Young People with Complex Needs in the Criminal Justice System

TLDR

Young people with complex needs, including cognitive and other disabilities and social disadvantage, face social factors and service system processes that further disable them and lead to incarceration. The study investigates early‑life factors that increase the risk of criminal justice involvement among young people with complex needs. The authors review and summarize existing research to identify key early‑life factors affecting youth in the juvenile justice system. The findings highlight that intersecting cognitive, language, mental health, and social disadvantages cause educational disengagement, precarious housing, and substance misuse—particularly among Indigenous Australians—heightening marginalization and driving frequent criminal justice contact, with implications for intervention.

Abstract

This paper explores key issues identified as operating in the early lives of young people who have complex needs that heighten their risk of involvement with the criminal justice system. These include those with cognitive disabilities and other co-occurring disabilities and social disadvantage. Aspects of current research are reviewed and summarised to identify some key factors evident in early life experience for young people in contact with the juvenile justice system. Implications for those who have complex needs are identified. The role of social factors and service systems in the lives of young people with complex needs is described and processes that appear to lead to their further disablement and incarceration are identified. The paper argues that the negative effect for young people of the intersection of cognitive disability, language, and mental health problems and social disadvantage early in life are significant. They include educational disengagement, precarious housing, and substance misuse, which heighten and intensify the marginalisation experienced by these young people, particularly Indigenous Australians, leading to frequent contact and ongoing involvement in the criminal justice system.