Returning to Delinquency: Factors Effecting the Survivorship of Juvenile Shoplifters

This article examines a program designed to provide a family court with a means of lessening the probability that youths on probation for shoplifting will return to criminal behavior. A single staff member within the family court screened possible participants, all of whom were defined as first-time shoplifting offenders and had been assigned to formal or informal probation. Each individual was invited to participate in a four-hour clinic, during which time the realities and possible consequences of shoplifting were explained. If they were able to successfully complete six months of supervised probation, then only the administrative record remained; the conviction itself was expunged. Over a period of nine months, a total of 154 juveniles were invited; however, only 100 actually took part in all facets of the program. A total of 30 clinic attendees and 14 nonparticipants were excluded from the present analysis, owing to missing data, or the fact that at the time of follow-up, they were legally classified as adults. The prior and subsequent court contacts of 110 subjects are reviewed. While less than 3% of either group had subsequent shoplifting arrests, nearly 26% of the program group and 35% of the nonparticipants were rearrested. Factors associated with long-term success and failure are examined. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed, with specific grounding in the shoplifting literature and the concepts of juvenile diversion and “net-widening.”     

An Analysis of the Prosecution of Shoplifters

This article examines the decisions to prosecute shoplifters by Canadian retail investigators. A hypothetical case method that permits a statistical simulation of an experimental design is used. The findings support recent research which indicates that both the value of the item and the age of the suspect are the most important predictors of investigators' decisions to prosecute. In addition, our results identify admission of the offense and the suspect's appearance as important predictors of these decisions. In general, characteristics of the offense rather than of the offender are found to be most important factors in the decision-making process. Further, the results support the argument that investigators' decisions tend to maximize company profit. How-ever, profit maximization is revealed as an unintended conse-quence of these decisions.     

Statutory Instruments

The following is a list of the main statutory instruments which concern the Education Service. The instruments are listed in numerical order, with a brief explanation of the main contents of each instrument. The Editors gratefully acknowledge Crown copyright.     

Statutory Instruments

The following is a list of the main statutory instruments which concern the Education Service. The instruments are listed in numerical order, with a brief explanation of the main contents of each instrument. The Editors gratefully acknowledge Crown copyright.     

Statutory Instruments

The following is a list of selected statutory instruments which concern the Education Service. The instruments are listed in numerical order, with a brief explanation of the key contents of each instrument. The Editors gratefully acknowledge Crown copyright. Readers are reminded that the full list of SIs can be viewed at www.hmso.gov.uk/si2005: given the ever-increasing volume of SIs and the limited space within the journal, the only SIs reported here are those significantly impacting upon the key policy areas of governance, curriculum, funding, teacher employment, health and safety in schools, SEN, pupil admissions/exclusions (rather than, say, the provision of school meals, the creation of EAZs, travel expenses for governors, etc.).     

Statutory Instruments

The following is a list of selected statutory instruments which concern the Education Service. The instruments are listed in numerical order, with a brief explanation of the key contents of each instrument. The Editors gratefully acknowledge Crown copyright. Readers are reminded that the full list of SIs can be viewed at www.hmso.gov.uk/si2003: given the ever-increasing volume of SIs and the limited space within the journal, the only SIs reported here are those significantly impacting upon the key policy areas of governance, curriculum, funding, teacher employment, health and safety in schools, SEN, pupil admissions/exclusions (rather than say, the provision of school meals, the creation of EAZs, travel expenses for governors, etc.).     

Statutory Instruments

The following is a list of selected statutory instruments which concern the Education Service. The instruments are listed in numerical order, with a brief explanation of the key contents of each instrument. The Editors gratefully acknowledge Crown copyright. Readers are reminded that the full list of SIs can be viewed at www.hmso.gov.uk/si2003 : given the ever-increasing volume of SIs and the limited space within the journal, the only SIs reported here are those significantly impacting upon the key policy areas of governance, curriculum, funding, teacher employment, health and safety in schools, SEN, pupil admissions/exclusions (rather than, say, the provision of school meals, the creation of EAZs, travel expenses for governors, etc.).