tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/juvenile-justice-4138/articlesJuvenile justice – The Conversation2023-12-04T13:28:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2176402023-12-04T13:28:30Z2023-12-04T13:28:30ZCertain states, including Arizona, have begun scrapping court costs and fees for people unable to pay – two experts on legal punishments explain why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562784/original/file-20231130-19-9k4bbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Several U.S. states are eliminating criminal fines and fees for people who can't afford them. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/dollars-bills-with-law-gavel-legal-issues-royalty-free-image/1479990448?phrase=excessive+courts+costs+US&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In today’s American criminal legal system, courts impose fines and fees as a means to punish people and hold them accountable for legal violations. </p>
<p>At times, people are sentenced to pay without incarceration, but frequently people across the U.S. are sentenced to both jail time and fiscal penalties. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9133.12442">Those costs</a> are assessed by individual courts and include processing and filing charges, jury fees and fiscal penalties such as interest charges and late penalty fees. The collected money is then used to pay for costs such as the administration of court-appointed attorneys, probation, detention and diversion programs.</p>
<p>But these fines and fees are often levied without any consideration for an individual’s ability to pay – and <a href="https://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2023/10/11/local-state/how-north-carolina-turns-the-poor-into-criminals/">can add up</a> to thousands of dollars. Given the potential consequences of legal debt on people unable to pay, including the loss of the right to vote and further criminal infractions, we conducted a <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/2/1/tab-article-info">multistate study</a> on the impact of fines and fees.</p>
<p>What we found is that these types of sanctions do not improve public safety or serve as an effective deterrent in reducing further crime. More troubling is that the negative consequences of fines and fees are disproportionately felt by people of color and those who are poor. </p>
<p>Because of these potential financial hardships and adverse effects, U.S. lawmakers have begun to limit the types and amounts of fines and fees that can be charged.</p>
<h2>What the research shows</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2022.8.2.01">our study of eight states</a> – California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Washington, Georgia, Missouri and Texas – we found extreme variations in how court-imposed fines and fees were used.</p>
<p>Some states had <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/221">statutes mandating a minimum amount</a> of fines and fees to be imposed on people for specific crimes and infractions; other states did not. Some local judges sentenced people unable to pay to jail as a violation of their sentence; other judges in different counties within the same state did not. To collect outstanding debts, some states <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/82">even sued</a> formerly incarcerated people for the cost of their room and board; other states did not.</p>
<p>In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204016669213">our research</a> there showed that financial burden increased the chances among juvenile offenders to commit additional crimes within two years of their initial arrests.</p>
<p>In another statewide <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/15412040231180816?journalCode=yvja">study in Florida</a>, we found that fees increased recidivism and, in particular, that Black youth with restitution fees had a higher recidivism likelihood. Our study further found that Black and Hispanic youth tended to receive higher fees compared to white youth regardless of the alleged crimes. The average fees for Black juveniles was US$709.50, and $633.30 for Hispanic youths. In stark contrast, the average fees for white juveniles was $426.50.</p>
<p>A wealth of <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/221">research has illustrated</a> how unpaid court fines and fees force people to make decisions regarding <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/2/57">housing</a>, <a href="https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/2/36">medical care</a>, education and even food and <a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/pound-flesh">medication</a>. </p>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-issues-dear-colleague-letter-courts-regarding-fines-and-fees-youth-and">April 23, 2023, letter</a>, the U.S. Department of Justice warned court officials and state agencies that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/22/justice-department-fines-pardons-gupta/">imposing fines and fees</a> on offenders who cannot pay may result in them losing their jobs, driver’s license, right to vote or even their home. </p>
<h2>Changes across the country</h2>
<p>Depending on the crime, Arizona juveniles and their parents faced <a href="https://www.azcourts.gov/selfservicecenter/Juvenile-Law/Vacating-Juvenile-Monetary-Obligations#Vacated">a slew of costs</a>, including probation supervision fees, family counseling services, drug and alcohol screenings and even a $25 administrative fee for court-appointed attorneys.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1197/2023">a new law</a> says they don’t have to pay any of those anymore. </p>
<p>Though the law does not put an end to fines relating to restitution charges or driving under the influence of alcohol charges, it does eliminate all fees assessed by a juvenile court — for court-appointed attorneys, probation, detention and diversion programs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white woman stands in front of an American flag as she delivers a speech." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562549/original/file-20231129-23-wg1e6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has eliminated various fines and fees for juvenile offenders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/arizona-gov-katie-hobbs-gives-a-brief-speech-prior-to-news-photo/1695716056?adppopup=true">Rebecca Noble/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Arizona was not alone. Indiana, Illinois, Montana, California, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Virginia have also enacted similar laws that eliminate or reduce juvenile fines and fees. </p>
<p>As these states have learned, monetary sanctions do far more harm than good and inflict disproportionate hardship on those least able to pay them. </p>
<p>“These fees put unnecessary financial stress on children and their families when they should be focused on rehabilitation,” <a href="https://gilavalleycentral.net/governor-hobbs-signs-bill-relieving-arizona-families-from-excessive-legal-fees/">Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs</a> said in October 2023. “They hold individuals back at a time in their life when what they really need is help moving forward.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexes Harris receives funding from Arnold Ventures. She is affiliated with the Fines and Fees Justice Center as a board member.
