Guidance
Underlying causes of offending behaviour – dynamic and static risk factors
When we are working with tamariki and rangatahi with offending behaviour and their whānau or family, we build and deepen our understanding of the context and environment, including any dynamic and static risk factors that may be contributing.Underlying causes of offending behaviour
When tamariki and rangatahi come to our attention with offending behaviour, we work with them and their whānau or family to understand the situation and context in which the offending has occurred. We use Te Puna Oranga alongside other models, tools and resources to build and deepen our understanding of the underlying reason for the offending behaviours. We use Organising my Practice to plan our mahi to ensure we are widening our lens to include whānau or family to build understanding of the environment.
As we are building and deepening our understanding of the offending behaviour, we seek to understand what safety looks like for tamariki and rangatahi. Safety includes safety from harm of further offending, safety of the community and safety of victims. Planning for safety may include times following arrest when we are considering bail options in the community or transitioning to and from residential or care home settings. We use Tiaki Oranga to understand current safety and develop a plan with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau or family and others.
Oranga-framed practice prompts
Oranga and youth justice (PDF 302 KB)
Offending behaviour doesn’t sit with tamariki and rangatahi in isolation. We need to understand the whānau or family and the environment that tamariki and rangatahi live in to build a holistic understanding to inform plans or interventions.
We consider static and dynamic risk factors as we build understanding about the current behaviour and likely risk of reoffending. This enables us to work with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau or family to develop a plan to offset the risk of reoffending by addressing the factors that have contributed to the offending behaviour.
When we are working with tamariki and rangatahi with offending behaviours, we need to consider the likelihood of disability and neurodiversity. Neurodiversity can affect how te tamaiti or rangatahi learns and understands their environment, and how they communicate and respond to others (such as whānau or family, peers, police and others). Often disability and neurodiversity are not identified so we look for signs of neurodiversity, which may include challenges with social interactions and communication, sensory sensitivities and anxiety, and difficulties with focusing and regulating emotion and behaviours. We work to understand the support needs of these tamariki and rangatahi and provide strengths-based responses to those needs.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and neurodiversity
What are static and dynamic risk factors
When working with tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau or family to understand offending behaviours, we build and deepen our understanding of static and dynamic risk factors.
Static risk factors are unchanging factors. They allow us to understand the history to identify patterns and risks that indicate an increased likelihood of offending.
Static risk factors include:
- demographics (such as name, age, gender, ethnicity, iwi)
- conditions growing up (such as single-parent household, parent incarcerated, older sibling involved in offending, or wider whānau or family)
- age of first offence, chronology, summary of facts, etc – offending that starts at a younger age can increase the likelihood of serious and persistent offending.
While the static risk factors build and deepen our understanding of the offending behaviours, the dynamic risk factors are where intervention and plans should be focused to achieve positive change.
Dynamic risk factors are characteristics that we can influence as they can fluctuate and change. The behaviours that indicate these risk factors include:
- Drug and alcohol use – we need to understand the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs in relation to offending behaviours, as well as the underlying reasons for using drugs or alcohol at a young age. Substance abuse during childhood and adolescence could be a response to trauma, depression and peer influences and increases the risk of offending behaviours.
- Disengagement in education or work – negative experiences and difficulties in school or work (such as truancy from school, absenteeism from work, dropping out of school, frequently changing jobs or longer-term unemployment) are significant risk factors for youth offending. They don't directly cause offending but contribute to a vulnerability that can lead to it.
- Associating with offending peer groups – peers have a significant influence on each other's behaviour and can impact social activities, such as truancy, vandalism or offending.
- Whānau or family context – for example, overly permissible parenting style or lack of boundaries in the home, whānau or family beliefs about offending behaviour being acceptable or normalised (such as domestic violence).
- Disruptive whānau or family environments – including chaotic and poor-quality family relationships, minimal or poor social expectations regarding crime, criminal activity and substance use.
- Attitudes that are related to offsetting or justifying behaviours – examples include:
- denial of harm to other people
- denial of responsibility
- a belief that the victims deserve to be hurt
- victims have insurance
- a belief that conforming or following the rules is wrong
- a belief that rules and the law are unfair or don’t apply to them and they see more benefit from offending.
- Behaviours that are unpredictable, aggressive or harmful toward others – these may include:
- a lack of empathy or remorse for the harm caused
- destructive behaviour (such as destruction of property, breaking and throwing things)
- aggression (assaulting or verbally abusing others)
- truancy
- stealing
- disregard for rules or boundaries
- cruelty to animals
- fire setting.
As we deepen our understanding of these dynamic risk factors and understand support needs, we can focus the intervention and plan on the needs and strengths of tamariki and rangatahi.
Identifying and addressing needs can lead to a reduction in the risk of further offending.
Practice note: Offending by young people (June 2024) (PDF 531 KB)