NCJ Number
231252
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 119-136
Date Published
May 2010
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article examines the effect that the book Out of Care has had on juvenile justice policy in England and Wales.
Abstract
The article recalls the writing of Out of Care, often regarded as a key text for juvenile justice policy and practice in England and Wales in the 1980s. It dispels some misconceptions about the book's arguments, showing that it argued for a 'welfare' rather than a 'justice' approach to juvenile offending, and offered a set of prescriptions for face-to-face practice as well as for a critical understanding of the local juvenile justice system. The article acknowledges some contradictions and ambiguities in Out of Care, but shows that it is a mistake to treat it as advocating minimum (as opposed to targeted) intervention, or as arguing that the content of direct work with young people is unimportant. The article traces some of the processes by which the ideas in the book were made available to audiences of practitioners and policymakers, and how changes in policy in particular local authorities encouraged a wider process of reform. Notes and references (Published Abstract)