Dr. Harris is the chair of the Washington State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (non-partisan, Federally appointed). She is also the faculty regent to the University of Washington Board of Regents. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex R. Piquero received funding from Arnold Ventures to undertake the study in Florida referred to in the article. Professor Piquero receives no funding at this time from any sources and no external sources of funding were used to prepare this piece. </span></em></p>The imposition of fines and fees on people unable to pay has had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities.Alexes Harris, Professor of Sociology, University of WashingtonAlex R. Piquero, Professor of Sociology & Criminology and Arts & Sciences Distinguished Scholar, University of MiamiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2171832023-12-04T13:27:05Z2023-12-04T13:27:05ZPhiladelphia reduces school-based arrests by 91% since 2013 – researchers explain the effects of keeping kids out of the legal system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563102/original/file-20231203-15-71hdlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C24%2C3189%2C2102&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A change in policy means more Philly students are staying in school and out of the legal system.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PhiladelphiaSchools/32fea4648c1744b99f8f5b78f85ad2a6/photohttps://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PhiladelphiaSchools/32fea4648c1744b99f8f5b78f85ad2a6/photo">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the United States, arrest rates for young people under age 18 have been declining for decades. However, the proportion of youth arrests associated with <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/pdf/jcs2013.pdf">school incidents</a> <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/pdf/jcs2019.pdf">has increased</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://ocrdata.ed.gov/estimations/2017-2018">the U.S. Department of Education</a>, K-12 schools referred nearly 230,000 students to law enforcement during the school year that began in 2017. These referrals and the 54,321 reported school-based arrests that same year were mostly for minor misbehavior like marijuana possession, as <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1179204">opposed to more serious offenses</a> like bringing a gun to school. </p>
<p>School-based arrests are one part of the <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/defining-and-redirecting-school-prison-pipeline">school-to-prison pipeline</a>, through which students – especially Black and <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-using-latinx-if-you-really-want-to-be-inclusive-189358">Latine</a> students and those with disabilities – are pushed out of their schools and into the legal system. </p>
<p>Getting caught up in the legal system has been linked to negative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.08.009">health</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457942000200X">social</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040712448862">academic</a> outcomes, as well as increased risk for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12039">future arrest</a>. </p>
<p>Given these negative consequences, public agencies in states like <a href="https://www.chdi.org/our-work/school-based-mental-health/sbdi/">Connecticut</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204014521249">New York</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.022">Pennsylvania</a> have looked for ways to arrest fewer young people in schools. Philadelphia, in particular, has pioneered a successful effort to divert youth from the legal system. </p>
<h2>Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program</h2>
<p>In Philadelphia, police department leaders recognized that the city’s school district was its largest source of referrals for youth arrests. To address this issue, then-Deputy Police Commissioner <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-school-diversion-program-kevin-bethel-police-20160926.html">Kevin Bethel developed and implemented</a> a school-based, pre-arrest diversion initiative in partnership with the school district and the city’s department of human services. The program is called the <a href="https://www.jjrrlab.com/uploads/1/2/4/1/124158680/diversion_finalreport_8.2022.pdf">Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program</a>, and it officially launched in May 2014. </p>
<p>Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker named <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/kevin-bethel-philadelphia-police-commissioner-cherelle-parker-20231121.html">Bethel as her new police commissioner</a> on Nov. 22, 2023.</p>
<p>Since the diversion program began, when police are called to schools in the city for offenses like marijuana possession or disorderly conduct, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.022">they cannot arrest the student involved</a> if that student has no pending court case or a history of adjudication. In juvenile court, an adjudication is similar to a conviction in criminal court. </p>
<p>Instead of being arrested, the diverted student remains in school and school personnel decide how to respond to their behavior. For example, they might speak with the student, schedule a meeting with a parent or suspend the student. </p>
<p>A social worker from the city also contacts the student’s family to arrange a home visit, where they assess youth and family needs. Then, the social worker makes referrals to no-cost community-based services. The student and their family choose whether to attend.</p>
<p>Our team — the <a href="https://www.jjrrlab.com/">Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab</a> at Drexel University — evaluated the effectiveness of the diversion program as <a href="https://www.jjrrlab.com/diversion-program.html">independent researchers</a> not affiliated with the police department or school district. We published four research articles describing various ways the diversion program affected students, schools and costs to the city. </p>
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<h2>Arrests dropped</h2>
<p>In our evaluation of the diversion program’s first five years, we reported that the annual number of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000440">school-based arrests in Philadelphia decreased by 84%</a>: from nearly 1,600 in the school year beginning in 2013 to just 251 arrests in the school year beginning in 2018. </p>
<p>Since then, school district data indicates the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia has continued to decline — dropping to just 147 arrests in the school year that began in 2022. That’s a 91% reduction from the year before the program started.</p>
<p>We also investigated the number of serious behavioral incidents recorded in the school district in the program’s first five years. Those <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000440">fell as well</a>, suggesting that the diversion program effectively reduced school-based arrests without compromising school safety.</p>
<p>Additionally, data showed that city social workers successfully contacted the families of <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/304409.pdf">74% of students diverted</a> through the program during its first five years. Nearly 90% of these families accepted at least one referral to community-based programming, which includes services like academic support, job skill development and behavioral health counseling. </p>
<h2>Fewer suspensions and expulsions</h2>
<p>We compared data from 1,281 students diverted in the first three years of the school-based program to data from 531 similar students who were arrested in schools before the program began but who would have been eligible if the diversion program existed.</p>
<p>Diverted students were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000453">significantly less likely</a> to be suspended, expelled or required to transfer to another school in the year following their school-based incident.</p>
<h2>Long-term outcomes</h2>
<p>To evaluate a longer follow-up period, we compared the 427 students diverted in the program’s first year to the group of 531 students arrested before the program began. Results showed arrested students were significantly more likely to be arrested again <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000397">in the following five years</a>. </p>
