NCJ Number
159018
Editor(s)
R White,
C Alder
Date Published
1994
Length
252 pages
Annotation
This book considers the position of juveniles economically and socially in Australian society and examines policing as one of many ways in which juveniles' activities are controlled.
Abstract
The book begins with a discussion of the way in which police-youth interaction was constructed historically in Australia, followed by some chapters that provide overviews of various facets of the juvenile justice system as these pertain to police work and youth activities; areas such as police investigation, use of discretion, and the general processing of juvenile offenders by the police are reviewed. A chapter documents how in daily interactions between juveniles and police, the juveniles' legal rights are often violated. A series of chapters considers the impact of particular social characteristics and structural inequalities on the nature of the police-juvenile relationship. These chapters develop the perspective that issues that relate to class, race, ethnicity, and gender are in many ways and in different types of situations crucial to an understanding of the antagonisms and dynamics of the relations between juveniles and the police at a neighborhood or community level. Two chapters outline the sorts of responses that have been and which could be adopted at policy and institutional levels to address issues explored in the book. The final chapter provides a practitioner's view of the issues, problems, and potential directions for policy in police-juvenile relations. Chapter references, 1 table, 5 figures, and a subject index