more than two-thirds of young people scoring in the clinical ranges on each of these measures). When viewed collectively, the data provide a foundation for understanding and responding to the vulnerabilities of young people in the youth justice system. They suggest that developmentally focused and trauma‑informed approaches may offer the greatest promise in assisting young people and keeping the community safe from crime.

Crime rates in Australia have declined or been steady over the past decade yet prison populations are at all-time highs. Similarly, unemployment rates have been low but unemployment for those ex-prisoners seeking work is very high. In this paper, we draw on the findings of an Australia-wide survey of government-funded employment service providers who support working-aged Australians including ex-prisoners in their search for work. We find that the heterogeneity of the needs of ex-prisoners coupled with the frugality and inflexibility of government policies and practices frustrates the abilities of these agencies to provide services to this target group.

This systematic review synthesized current knowledge about the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among young people known to have offended and examined evidence of associations between ACEs, trauma symptoms, and offending behavior. A systematic search of English-language, peer-reviewed studies published from the year 2000 onwards was conducted. A final pool of 124 studies that reported quantitative data were included in the review. The Cambridge Quality Checklist for the assessment of studies on offending was used to assess methodological quality of included studies. Pooled data indicated that almost 87% of justice-involved young people across 13 countries experienced at least one traumatic event. The odds of experiencing at least one ACE were over 12 times greater for justice-involved young people compared with nonjustice-involved young people. Prevalence of individual ACEs ranged from 12.2% for childhood sexual abuse to 80.4% for parental separation among justice-involved young people. Those who reported both a higher number and multiple types of ACEs were more likely to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress symptoms. However, when considering only high-quality studies, there was minimal evidence to suggest that a higher incidence of ACEs predicted trauma symptoms or that trauma symptoms mediated the association between ACEs and offending behavior. Further research is needed to elucidate factors that differentiate young people exposed to ACEs who go on to offend from those who do not. This research is essential to understanding whether ACEs and trauma are drivers of offending behavior and for informing prevention and intervention strategies.

Objectives: The current study aims to generate insights from sexual offenders on noncompleted sexual offences, that is, on offences that were stopped or discouraged. Methods: Using a sample of sexual offenders who initiated a sexual offence but were stopped or discouraged in action, which we refer to as noncompleted offences, we first examine which and how situational factors and internal states may affect their assessment of risks of apprehension and difficulties in this context. Second, we examine whether situational factors, internal states as well as perceived risks and difficulties can predict offence noncompletion. Linear and logistic regression models were estimated based on the type of offence (noncompleted sexual offences against women or children). Results: Main findings indicate that victim physical resistance is critical for how sex offenders are perceiving difficulties related to offending against women. The presence of a person nearby and victim resistance are predictive of noncompletion of sexual offences against children. Conclusion: This is a critical line of research because knowledge on the factors and circumstances that can discourage or stop offenders from committing crimes can be used by scholars and practitioners to think of prevention initiatives to reduce opportunities of crime.

INTRODUCTION:This study examines the association between treatment in a therapeutic community for adolescents with drug and alcohol problems on hospitalisation outcomes up to 15 years later for all clients, and separately for those with and without a history of criminal conviction. METHOD:A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the linked administrative health and criminal justice records for all adolescents admitted to the Program for Adolescent Life Management (PALM) from January 2001 to December 2016 (n = 3059) in Sydney, Australia. ICD-10AM codes were used to designate hospitalisation outcomes as either physical injury, mental health problems, substance use disorders, or organic illness. The treatment and comparison groups were matched on factors associated with program retention, resulting in a final sample of 1266 clients. We examined the rate of hospitalisation up to 15 years posttreatment for all clients and stratified by prior conviction status using Cox regression analyses. RESULTS:The treatment group had significantly lower rates of hospitalisation for a physical injury (HR = 0.77 [95% CI = 0.61-0.98]), mental health problem (HR = 0.62 [95% CI = 0.47-0.81]), substance use disorder (HR = 0.59 [95% CI = 0.47-0.75]), and organic illness (HR = 0.71 [95% CI = 0.55-0.92]). There was a significant interaction between treatment and prior criminal conviction status on rate of hospitalisation for physical injury, suggesting that the effect of treatment on physical injury was significantly greater for clients with a prior criminal conviction. CONCLUSIONS:Adolescents who engage in a therapeutic community treatment program may have a long-lasting reduction in the risk of subsequent hospitalisation. This also appears to apply to those with a history of criminal conviction.

This review synthesises empirical studies from the past decade investigating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) production and distribution to gain insight into crime commission processes involved in these crimes. The findings highlight overlaps in risk factors for child sexual abuse and CSAM production and distribution, and possible unique risk factors specific to the latter. A substantial amount of CSAM is produced in family contexts, and there are different motivations and strategies for producing CSAM. Taken together, the findings provide important foundational information about the variety of crime commission processes involved in CSAM production and distribution, helping the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies for this increasingly prolific type of crime.

Concern over juvenile sexting behaviors has increased substantially over the last decade, leading to criminological inquiries of the correlates of sexting. Evidence suggests that sexting behavior is associated with one's level of self-control, such that individuals with low self-control are unable to constrain themselves from acting on opportunities to offend. Though self-control is correlated with sexting, few have considered the ways that situational opportunities associated with technology access and self-control influence one another. This study attempted to address this gap in the literature through an analysis of 1328 adolescents enrolled in secondary schools located in a large metropolitan region of South Australia. The findings from three binary logistic regression models illustrated that low self-control, and online opportunity factors were associated with sexting behaviors, though self-control was mediated by the inclusion of opportunity measures. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of criminological theory is discussed in detail.