<p>Although we observed impacts on arrest outcomes, the diversion program did not appear to affect long-term educational outcomes. We looked at four years of school data and found no significant differences in suspension, dropout or on-time graduation between diverted and arrested students. </p>
<p>Finally, a cost-benefit analysis revealed that the program saves taxpayers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paac061">millions of dollars</a>. </p>
<p>Based on its success in Philadelphia, several other cities and counties across Pennsylvania have begun replicating the Police School Diversion Program. These efforts could further contribute to a nationwide movement to safely keep kids in their communities and out of the legal system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Research reported in this article was supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2014-JZ-FX-K0003; 2017-JF-FX-0055), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ; 2017-CK-BX-0001), and the Stoneleigh Foundation. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the United States Department of Justice, its agencies, the Stoneleigh Foundation, or other funding organizations. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Goldstein receives funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and previously received funding from the NIJ,Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Stoneleigh Foundation.</span></em></p>Drexel researchers evaluated a 2014 program implemented by Kevin Bethel when he was deputy police commissioner that led to fewer arrests of students in schools.Amanda NeMoyer, Assistant Research Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Drexel UniversityNaomi Goldstein, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Drexel UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032532023-04-16T07:18:36Z2023-04-16T07:18:36ZJuvenile offenders in Ghana aren’t prepared for rejoining society - how the system is failing them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520498/original/file-20230412-20-ggiujw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Juvenile offenders face stigma once released</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Globally, about <a href="https://www.penalreform.org/issues/children/key-facts/">one million children</a> are held in police custody annually; 410,000 of them are held in detention and remand centres. On any day, it is <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-56227-4_11">estimated</a>, remand homes around the world hold about 160,000 to 250,000 children. </p>
<p>Time in prison can have lasting impacts on the lives of young offenders. It can affect social, emotional and other areas of development. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of Children</a> requires that incarceration should be a measure of last resort. The <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36804-treaty-african_charter_on_rights_welfare_of_the_child.pdf">African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child</a> also provides guidelines; <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36804-treaty-african_charter_on_rights_welfare_of_the_child.pdf#page=17">article 17</a> specifically deals with juvenile justice.</p>
<p>In Ghana, correctional centres are intended to help juvenile offenders gain vocational skills to help them become productive citizens after serving their sentence periods. They also receive religious and moral guidance. But there’s little follow-up of what happens to them.</p>
<p>As a social work researcher and volunteer in Accra, Ghana, I constantly interact with the senior correctional centre and remand home. I became worried about the number of male teenagers I encountered there and the sometimes seemingly trivial offences that had got them into trouble. Ghana as at April 2023 had 254 male juvenile offenders in <a href="https://ghanaprisons.gov.gh/about-us/statistics.cits">detention</a>. I wondered about what the future held for these teenagers once they rejoined society. </p>
<p>The literature says very little about the experiences of juvenile offenders in Ghana after their release. I therefore conducted a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10509674.2023.2182864">study</a> to explore this. I wanted to know more about the challenges they encountered and what had contributed to these challenges. </p>
<p>Knowledge about their experiences may be useful in designing policies and
effective strategies to mitigate the harmful impacts of imprisonment on young people’s lives.</p>
<p>In my view the results of my study highlight the need for a more effective and holistic approach to juvenile justice reform – one that considers the long-term impact of detention on young offenders. Ghana needs a more rigorous and comprehensive reintegration programme. And existing policies must be put into practice.</p>
<h2>Life after detention</h2>
<p>I interviewed 12 young men who had completed their sentence at Ghana’s senior correctional centre. I wanted to understand, in a qualitative way, the varied challenges they faced post-release and how that affected their lives. </p>
<p>The age range of participants at the time of the interview was between 19 and 28 years (average 22). All of them had entered the correctional centre as juveniles (some as young as 15) and exited as adults. They served an average of two years at the correctional centre.</p>
<p>Eight participants received skills training and education while at the centre – skills like general electrical, ceramics, carpentry and tailoring. The other four attended school while at the correctional centre.</p>
<p>Six participants had been charged with defilement, three with stealing, two with assault and one with unlawful entry. </p>
<p>One participant had a diploma, six had either started or completed junior high school, and five had either started or completed senior high school.</p>
<p>The study participants told me that they faced stigma after their release. Constant reminders of their offending history from friends and family led to feelings of shame, guilt and isolation. Indirectly, the confidence of these youths was challenged. They felt people saw them as beyond redemption and unsuitable for society. This feeling affected their social relationships with friends. One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People are saying many things about me. I don’t have friends anymore in the area. So, though I live with my parents comfortably, I feel very sad and alone in that area.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The participants had given up on continuing their education. Some felt it was better to do something else. Others could not afford schooling in financial terms. </p>
<p>The correctional centre didn’t offer formal transitional programmes and support. This is one of the major threats to the successful reintegration of released juvenile offenders into society. Ghana has a Justice for Children <a href="https://www.mogcsp.gov.gh/mdocs-posts/justice-for-children-policy/">policy</a>, which outlines strategies such as the use of district probation officers and social workers to reintegrate young offenders, but it lacks proper implementation. </p>
<p>When released, the young men in my study returned to a background of poverty. This seemed to be what was contributing to the initial offence committed. Poverty limited the kind of help a family could provide for them. And they were unable to get work because employers were not willing to give them a chance.</p>
<p>For those who had acquired certain skills at the senior correctional centre, financial limitations made it hard to start a business. One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have plans to open my shop to start an electrical business but I have got no help. It has been very difficult and disturbing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It meant they were unable to break the cycle of poverty, making reintegration even more difficult.</p>
<h2>A call to do better</h2>
<p>The successful reintegration of released juvenile offenders into society requires the implementation of formal transitional programmes and support such as Ghana’s Justice for Children Policy. </p>
<p>Comprehensive strategies for education, employment and financial support must be put in place to ensure that these youths can establish meaningful lives after release. They need opportunities to start businesses or gain vocational skills that allow them to break free from poverty cycles. </p>
