Destructuring and Criminal Justice Reforms: Rescuing Diversionary Ideas from the Waste-paper Basket

Sarre, Rick

doi:10.1080/10345329.1999.12036135

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In Australia, there is considerable evidence that reforms to the juvenile justice system during the mid-1990s gave rise to wider and denser nets which not only drew more individuals into the justice system (i.e. increased prevalence) but also increased the frequency of offending amongst existing offenders (Baker and Goh, 2004; Carrington, 2006; Ferrante, 2009; Holmes, 2010; Pritchard, 2010; Sarre, 1999; Sutton, 2000; Wundersitz, 1996). A closer analysis of these effects was beyond the scope of the study; however, further research is warranted as it is important to understand the full range of effects caused by large structural reforms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing gender and ethnic differences in developmental trajectories of offending

Ferrante

2013

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology

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Research on diversity in offending patterns is crucial given ongoing polemical debates concerning the relationship between gender, ethnicity and crime. Competing theoretical perspectives, limited supporting evidence and inconclusive or contradictory findings from prior research point to the need for more empiricallygrounded, generalizable research which compare and contrast offending patterns across and within gender and ethnic groups. The current study applies a semiparametric group-based modelling approach to a large, longitudinal dataset of offenders to determine if, and how, offending trajectories vary across gender and ethnic sub-groups. Findings suggest that some trajectory attributes (e.g. number and shape) are shared across gender/ethnic groups, while other trajectory attributes (height, peak age) are not. An exploratory investigation of the risk factors associated with trajectory group membership finds that few of the available factors discriminate between trajectories either within or across gender/ethnic offender groups. The findings fill a knowledge gap, particularly in relation to offending patterns in Australia. Invariance in trajectory risk factors present a challenge to taxonomic theories of offending.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing gender and ethnic differences in developmental trajectories of offending

Ferrante

2013

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology

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“…Unlike the 1969 reforms, which promoted rehabilitation and an ‘enlightened view’ towards offenders, Tulett (1991, p. 27) argues that the 1987–1988 reforms ‘did not address the question of rehabilitation and the need to resolve the social and personal problems that had precipitated the offending.’ In the parliamentary debates, the discussion of cost was not brought up in relation to suspended sentences and, for the most part, the debate seemed to skip over the clauses of the new Act regarding suspended sentences, giving the assumption that, overall, there was bipartisan support for continuance of this sentencing option. For Sarre (1999, p. 266), the inclusion of suspended sentences as a sentencing option can be seen alongside bail reform, the decriminalisation of cannabis, and the introduction of family conferencing and police cautions for young offenders, as another ‘diversionary and deinstitutionalisation’ scheme in South Australia. The purpose of these diversionary processes, according to Sarre (1999, p. 259), was to combat ‘high remand numbers, high recidivism rates, high costs, and the negative impacts of conventional methods of punishment’.…”

Section: The Suspended Sentence In Contemporary South Australia: 1988mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Sarre (1999, p. 266), the inclusion of suspended sentences as a sentencing option can be seen alongside bail reform, the decriminalisation of cannabis, and the introduction of family conferencing and police cautions for young offenders, as another ‘diversionary and deinstitutionalisation’ scheme in South Australia. The purpose of these diversionary processes, according to Sarre (1999, p. 259), was to combat ‘high remand numbers, high recidivism rates, high costs, and the negative impacts of conventional methods of punishment’. Sarre added that ‘[k]eeping people out of the system at the “front-end” became the catch-cry.’…”

Section: The Suspended Sentence In Contemporary South Australia: 1988mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This would suggest that suspended sentences are not being used in most cases as a substitute for a custodial sentence, but as a good behaviour bond ‘with teeth’. If the reason that the sentencing option of the suspended sentence was kept on the statutes book in 1988 during the reforms to the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act , as suggested by Sarre (1999), was to reduce the number of offenders being sent to prison, then it seems that this has not had the desired effect. However if the intent of the suspended sentences is to provide an increased sense of punishment for offenders being sentenced for the first time or for minor offences, as The Advertiser opined for in the 1920s, then the legislation might be working in the manner that the architects of the Offenders Probation Act originally intended.…”

