NCJ Number
220307
Journal
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 401-416
Date Published
September 2007
Length
16 pages
Annotation
After identifying the influence of socioeconomic disadvantage in undermining efforts to prevent young offenders from reoffending in England and Wales, this article proposes addressing this issue with a "transformative" rights-based agenda.
Abstract
This article first examines how the New Labour Government has interpreted offender reintegration and, based on this view, the type of social policy and youth justice initiatives that have been promoted. The author then challenges New Labour's conclusions about why many of these initiatives have failed to meet their goals. He argues that the fundamental reason for failure is not managerial inefficiency or breakdowns in partnership arrangements, as concluded by policymakers, but rather is due to the way in which reintegration of young offenders has been envisioned in New Labour's social policy and youth justice discourses. Reintegration has been viewed as the personal moral responsibility of young offenders, who are expected to devise ways of dealing with the structural barriers to reintegration. This strategy will always fail, because it ignores the embedded socioeconomic disadvantage that influences offending behaviors and over which youth have very little control. The article concludes with advice on how social justice ideals could be strengthened in youth justice interventions. The recommended reform requires fundamental changes in the distribution of wealth and resources, so that more equitable socioeconomic outcomes are achieved. This involves ensuring the rights of youth to receive the educational opportunities that will improve their access to job opportunities which produce a socioeconomic status that bolsters self-esteem and commitment to normative values. 6 notes and 54 references