<p>Justice should not end with detention. Reintegrating ex-offenders should be an essential part of restorative justice efforts aimed at reducing recidivism and increasing public safety and social cohesion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ebenezer Bosomprah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana needs a more effective approach to juvenile justice reform that considers the long-term impact of detention on youth offenders.Ebenezer Bosomprah, PhD Candidate, Institute of African Studies, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996772023-02-15T19:06:13Z2023-02-15T19:06:13ZChildren can now report rights violations directly to the UN – it’s progress, but Aotearoa New Zealand still needs to do more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510223/original/file-20230214-16-a4bbf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C28%2C4695%2C3076&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2FNZL%2FCO%2F6&Lang=en">report into the rights of children</a> in Aotearoa New Zealand has painted a mixed picture of how the country treats young people.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc">UN Committee on the Rights of the Child</a> recently published its sixth review into how Aotearoa New Zealand is implementing its obligations under the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989</a>.</p>
<p>The good news is that Aotearoa New Zealand has made progress in the seven years since the last review. But despite decades of warnings, the country is still failing too many of its children and young people, particularly those in state care, living in poverty, with disabilities, and those who end up in the justice system</p>
<p>On the positive side, measures such as establishment of the Ministry for Children (<a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/">Oranga Tamariki</a>) in 2017, the passing of the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0031/latest/whole.html">Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Act 2017</a>, the <a href="https://www.childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/our-aspirations/context/child-poverty-reduction-and-wellbeing-legislation">Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018</a> and the development of the <a href="https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/child-and-youth-wellbeing-strategy">Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy 2019</a> were welcomed by the writers of the report. </p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand has also voluntarily implemented the convention’s <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/uncroc/optional-protocols.html#OptionalProtocolonaCommunicationsProcedure1">communications procedure</a>, allowing children to take complaints about rights violations directly to the committee.</p>
<h2>A long list of failures</h2>
<p>But while Aotearoa New Zealand’s progress was commended, the bulk of the report was devoted to the country’s ongoing failure to fully implement the internationally established rights of young people.</p>
<p>Among the key concerns requiring urgent attention were:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the persistent discrimination against children in vulnerable situations </p></li>
<li><p>the persistent rates of abuse, neglect and violence against children</p></li>
<li><p>the rights of children in state care and the disproportionate levels of harm experienced by these children</p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-violating-the-rights-of-its-children-is-it-time-to-change-the-legal-definition-of-age-discrimination-145685">New Zealand is violating the rights of its children. Is it time to change the legal definition of age discrimination?</a>
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<li><p>the higher levels of risk or violence and abuse that children with disabilities are exposed to, as well as the higher levels of deprivation, poverty and inadequate housing, and the lower levels of enrolment in education or training programmes they experience</p></li>
<li><p>the rates of children living in poverty and experiencing food insecurity, homelessness and unstable or overcrowded housing resulting in poorer health and education outcomes</p></li>
<li><p>the minimum age of criminal responsibility – just 10 years old in New Zealand – as well as the failure to separate children and adults in detention, the indefinite period for which some young people can be remanded in police custody, and the automatic transfer of young people charged with serious offences to the adult justice system.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The committee expressed concern at the persistent over-representation of tamariki and rangatahi Māori in most of these areas of key concern. The committee also noted that Pasifika children, LGBTI children and children with disabilities were more likely to be in vulnerable situations.</p>
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<h2>The issues are not new</h2>
<p>Many of these concerns had already been identified in Aotearoa New Zealand’s last report, in <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLEkIUHtKTSHNWA9ddXmo8oiUgGuB9JUoxS6ES4ymmXawE3W7Z52o%2B4tn33VBe09mSo1Rr6ta1lLVkTxmo%2FSYUATQ">2016</a>. Indeed, many of these issues were a matter of concern when Aotearoa New Zealand first reported to the committee in <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2F15%2FAdd.71&Lang=en">1997</a>. </p>
<p>Not only have the committee’s concerns been highlighted in the past, but the report’s findings come from Aotearoa New Zealand’s own data on children. </p>
<p>The committee considered a <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLElOb1P37sl9i8IkOkisrTYvNyBgHBWM5LhFdPBuMc1QjthQOJhr0BQ9MKxlm2%2BpFeExvp5CWO1se1B4UAJtStmI">2021 report</a> submitted by the Aotearoa New Zealand government, along with <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/countries.aspx?CountryCode=NZL&Lang=EN">other reports</a> from national institutions such as the Children’s Commissioner and non-governmental organisations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-removal-of-maori-children-from-their-families-is-a-wound-that-wont-heal-but-there-is-a-way-forward-140243">The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward</a>
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<p>The committee then discussed the state of children’s rights in Aotearoa New Zealand with a government delegation at the UN headquarters in Geneva. The most recent <a href="https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2023/01/examen-de-la-nouvelle-zelande-devant-le-comite-des-droits-de">meeting</a> between New Zealand and the committee took place in late January.</p>
<h2>Why the review process matters</h2>
<p>The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international, legally binding agreement. It has been formally accepted by <a href="https://indicators.ohchr.org/">196 countries</a>, making it the most widely accepted human rights treaty.</p>
<p>The convention established the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a body of 18 independent experts that monitors its implementation in the states that have accepted it. </p>
<p>Regular reporting to the committee is a requirement of the convention. These reviews allow for the nature of children’s rights and states’ obligations to be spelled out. </p>
<p>Over the decades, the reviews have built up a picture of how Aotearoa New Zealand’s children’s rights are violated by discrimination, deprivation and (sometimes deadly) violence. The reviews continually identify what the government must do to prevent these breaches and how to remedy their consequences. </p>
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<h2>What must the government do now?</h2>
<p>A few overarching themes can be identified amongst the dozens of recommendations made by the committee. </p>
<p>Firstly, the convention’s rights and obligations must be incorporated into Aotearoa New Zealand law. Children should also be able to participate meaningfully in the design and implementation of all laws, policies and programmes regarding their rights.</p>
<p>Children whose rights have been violated need greater access to more child-friendly complaints mechanisms. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-is-too-young-to-be-in-court-nz-should-raise-the-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility-188969">10 is too young to be in court – NZ should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility</a>
