When the stars align’: decision-making in the NSW juvenile justice system 1990-2005

This thesis examines decision-making in the New South Wales juvenile justice system. It investigates what factors and which people influenced the setting of policy agendas and the choice of policy options during the period 1990 – 2005. Using data from in-depth interviews with key policy actors and from documentary analysis, it aims to identify the dynamic interplay of historical, institutional, legal, professional, pragmatic and political factors within wider economic, social and public policy contexts to explore how and why juvenile justice policy developed in the way that it did during this period. The time frame for the study begins with the publication of the report Kids In Justice: A Blueprint for the Nineties by the NSW Youth Justice Coalition, and continues to 2005, a year marked by the publication of the NSW Law Reform Commission’s Report on Young Offenders, public street disturbances in suburbs of Sydney and the resignation of the Labor Premier the Hon. Bob Carr on August 6th. This time frame is significant as it epitomizes what appears to be a gradual, although not complete shift in approaches to juvenile justice policy: from the promise of potentially progressive diversionary strategies envisaged in the Kids in Justice Report to an approach which increasingly appeared to be concerned with control and punishment and with appeasing media demands. The thesis is a trans disciplinary study. It draws on insights from law, policy studies, media studies and criminology, and pulls them together to develop a unique analytical approach to juvenile justice. It adopts a blended theoretical perspective by combining key elements of critical social sciences with complexity theory together, in an approach, which has been termed by Byrne (1998, 2011) as ‘complex realism’ and by Carroll (2009) as ‘critical complexity’. The thesis concludes that decision takes place within an historically contingent context of what can be termed ‘negotiated order’. There are elements of certainty in the decision-making process but it is also characterised by serendipity and change. Policy processes are dynamic and change can be at times minimal and incremental and at other times monumental. It is argued that people and their ambitions, emotions, skills and experiences are absolutely fundamental to any understanding of policy and this thesis emphasises their role in decision-making. It is anticipated that the insights gathered from looking at this moment in the history of juvenile justice and the influences on decision-making will not only contribute to a more detailed understanding of the policy process in criminology and related disciplines, but might also provide those engaged in advocacy and reform with some tools for even more effective action

Elizabeth Stanley (2016) The Road to Hell: State Violence against Children in Postwar New Zealand. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University Press.

A review of Elizabeth Stanley's recent publication on state violence against children in New Zealand

Politics-led policy and policy-led evidence : the Noetic Review of juvenile justice in New South Wales

On 4 June 2010, the New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Juvenile Justice the Hon Graham West announced his resignation from his ministerial post and indicated that he would leave Parliament at the next election. It was reported that his resignation was prompted not only by a desire to spend more time with his family, but also so that he could work 'more collaboratively in the welfare field' (Robins 2010) and 'speak a bit more freely' (Hall, Nichols and Robins 2010). The Sydney Morning Herald reported that there were two decisions in particular that had prompted his resignation: the first was a failure to notify him of the reversal of a decision, which he had previously publicly announced, to establish a program of 'bail houses' for young people (see Department of Juvenile Justice 2010); and the second was the failure of the Government to respond more positively to a major review of juvenile justice in NSW, undertaken by independent consultancy firm Noetic Solutions and released in May 2010 (the Noetic Report: Noetic Solutions 2010)

Fighting crime, battling injustice : the world of real-life superheroes

This article explores the motivations, actions and experiences of real-life superheroes, those individuals who adopt a superhero persona inspired by both comic books and films, to engage in a range of activities that involve, amongst others, fighting crime, providing community support and battling injustice. Drawing on 13 in-depth interviews with individuals from different countries, as well as an ethnographic content analysis of online material, this innovative research explores the merging of the fictional and the real, the virtual and the terrestrial in the lives of interviewees. The article also enriches our understanding of the 'carnival of crime' and 'edgework' by arguing that risk, pleasure, excitement and transgression can also be found in a carnival of 'doing good' as well as in 'wrongdoing'

