This report has been prepared at the request of the Victorian Minister for Community Welfare Services, The Honourable Pauline Toner, MLA. The proposal for this work to be done was originally conveyed to the writer by the Director-General of Community Welfare Services, Mr Ben Bodna, on 26 May 1982. Discussions with Mrs Toner and Mr Bodna in early June clarified the requirements of the project. A submission was subsequently prepared for the Board of Management of the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Board gave its approval for the project to proceed at its meeting of 8 June 1982. The Board requested, however, that the report include data relevant to jurisdictions other than Victoria, and as far as possible this has been done.