Shifting sands: The reconfiguration of neoliberal youth penality

Abstract

This article begins by tracing the emergence of ‘therapeutic surveillance’ as a new formula for neoliberal disciplinary power. It maps and interrogates the reconfiguration of a hybrid array of neoliberal rationalities and technologies for the penal governance of young people who offend. It then engages with the challenges posed by critical realists to the governmentality position by questioning how human agency can contest, subvert and resist the dystopian reach of ‘therapeutic surveillance’ in action. While ‘therapeutic surveillance’ is steeped in a disciplinary logic of individualization and responsibilization, we argue that it also opens the space for a more transformative youth penality to be articulated; one which challenges the constraints of structural disadvantage in the pursuit of social justice. The article concludes by arguing that newly emerging youth justice configurations which have appeared in response to dramatic cuts in public spending offer a plausible or transformative challenge to the regulatory logic of neoliberal youth penality.

Improving healthcare in adult probation services: Learning from Youth Offending Teams

“…'The YOS nurse is able to address health inequalities to improve health outcomes and harm minimization for the YOS cohort…Having this resource in the team has allowed 1:1 sessions which support children with a variety of emotional health needs, such as emotional regulation, managing anxiety and resilience building' The use of ASSETPlus appears to be working well to provide an understanding of the needs of this population. However, Gray and Smith (2021) offer a critical perspective on this, showing how use of ASSETPlus could be viewed as a shift towards 'therapeutic surveillance', which, through a focus on individual-level needs, may decrease focus on the role of wider systemic issues such as experiences of discrimination, or a lack of appropriate healthcare provision to meet the complexity of need experienced by many in the youth justice system (Gray and Smith, 2021). It is essential that discrimination within the criminal justice system is identified and addressed, and that conversations happen as part of multi-agency work to ensure that any gaps in service provision are also addressed.…”

Participatie van minderjarigen in de jeugdrechtbank: getuigenissen over de Vlaamse praktijk

“…Sommige jeugdrechters vertrekken duidelijk van wat Petintseva en Roose (2020) een meer instrumentalistische invulling noemen, waarbij -onder invloed van de ervaren capaciteitsdruk -het horen van jongeren bijna "een te volbrengen taak" wordt (Rap & Klep, 2021;Lundy, 2018;Collins, 2017). Ander jeugdrechters lijken koste wat het kost te proberen er een meer individu-gerichte invulling aan te geven (Gray & Smith, 2019;Pleysier, 2019;Roose, Vos & Feryn, 2018;Checkoway, 2010), vertrekkend vanuit de idee dat het participeren een pedagogische functie kan hebben; kan bijdragen tot het opnemen van verantwoordelijkheid door de jongere. Het ontwikkelen van een gedragen visie daarover, die uitmondt in een reeks duidelijke -afdwingbare -modaliteiten, is de enige manier om de verschillen en gesignaleerde pijnpunten weg te werken.…”

“…In eerste instantie verwijzen ze naar een kritische invulling waarbij, vertrekkend van een expliciete erkenning van machtsongelijkheid, sociale rechtvaardigheid door het bevorderen van actief burgerschap, centraal staat (Cahill & Davand, 2018;Greenwood & Levin, 2006;Roose, 2005). In tweede instantie verwijzen ze naar een individu-gerichte invulling, waarbij het opnemen van verantwoordelijkheid en het aanmoedigen om agency te claimen, centraal staat en participatie gezien wordt als een pedagogisch of zelfs therapeutisch middel (Gray & Smith, 2019;Pleysier, 2019;Roose, Vos & Feryn, 2018;Checkoway, 2010). In derde instantie verwijzen ze naar een instrumentalistische invulling, waarbij vanuit een managementlogica geoordeeld wordt dat het meenemen van de visies en belangen van jonge mensen, leidt tot meer effectieve en efficiënte rechtsbedeling (Checkoway, 2010;Roose, 2005).…”

What does Social Justice Look Like and Why is it so Elusive for Criminalised Young Adults?

“…Young adults are disproportionately affected by changing social, political and economic forces and environments and widening inequality (Nugent, 2017), yet contemporary policies and practices fail to address the harms engendered by poverty, inadequate housing, and an absence of secure employment (Webber, 2022). Rather than ameliorating the social adversities and harms underpinning much offending, young adults are then subjected to state-led individualistic and responsibilising interventions (Phoenix, 2019;Gray and Smith, 2021), resonating with MacDonald et al's., (2020: 14) observation that 'individual behavior trumps structural inequalities' in both policy explanations of, and 'remedies' for, poverty and its effects. Subsequently, young adults from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are overrepresented in the justice system, experience poorer outcomes and are more likely to be reconvicted (House of Commons Justice Committee, 2016).…”