From Care to Custody: Trajectories of Children in Post-War New Zealand

Abstract

This article considers the trajectory of children from state care to imprisonment in relation to 105 New Zealanders who spent time in residential care between the 1950s and 1990s. Following previous research, the article demonstrates how children in state care are far more likely to progress into prisons as a result of maltreatment, multiple care placements, damaging residential cultures, social disadvantages and psychological harms, as well as differential treatment in the criminal justice system. This New Zealand research also shows how the interconnected and long-standing processes of victimization and criminalization increase the likelihood of a child transitioning from care to custody.

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“…). In post‐war New Zealand, children who left residential facilities were subject to harsh punishments, including the ‘withdrawal of “privileges”, secure confinement or mental health interventions’ (Stanley , p.66).…”

“…Girls subsequently endured severe sanctions, including detention, as retribution for their nonconformist behaviour. As Stanley () has found in respect of New Zealand, and Fitzpatrick () has identified in relation to England and Wales, to date these ‘overlapping layers of discrimination’ relating to gender and care status have seldom been explored (Fitzpatrick , p.138).…”

“…The intersection of the Out‐Of‐Home‐Care (OOHC) and criminal justice systems (CJS) has been recognised internationally (Howard League ; Laming ; Stanley ; Turpel‐Lafond ). In Australia, children with OOHC experience are disproportionately likely to be arrested, remanded in custody and jailed, compared with children without care experience (McFarlane ; Richards and Renshaw ).…”

“…While there remains a dearth of scholarly research (Taylor ), particularly in Australia (Cashmore and Ainsworth ), of the factors that lead children in OOHC to enter the CJS, multiple explanations have been posited for this intersection: past victimisation; multiple placement shifts in OOHC; criminogenic residential environments; a lack of emotional, financial or socio‐cultural supports provided to those leaving care; and adverse treatment by criminal justice agencies (McFarlane ; Stanley ).…”

“…posited for this intersection: past victimisation; multiple placement shifts in OOHC; criminogenic residential environments; a lack of emotional, financial or socio-cultural supports provided to those leaving care; and adverse treatment by criminal justice agencies (McFarlane 2017;Stanley 2017).…”