Aussie study links early childhood vulnerability with later police contact
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E-mail Xinhua, June 25, 2021
While mental health vulnerability was known to be associated with criminal justice system contact in adulthood and adolescence, a study unveiled on Wednesday found this association could extend to early childhood.
The study, led by researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), used data from the NSW Child Development Study, which included 79,000 children (50.9 pct boys and 49.1 pct girls), and the observation period of the study spanned over eight years, from when a child entered full-time schooling (aged five years on average) until they turned 13 years of age.
The results showed that 9,841 children had at least one contact with police after school entry, and almost one-third of them were found to have at least one emotional or behavioural problem at school entry, with the incidence rate being twice that of children without such problems.
"We know that people with mental health problems are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system in adulthood and adolescence, but this study indicates that the association can begin much earlier in life," said lead author Professor Kimberlie Dean, Chair of Forensic Mental Health and Acting Head of the School of Psychiatry at UNSW Medicine and Health.
The finding suggested that prevention of poor outcomes, including repeated contact with the criminal justice system, relied on the identification of vulnerability early in life and at the start of such contact.
"There might also be opportunities to identify vulnerable children and families when a child experiences their first early contact with police. It raises a flag that early intervention may be warranted," Dean explained.
The study also revealed that contact with police as a survivor of crime was the most common reason for first police contact, followed by contact as a person of interest and contact as a witness, and incidence rates of police contact were higher for boys than girls for contact as a person of interest.
While researchers said the strength of the study is in the large and representative cohort, they acknowledged limitations to the research and the extent to which the findings were generalisable to other jurisdictions, within Australia and beyond, is uncertain.
Relevant research paper was published in JAMA Network Open.
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