Toowoomba youth crime: Griffith University academic urges end to tough on crime politics in favour of new reforms

Following the alleged assault of an elderly man in the middle of Toowoomba, an academic has revealed how to actually solve the city’s youth crime crisis – and the answer is not more ‘tough on crime’ politics.

Toowoomba’s youth crime crisis can be solved with programs and initiatives that have already been demonstrated to work — but only if the community and government are willing to embrace them.

That’s according to Emeratis Professor Ross Homel, a leading youth crime expert at Griffith University, who has called for an end to the “law and order auction” committed by both Labor and the LNP in favour of funding social programs and preventive measures to break the cycle of reoffending.

The veteran criminology academic’s comments come just days after an elderly man was allegedly attacked in broad daylight just outside Grand Central Shopping Centre on Monday.

An 18-year-old man has been charged with the assault while on Wednesday police arrested two other juveniles, who are also expected to be charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Police will allege one was the getaway driver and the other was an accessory.

The Chronicle on Wednesday invited Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to come to Toowoomba to meet with the victims of young offenders.

Professor Ross Homel.

Professor Homel, who has described the current ratcheting of tougher youth crime laws as a “political death spiral”, said the state government’s latest package of reforms would be largely ineffective at combating the issue.

In fact, he said “tough on crime” approach adopted by both sides of politics was actually having the opposite effective on curbing recidivism and making communities less safe.

“Every year, fewer young people get in trouble with police, on a per capita basis,” Professor Homel said.

“Unfortunately, there are 10 per cent of youth offenders who commit 40 per cent of offences.

“We’re dealing with serious repeat offenders who typically started young, as young as 10.

“A rational society would understand the problem and devise solutions, but what we’re engaged in is a political death spiral or a law and order auction.

“One side says they’ll increase the laws and the other side ups the ante — it’s a pantomime, for public entertainment (and) it is not a rational solution to the problem.”

Prof Homel said governments and community members often ignored the fact that repeat youth offenders often came from backgrounds of violence, neglect, substance abuse and other anti-social behaviour.

He noted research showed about a third of young offenders suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome, a condition developed from mothers drinking while pregnant that left children often unable to moderate their behaviour or emotions.

“They have huge problems with emotional regulation, because the parts of the brain that regulate our emotions and provide self-control, that prefrontal lobe has been damaged,” Professor Homel said.

“They come from backgrounds of extreme violence, abuse, neglect, drug abuse.

“We should invest more into programs that can address the problems these kids have over a sufficient period of time.”

Professor Homel said the government should further more into community-based initiatives and programs based around cognitive behavioural therapy, which had demonstrated an ability to get young at-risk people to change their approach to society at large.

“We need many more of those interventions for those offenders, in order to make these communities safer,” he said.

“There are other strategies, there are very good programs that the department uses that are based on CBT, which gets kids to reframe what happens to them and to learn new behavioural strategies.

“It is a proven approach, they are putting resources into it, but not enough.”

Professor Homel noted the current incentive structures pushed law-makers to adopt “tough on crime” stances.

“I have talked with both sides of politics, and they agree with me but neither side thinks it is able to come up with strong arguments because the belief is those solutions would not be well-received by the public, who believe getting them off the street is the only solution,” he said.

“I’m not ridiculing those people (who believe in harsher penalties), the trouble is those kids get out as they should and the cycle repeats itself.

“We have in Queensland the highest rate of recidivism, which means whatever we’re doing isn’t working.

“I think people are ready to accept the message that what we do isn’t working and is actually making the community less safe — we’re also violating the human rights of children.”

Professor John Toumbourou, Deakin’s Chair in Health Psychology

CHARITY WILLING TO WORK WITH TOOWOOMBA

A charity that specialises in developing community-based programs to reduce the rates of youth criminality believes Toowoomba could be ideal to take on the concept.

Communities That Care, which was established in 2002, is an “evidence-based, community-change process” that has worked with numerous towns and regions across Australia to reduce the rates of substance abuse, violent behaviour and school absenteeism in young people.

Director John Toumbourou, who is also a psychology professor at Deakin University, said the concept involved a five-step process to develop a “community coalition” of stakeholders.

“It works on a life-course model, so you’re correcting things that happen to children that lead them to a life of crime,” he said.

“The model uses evidence-based practices for primary and secondary school youth to look at the risk factors, like violence in the home or access to alcohol.

“It’s been very successful in its implementation in Victoria and other states.

“Generally it includes the police, local government, schools, youth workers, but it can also include other parties like religious leaders, and mental health services.”

Professor Toumbourou said Toowoomba, like many other communities, could be ideal but the impetus would need to start within the region itself.

“It generally starts with one person in the community that’s willing to host CTC in the community (and) we have a prepared format to discuss that meeting — the decision (from that meeting) is a go or no-go,” he said.

“We’re very supportive of communities playing a role in the prevention effort.”

For more information about Communities That Care, head to the website.