The Routledge International Handbook of Criminology and Human Rights

The Routledge International Handbook of Criminology and Human Rights brings together a diverse body of work from around the globe and across a wide range of criminological topics and perspectives, united by its critical application of human rights law and principles. This collection explores the interdisciplinary reach of criminology and is the first of its kind to link criminology and human rights.This text is divided into six sections, each with an introduction and an overview provided by one of the editors. The opening section makes an assessment of the current standing of human rights within the discipline. Each of the remaining sections corresponds to a substantive area of harm prevention and social control which together make up the main core of contemporary criminology, namely:criminal law in practice;transitional justice, peacemaking and community safety;policing in all its guises;traditional and emerging approaches to criminal justice;and penality, both within and beyond the prison.This Handbook forms an authoritative foundation on which future teaching and research about human rights and criminology can be built. This multi-disciplinary text is an essential companion for criminologists, sociologists, legal scholars and political scientists

Crime, Justice and Human Rights

Crime, Justice and Human Rights is an introduction to the philosophy, law and politics of human rights, uniquely tailored to criminologists and criminal justice practitioners. Integrating human rights and criminological frameworks across a range of subject areas – from criminalization and state crime, to crime prevention and critical analyses of the operation of the police, courts and penal system – the authors highlight both the potential and the limitations of human rights in informing new directions in criminology. Featuring case material from Europe, North America, Australia and beyond, this critical, multidisciplinary text supports the teaching of human rights across a wide range of criminological topics, and assists students, researchers and independent readers to incorporate human rights paradigms into their criminological analysis

Reviews of Justice in transition: community restorative justice in Northern Ireland (Anna Eriksson; Uffculme: Willan Publishing, 2009) and Torture, truth and justice: the case of Timor-Leste (Elizabeth Stanley; Abingdon: Routledge, 2009)

[Extract] The process of reviewing these two books inevitably involves bringing to the fore a range of preconceived ideas, conceptions, images and theoretical stances by the reviewer. It is important to acknowledge at the outset that from my point of view there is not enough critical literature on restorative justice and transitional justice. Both these books take a critical reflexive approach to restorative and transitional justice paradigms within the specific settings of Northern Ireland and Timor-Leste. Because of this reflexive stance they provide refreshing and informative reading. They are both situated, contextualised readings of restorative and transitional\ud justice that draw from these particular historical examples to enrich our understanding of the broader dynamics of justice in 'post' conflict societies

BENCAL Cruise Report

This report documents the scientific activities on board the South African Fisheries Research Ship (FRS) Africana during an ocean color calibration and validation cruise in the Benguela upwelling ecosystem (BEN-CAL), 4-17 October 2002. The cruise, denoted Afncana voyage 170, was staged in the southern Benguela between Cape Town and the Orange River within the region 14-18.5 deg E,29-34 deg S, with 15 scientists participat- ing from seven different international organizations. Uniquely in October 2002, four high-precision ocean color sensors were operational, and these included the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on the Aqua and Terra spacecraft, the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), and the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). SeaWiFS imagery was transmitted daily to the ship to assist in choosing the vessel's course and selecting stations for bio-optical deployments. There were four primary objectives of the cruise. The first was to conduct bio-optical measurements with above- and in-water optical instruments to vicariously calibrate the satellite sensors. The second was to interrelate diverse measurements of the apparent optical properties (AOPs) at satellite sensor wavelengths with inherent optical properties (IOPs) and bio-optically active constituents of seawater such as particles, pigments, and dissolved compounds. The third was to determine the interrelationships between optical properties, phytoplankton pigment composition, photosynthetic rates, and primary production, while the fourth objective was to collect samples for a second pigment round-robin intercalibration experiment. Weather conditions were generally very favorable, and a range of hyperspectral and fixed wavelength AOP instruments were deployed during daylight hours. Various IOP instruments were used to determine the absorption, attenuation, scattering, and backscattering properties of particulate matter and dissolved substances, while a Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRF) was deployed to acquire data on phytoplankton photosynthetic activity. Hydrographic profiling was conducted routinely during the cruise, and seawater samples were collected for measurements of salinity, oxygen, inorganic nutrients, pigments, particulate organic carbon, suspended particulate material, and primary production. Location of stations and times of optical deployments were selected to coincide with satellite overpasses whenever possible, and to cover a large range in trophic conditions