Children, Care and Crime: Trauma and Transformation

Children, Care and Crime examines the involvement of children with care experience in the criminal justice system in an Australian jurisdiction, focusing on residential care, policing, legal services, and interactions in the Childrens Court. It explores why these children are over-represented and investigates historical and contemporary processes of colonization and criminalization. The book highlights the impact of trauma and responses to trauma, including inter-generational trauma, and follows a child's journey through the continuum of care to the criminal justice system. It examines gendered and racialized treatment of women and girls with care experience and focuses on legacies of forced removal and apprenticeship. The book concludes that while policy initiatives have been developed, little evidence of implementation and impact is found, and a transformative agenda is needed. Strengths-based approaches are explored as a way forward.

Format: Hardback
Length: 218 pages
Publication date: 02 November 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The historical context of colonization provides a crucial backdrop for the analysis presented in Children, Care, and Crime. This book delves into the involvement of children with care experience in the criminal justice system within an Australian jurisdiction, specifically focusing on residential care, policing, legal services, and interactions within the Children's Court. While the majority of children in care do not encounter the criminal justice system, this book explores the reasons behind why children with care experience, particularly Indigenous children, are overrepresented in this system.

Drawing on comprehensive findings from an innovative mixed-method study, which included court observations, file reviews, and qualitative interviews, the book investigates historical and contemporary processes of colonization and criminalization. It sheds light on the profound impact of trauma and the various responses to it, including intergenerational trauma stemming from policies of colonization and criminalization. The book then follows a child's journey through the continuum of care, examining data at each stage, including the residential care environment, interactions with police, legal services, and experiences within the Children's Court.

In particular, the book delves into the gendered and racialized treatment of women and girls with care experience in the criminal justice system. It highlights the legacies of forced removal and apprenticeship, which specifically targeted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls. By analyzing practices from England and Wales and considering their applicability to the NSW context, the findings are further enriched through reflection on how decriminalization pathways might be envisioned.

Despite the existence of numerous policy initiatives aimed at addressing criminalization, the study found limited evidence of their effectiveness in all parts of the study. This highlights the need for ongoing efforts and innovative approaches to address the complex issues surrounding the criminalization of children with care experience and to promote their well-being and rehabilitation.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367554033