Section: Suspended Sentences In Other States Of Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modern diversion or colonial hangover? The history and development of suspended sentences in South Australia

Smith

2015

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology

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Suspended sentences, although controversial, are used in most jurisdictions across Australia in some form, with most states and territories having introduced this sentencing option in the 1980s and 1990s. However, South Australia's legislation concerning suspended sentences is much older (having been introduced in 1969) and is also based on sentencing legislation that existed in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This article will argue that because the legislation concerning suspended sentences in South Australia is much older (and based on even older legislation), the way that this sentencing option operates is much different from other Australian jurisdictions. Based on Victorian probation legislation, suspended sentences have a flexibility in South Australia, which has meant that other forms of alternative sentencing (such as community orders and home detention) are not used in the State.

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“…There is a gap between the rhetoric of the destructuring movement, which refers to society's move towards more community-based models of criminal justice, a process which has been described as 'destructuring' (White & Perrone, 1997:177). This model can be seen in current youth justice practice in the form of the four 'd' words; diversion, decarceration, decriminalisation and de-institutionalisation (Polk, 1987;Sarre, 1999) and the contrasting reality of the emerging deviancy control system (Cohen, 1985). This is where this negotiation of policy and process lies; how would a new reimagined youth justice system in Wales look?…”

Section: Theoretical Foundations: Crime Control and The Purpose Of Th...mentioning

confidence: 99%

To what extent does the existing Welsh devolution settlement enable youth offending teams to develop bespoke and innovative approaches to youth justice in Wales?

Janés¹

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The focus of youth justice-related discussions most commonly studies singular elements and the voices of those who are consistently looked at by policymakers and Governments both locally and nationally. As a result, often, the voices of those who live youth justice at the coal face of research are overlooked. This research intended to understand the role and influence of youth-offending team managers in Wales, which has been measured in the context of a complex devolution settlement in Wales pertaining to youth justice.The research was qualitative in nature, aiming to illuminate new understandings of justice in pre-devolution Wales, exploring the experiences and voices of policymakers, policy managers, practitioners, and young people. The research has a 3-tier effect, which effectively means that three different components come together to complete the data set. Those who implement policy, those who manage and study policy implementation, and those who deal with the policy at the coal face. Through the research, it was found that YOTs in Wales may enjoy a unique but also complex relationship both constitutionally and through partner agencies. It was found that YOT managers in Wales have significant levels of autonomy and influence in the decisionmaking process.Reflecting on the findings found through this research, the following key messages were distilled. The structure of YOTs suggests that there is localised discretion in Wales, as shown within the data, it is visible if the youth justice board gives them localised power, youth offending team managers are the principal authority; there is a persuasive authority that may not be visible but is powerful. Moreover, a youth justice space has been created by the constitutional setting. Youth offending teams and YOT managers have a significant impact, and their roles and influences in terms of service delivery are vast.As indicated above, this research was intimately concerned with YOTs post-devolution and the relationships between key stakeholders and how they understand justice for children, research is still evolving, and there is the prospect of further constitutional devolution for Wales it is hoped that this original research will add a unique contribution to the body of knowledge that exists and inform policy and practice across Wales.

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Destructuring and Criminal Justice Reforms: Rescuing Diversionary Ideas from the Waste-paper Basket

Cited by 5 publications

References 7 publications

Assessing gender and ethnic differences in developmental trajectories of offending

Assessing gender and ethnic differences in developmental trajectories of offending

Modern diversion or colonial hangover? The history and development of suspended sentences in South Australia

To what extent does the existing Welsh devolution settlement enable youth offending teams to develop bespoke and innovative approaches to youth justice in Wales?

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