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<p>Additionally, more data needs to be collected to create a fuller picture of the situation of all Aotearoa New Zealand children and their rights. More resources also need to be allocated to the protection of children and the national budget needs to more strongly reflect a child rights-based approach.</p>
<p>But perhaps the best place to start is for the government to fulfil one of its obligations and publicise the findings of this latest review, as well as publicising the fact that children can now complain to the UN when their rights have been violated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand is making some progress in its treatment of children and young people. But there is still a way to go to meet its obligations under international law.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1603302021-08-04T12:56:12Z2021-08-04T12:56:12ZFormerly incarcerated teens share their research and ideas on how to improve the juvenile justice system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410413/original/file-20210708-15-r67q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1830%2C1290&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Youth in New Mexico used their own experiences with arrest and incarceration to advocate for others. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/young-offender-has-his-handcuffs-removed-after-being-locked-news-photo/563618429">Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“They treat us like animals.” </p>
<p>“I was called a menace to society by two judges.”</p>
<p>These are just two of the comments made by incarcerated teens during focus group interviews inside a juvenile detention center in New Mexico. Over the course of two hourlong sessions, detained youths shared their stories of how they ran afoul of the law and discussed key strategies for how they would improve the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>These sessions were conducted by members of <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/LHHS%20092115%20Item%2027%20Rosie%20Garibaldi%20LOUD%20presentation.pdf">Leaders Organizing 2 Unite and Decriminalize</a>, a youth group comprising young people ages 15 to 19. While some members are formerly incarcerated, others are allies. I was <a href="https://frdo.unm.edu/?q=content/assistant-professor-desai-named-national-academy-education-spencer-postdoctoral-fellow">a co-facilitator of LOUD</a> and guided the group in its research.</p>
<p>Our main focus was to conduct what’s called a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9316-y">Youth Participatory Action Research</a> project in which teens and adult facilitators work together to conduct research, gather data and present findings on juvenile justice reform. The youth group ultimately helped redesign the <a href="https://cyfd.org/probation-aftercare">state probation agreement</a>, block a <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico-lawmaker-proposes-teen-curfew-law/l">teen curfew</a> and empower young people to create a new vision for juvenile justice.</p>
<p>The success of LOUD was built on the idea that to change the juvenile justice system, policymakers must draw on the experiences of young people to create a more fair and equitable system.</p>
<h2>Power of research</h2>
<p>The LOUD group studied juvenile justice issues such as the <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/racial-disparities-in-youth-commitments-and-arrests/">overcriminalization of young people of color</a>. They created a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k2eczlEiFn90Ra169aSztWEWemaKEi-e/view?usp=sharing#">survey</a> that examined the various experiences young people had with court hearings, detention, long-term facilities, residential treatment programs and specialty court programs, as well as with mental and physical well-being. The survey was given to approximately 125 youths over a few months in 2015. An extensive overview of this project was published in 2020 in the <a href="https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=23358">Teachers College Record</a>.</p>
<p>The LOUD teens also conducted four focus group interviews inside a New Mexico Youth Detention Center and four more with specialty court programs, such as drug court, in New Mexico in 2015. Based on this research, they provided key recommendations to improve the juvenile justice system in the county.</p>
<p>Furthermore, they served as an informal youth council for the local justice system. They offered input on policies, suggested improvements based on their research, and presented their findings to the local justice system multiple times.</p>
<p>Below, I discuss <a href="https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=23358">three important ways</a> LOUD youths had a hand in changing the juvenile justice system.</p>
<h2>1. A new probation agreement</h2>
<p>In 2016, New Mexico wanted to create a universal <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ALESC%20102319%20Item%206%20.3%20-%20CYFD%20Presentation.pdf">state probation agreement</a>. The goal was to reduce racial and county-to-county disparities found in the enforcement of searches and seizures, curfews and other restrictions found in local county probation agreements. The state also sought to eliminate potential rights violations permitted by the agreements – such as entering homes and confiscating young people’s personal items. </p>
<p>The youth leaders voiced their concerns in meetings about how the old probation agreement was being used to punish young people and to keep them on probation. It became an opportunity to focus instead on what could help the young people succeed and end probation earlier. </p>
<p>LOUD youths insisted that the “plan of care” section of the <a href="https://cyfd.org/probation-aftercare">probation agreement</a> – which examines youth services such as counseling and drug treatment as well as such privileges as being able to stay out past curfew and work – should focus on individual needs rather than boilerplate language. Curfews determine what time you have to be home. For the teens who work or have after-school activities, an early curfew means they can’t participate in these programs. For example, they argued that many young people work to support their families, and a 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. curfew can impede that. </p>
<p>As for the youth counseling aspect of the probation agreement, counseling can be helpful in cases where there is serious trauma. However, in other cases counseling is an unnecessary requirement that does not support young people. The LOUD youths also advocated for more wraparound services that are comprehensive and holistic for families who are struggling – whether financially or with physical or mental health.</p>
<h2>2. Making their voices heard</h2>
<p>When juvenile justice representatives from other counties and states, such as Mississippi, Missouri and Minnesota, and from other countries, such as Mexico, Moldova and Mali, visited our location site, LOUD youths shared personal stories of how they were affected by the juvenile justice system and how they were using their research to change it. </p>
<p>For example, a subcommittee of the <a href="https://www.aecf.org/work/juvenile-justice/jdai">Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative</a> that focuses on racial and ethnic disparities within the juvenile justice system considered one of the major recommendations of LOUD: for probation and correctional officers to receive more anti-racist training. The teens worked with subcommittee members to design training sessions, and they even led discussions on microaggressions that young people experience within the juvenile justice system. These microagressions included telling young people they will see them back in the detention center again soon or advising them not to associate with a particular peer deemed to be a gang member based solely on the peer’s racial or ethnic background.</p>
<h2>3. Advocating for other youths</h2>
