The headlines on a recent spike in ram raids paint a picture of a country with youth crime at crisis levels. The New Zealand Herald carried reports about a ram raid “crime wave” or a “youth crime ram raid spree”. If audiences have a distorted picture of youth crime rates, that may just be a function of the way news works. In her eyes, that narrative is shaped by reports that fail to carry information about the factors driving youth crime, or context on the overall statistics on youth offending. "While the headlines may make you think youth crime is ballooning completely out of control, the statistics don't back up that narrative.

Source: Stuff May 08, 2022 04:15 UTC