<p>In a partnership with the juvenile justice system, LOUD youths also advocated through their research when they sat on committees. They argued that young people involved in drug court should not automatically be seen as violating probation for failed drug tests. The focus of drug court should be on allocating resources to help youths experiencing addiction. LOUD youths’ suggestions were accepted by the committee and as a result, failed drug tests did not automatically lead to extended probation or even young people being sent back to a youth detention center. Instead, a failed drug test meant another treatment plan was needed to help youths fight their drug addiction. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>The group also partnered with the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative to stop the <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico-lawmaker-proposes-teen-curfew-law/">teen curfew bill</a> at the state and city level. It would have given cities and counties the power to implement a curfew between midnight and 5 a.m. However, in earlier versions of these bills the curfew would have started as early as 7 p.m. Both groups felt the proposal would further criminalize youth and as well as potentially limit job opportunities or the ability to participate in certain school activities. In the end, both <a href="https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico-lawmaker-proposes-teen-curfew-law/">bills</a> failed. The youths would go to the Statehouse every year to talk about issues such as juvenile justice reform. Despite LOUD’s efforts, one representative kept introducing a <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/17%20Regular/bills/house/HB0053.pdf">state curfew bill</a>. However, the bill never made it past the committee. </p>
<p>LOUD came to an end during the pandemic because of a lack of funding. But what made it a unique program was that the adult stakeholders held firmly to the idea that formerly incarcerated youths are valuable partners in improving the juvenile justice system. In other words, they did not see LOUD youths as menaces to society, but as important collaborators who could help improve the juvenile justice system based on their personal experiences and research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shiv R. Desai receives funding from Spencer Foundation. I was part of the Bernalillo County JDAI subcommittees previously.</span></em></p>A youth group gives juvenile offenders a chance to advocate for change in the justice system.Shiv R. Desai, Associate professor of education, University of New MexicoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1096012020-05-29T12:27:49Z2020-05-29T12:27:49ZReflecting on the case of Cyntoia Brown – talking with the director of ‘Murder to Mercy’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338258/original/file-20200528-51467-15biroi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C1908%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to 51 years in prison when just 16 years old.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vandam.netflix.com/shares/1bdd943a73324c09be0cb3b9487a8406?assets=22389511">Courtesy of Netflix</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Cyntoia Brown <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/us/cyntoia-brown-release.html">walked out of prison in August 2019</a> after serving 15 years of a life sentence for a murder she committed when she was 16. Her story is the focus of “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81074065">Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story,”</a> a Netflix feature documentary.</em></p>
<p><em>Dan Birman directed this documentary and another on Cyntoia’s life that aired on PBS in 2011. He is a <a href="https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/journalism/dan-birman">professor of professional practice</a> and teaches documentary at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.</em></p>
<h2>What does Cyntoia’s case tell us about the US justice system?</h2>
<p>Cyntoia Brown’s case follows a complex social and legal path, but her story is common to thousands of young people in the justice system. As of 2017, there were <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/corrections/qa08201.asp?qaDate=2017">nearly 44,000 juveniles locked up in America</a>, and more than <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/corrections/qa08205.asp?qaDate=2017">two-thirds were black or Latino</a>. Many are serving <a href="https://jjie.org/2017/08/02/life-and-long-sentences-imposed-on-youth-need-a-second-look/">life sentences with and without parole</a>. Like Cyntoia, they all have stories of their own – stories that the law may not be sensitive to.</p>
<h2>How did you come to work with Cyntoia?</h2>
<p>In January 2004, I gained access to the juvenile justice system in Nashville because I was interested in telling a story about juveniles who commit serious crimes. When Cyntoia was arrested eight months later, I was invited to meet her. At the time, few television networks were interested in such dark subjects, so I went on this journey without a distributor or the resources to produce the project.</p>
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<p>The first documentary, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/me-facing-life/">“Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story,”</a> helped stir debate about how young people are treated in the American criminal justice system and helped bring about some reform. In Tennessee, where Cyntoia was sentenced, juveniles can no longer be <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/12/01/cyntoia-brown-and-our-twisted-system">charged with prostitution</a>. And state legislators are trying to address <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/01/15/prison-reform-juvenile-sentencing-laws-tennessee-cyntoia-brown/2546723002/">the state’s harsh sentencing laws</a>. Many other states are developing more progressive laws too.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/improving-the-juvenile-justice-system.aspx">More needs to be done</a>. Thousands of children each year are arrested for <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/qa05101.asp">violent crimes</a>. The need for an ongoing thoughtful analysis of America’s juvenile justice system is great.</p>
<h2>How are the two films different?</h2>
<p>They are different in one key way – depth. The first, while completed in 2011, stopped when it seemed the story was over. Cyntoia was incarcerated, she lost her first appeal and that was the end. But then a legal team came together after seeing the documentary and decided to continue fighting for Cyntoia. This meant that there was still more to play out. The possibility existed that new appeals might be successful, but it was also entirely possible that nothing would happen. Either outcome would be significant. I decided to continue documenting the case. I wanted to complete the full story. The new film was a complete redo, with about 80% of the footage not having been seen before.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-put-juveniles-away-for-life-meet-cyntoia-brown-the-teen-who-sparked-a-debate-77290">Should we put juveniles away for life? Meet Cyntoia Brown, the teen who sparked a debate</a>
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<p>Ultimately, “Murder to Mercy” presents the broader social and legal issues with greater clarity due to the expansive timeline in the film. And it provides more insight to the legal process that led to the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/us/tennessee-cyntoia-brown-granted-clemency/index.html">clemency granted</a> to Cyntoia by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam as he was leaving office.</p>
<p>Still, Cyntoia’s clemency left some legal questions unanswered. While Cyntoia was incarcerated, her attorneys filed an appeal with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca6/16-6738/16-6738-2018-08-02.html">her sentence was unconstitutional</a>. Had they succeeded, it might have had implications for states with harsh sentencing laws. Arguments were heard, but the court’s verdict was never provided – it was moot due to the governor’s decision. </p>
<p>This means that Cyntoia’s clemency was a personal victory but that no legal precedent was established about Tennessee’s sentencing laws. The new documentary reveals the general legal arguments for her appeal and shows the simultaneous application to the governor for early parole consideration. </p>
<p>What makes this story different is our recording of events and their impact on Cyntoia and her family over 16 years. The audience can see what happened at major milestones in Cyntoia’s case, which gives the documentary unusual depth. It is also a story that centers on journalistic inquiry.</p>
<h2>Are you suggesting that journalists have a unique approach to documentary filmmaking?</h2>
<p>Yes, definitely. A journalistic approach to documentary depends on balancing a story by vetting facts through research – as opposed to depending solely on a director’s point of view.</p>
<p>To be fair, most documentaries center on facts. But it is possible through cinematic approaches to treat facts in many different ways, from straight verite recording – in other words, using a camera to purely observe – to the inclusion of dramatic recreations using actors and representative locations. </p>
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<span class="caption">Cyntoia Brown spent 14 years behind bars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vandam.netflix.com/shares/1bdd943a73324c09be0cb3b9487a8406?assets=22389508">Murder to Mercy/Netflix</a></span>
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<p>Also, whom we choose to interview and what we choose to show on screen can change, or even limit, the story viewers see. The point is that viewers, while treated to great content, might not be aware of the story balance. </p>
<p>Regardless of approach, truth is important to me. We cannot avoid some bias just by the choices we make. And it is impossible to see or present every point of view, but I believe that what emerges needs to be as close to the truth as possible. As a professor of journalism, I am constantly worried about ethical challenges when creating documentaries and the standards by which we do <a href="http://cmsimpact.org/resource/honest-truths-documentary-filmmakers-on-ethical-challenges-in-their-work/">our craft</a>. This is especially true now that documentaries are more popular.</p>
<p>Cyntoia’s story has been a teaching tool for most of my time at USC. I teach students that what we do is not a right, but a privilege. I learned a lot more from Cyntoia, her family, and the lawyers than would have been possible with short interviews. My experience walks straight into the classroom as an urgent message that it is incumbent upon us to employ best practices when presenting facts.</p>
<p>The tools available to documentary filmmakers when shooting and editing a story are about the same. Budgets tend to dictate picture quality, how much we can do stylistically and how much crew we can afford to help pull it off. But budgets don’t prescribe story ethics. This is up to the filmmaker.</p>
<p>Cyntoia’s case became a lens into large social problems both at home and in the system. It brings inequality in the juvenile justice system squarely into view. Sadly, thousands of juveniles won’t enjoy the attention that Cyntoia gained because we happened to turn the camera toward her. And while we can see change happening nationally, racial and financial disparity remain daunting problems. </p>
<p>Hopefully the biggest takeaway for viewers is that children matter and the laws that judge children at their worst need to be reconsidered. Their circumstances need to be factored in, and not just the violent acts that land them in the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Birman is the founder and president of Daniel H. Birman Productions, Inc., a film company that produced Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story</span></em></p>Dan Birman, director of the new Netflix feature documentary ‘Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story,’ discusses his filmmaking process and the importance of the case.Dan Birman, Professor of Professional Practice, USC Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1248702019-11-05T12:16:26Z2019-11-05T12:16:26ZAmerican youth don’t know much about the juvenile justice system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298600/original/file-20191024-170458-1avy78w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 1.6 million minors are arrested in the U.S. every year.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-jail-girl-house-detention-concept-709809799?src=d2B2oY5HN-dPqJ7i8RMCeQ-1-11">chatiyanon/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young people in the U.S. who end up in the juvenile justice system often leave the system <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjv003">much worse</a> than when they entered. </p>
<p>But American youth know little to nothing about the juvenile justice system that would determine their future if they were ever accused of committing a crime. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vTwIjSIAAAAJ&hl=en">Our team</a> surveyed nearly 1,000 teens and young adults across the country to gain insight into their perceptions of this system. We found that many have limited knowledge or are conflicted about its purpose. </p>
<h2>Juvenile justice in the US</h2>
<p>The most common way a young person enters the juvenile justice system is through an encounter with police. </p>
<p>In the U.S., an estimated <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2014/downloads/chapter5.pdf">1.6 million people under the age of 18</a> are arrested each year. Those who are arrested are disproportionately male and of a minority race. Larceny, simple assault, drug abuse violations and disorderly conduct offenses account for <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2014/downloads/chapter5.pdf">half of all juvenile arrests</a>. </p>
<p>In correctional facilities, <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/NR2006.pdf">youth may experience</a> overcrowding, physical and sexual violence or trauma. </p>
<p>Incarceration of youth – in prison or other correctional facilities – has been linked to <a href="https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice/youth-involved-juvenile-justice-system">academic failure</a>, disengagement from school, disciplinary problems and <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/what-long-term-impact-incarcerating-juveniles">adult incarceration</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.10465">Adults with a history of juvenile justice involvement</a> are more likely to have depression, anxiety, PTSD and suicide attempts, compared to those without involvement. </p>
<h2>Little to no knowledge</h2>
<p><a href="http://hearmyvoicenow.org/">MyVoice</a> is a national poll that collects the opinions of 14- to 24-year-olds across every state in the U.S.</p>
<p>In February, through MyVoice, we asked youth a series of questions about what they know about the U.S. juvenile justice system. For example, we asked, “When youth commit a crime, the juvenile justice system determines what happens to them. What do you know about this system?” </p>
<p>Fifty-six percent said they knew little to nothing. That’s <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935383.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935383-e-104">similar to what adults say they know</a> about the adult criminal justice system.</p>
<p>One said, “[I know] very little. I know about juvenile detention from television shows like iCarly.” </p>
<p>Another said “Mostly I know what I have seen in TV shows and movies. Which [I] question the accuracy of. Otherwise I know a small bit from media like news.” </p>
<p>“I’m not even sure what the age is to charge someone through the juvenile system versus the adult system,” added another.</p>
<p>Many young people also recognized their limited knowledge as a problem. As one said, “I don’t know a lot, but I feel like I should learn more.” </p>
<p><a href="https://jlc.org/resources/broken-bridges-how-juvenile-placements-cut-youth-communities-and-successful-futures">According to a 2018 report</a> from a youth advocacy project at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, youth not only enter the system with little knowledge of it, but are often kept in the dark once in the system. </p>
<p>“I wasn’t aware that I would be going to prison and was being tried in adult court,” wrote Nigee, one youth who has been involved in the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>“On my way to court, right before I got there, my worker told me I was not going home. They did not tell me how long I was staying. I was 14; I didn’t know anything,” wrote another named Alex.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A sign outside a youth correctional facility in Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/JUVENILE-JUSTICE-CUTS/c109a4fc559946ae8981209e069c5896/2/0">AP Photo/Jeff Barnard</a></span>
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<h2>Conflicted over its purpose</h2>
<p>MyVoice data indicate that not only are youth uneducated about the system overall, but are conflicted on what should happen to a young person if they were to enter this system. </p>
<p>According to the U.S. government, the purpose of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation – developing skills, addressing treatment needs and <a href="https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice">“successful reintegration of youth into the community.”</a></p>
<p>In our survey, 65% stated that the purpose of this system should primarily be to rehabilitate, educate or prevent future criminal behavior. At the same time, 56% thought youth who commit a crime should be charged or punished.</p>
<p><iframe id="Se3MB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Se3MB/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Many young people in the MyVoice study displayed conflicting thoughts about the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>One 17-year-old mentioned that the goal of the system should be to “reform the children,” but that youth who enter the juvenile justice system “should be punished.” Another agreed that the goal should be “to reform, not incarcerate… maybe [through] a program that treats them like human beings.” </p>
<h2>Better education</h2>
<p>These responses highlight the need for reliable and accessible resources that can help young people better understand the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>There is no set curriculum for what youth ought to know. But there are elements in the life of youth, such as missing school or “partying,” that could get them mixed up in the juvenile justice system – under offenses such as truancy, underage drinking or <a href="https://www.sandiego.gov/police/services/prevention/community/parental/curfew">curfew violation</a>.</p>
<p>If youth better understood the juvenile justice system, they would be more equipped to navigate the system and advocate for programs and policies that could benefit them.</p>
<p>The voices of young people in our study demonstrate a gap where education and greater visibility can help move what is happening in the juvenile justice system out of the shadows.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tammy Chang receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omar Ilyas and Vic Wiener do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a survey, 56% of Americans aged 14 to 24 said they knew little to nothing about the juvenile justice system.Tammy Chang, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of MichiganOmar Ilyas, Research Associate at Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of MichiganVic Wiener, Law Student at College of Law, University of TulsaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1209682019-07-28T20:17:25Z2019-07-28T20:17:25ZYoung crime is often a phase, and locking kids up is counterproductive<p>Last week, violent riots erupted in the NSW Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre. Several inmates allegedly attacked known sex offenders, and a held a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/prisoners-out-of-their-cells-as-police-establish-perimeter-at-juvenile-detention-centre-20190721-p529cd.html">siege</a> on the rooftop lasting nearly 22 hours. In June, officers at the centre <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-09/nsw-juvenile-centre-workers-walk-off-job-after-violence/11194458">walked off</a> the job after a number of violent attacks by detainees.</p>
<p>And on average, <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-detention-population-in-australia-2018/contents/table-of-contents">980 young people</a> were in youth detention in Australia every night in the June quarter of 2018. While there has been some fluctuation in this number, there has been an overall increase in the average number of young people in detention per night since 2014.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-damages-their-mental-health-and-sets-them-up-for-more-disadvantage-is-this-what-we-want-117674">Locking up kids damages their mental health and sets them up for more disadvantage. Is this what we want?</a>
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<p>This crowding and rising tensions have led to an Australia-wide spotlight on youth detention, which began with the 2016 ABC Four Corners <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/australias-shame-promo/7649462">investigation</a>, “Australia’s Shame”, on the treatment of young offenders in detention centres in the Northern Territory and, in turn led to a royal commission into Northern Territory’s youth justice system. </p>
<p>Young people in detention often <a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-damages-their-mental-health-and-sets-them-up-for-more-disadvantage-is-this-what-we-want-117674">come from</a> unstable backgrounds, their literacy levels are generally very low, they have extensive childhood trauma. On release, their prospects of employment are low. And many young people in custody are known to have experienced some form of childhood trauma, such as neglect, and physical, sexual and emotional abuse. </p>
<p>But research has <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi409">shown</a> young people often grow out of their offending behaviours and rejoin their local communities. </p>
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<p>It’s time the youth justice system considered alternative community-based models that better recognise the ability for young people to abandon crime.</p>
<h2>The juvenile justice system in NSW</h2>
<p>In Australia, a person under the age of 10 years old cannot be charged with a criminal offence, and young person must be at least 18 to be tried in court as an adult.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/yoa1997181/">Young Offenders Act 1997 </a> is the primary diversion legislation for young offenders in NSW. “Diversion” is used to steer young people away from involvement in the criminal justice system or deter their long-term involvement into adulthood. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-every-young-person-in-wa-detention-has-a-severe-brain-impairment-90695">Almost every young person in WA detention has a severe brain impairment</a>
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<p>The principles of this act are to ensure there are alternative measures in place to deal with young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system. These measures include <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/yoa1997181/s13.html">warnings</a>, <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/yoa1997181/s18.html">cautioning</a> and <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/yoa1997181/s34.html">Youth Justice Conferencing</a>.</p>
<p>It’s widely accepted there are certain, more minor crimes committed disproportionately by young people, such as property crime. In these cases, young people are more likely to end up diversionary programs.</p>
<p>Those who do end up in custody are likely to have done so for more serious offences, for example, drug, sexual or terrorism offences, and many of the detainees have histories of violence. </p>
<p>While being withdrawn from the community is part of the punishment for these young people, the isolation of custody can have compounding problems upon release. As a result, there are growing calls for an overhaul of the youth justice system. </p>
<h2>The New Zealand model</h2>
<p>Following the recent Frank Baxter riots, Stewart Little, the general secretary of the Public Service Association, has called for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/22/six-injured-as-makeshift-weapons-used-in-riot-at-nsw-juvenile-justice-centre">judicial inquiry</a>. And Ruth Barson, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the worst course of action would be a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/legal-experts-renew-calls-for-juvenile-justice-reform/11334314">knee-jerk and punitive</a>” response. </p>
<p>While reform would happen on a state-by-state basis, Australia could look to the New Zealand model to deal with young people who come into contact with the youth justice system. </p>
<p>The New Zealand model has a strong focus on community, and recognises that the majority of young people grow out of participating in crime. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-indigenous-kids-in-detention-in-the-nt-in-the-first-place-63257">Why are so many Indigenous kids in detention in the NT in the first place?</a>
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<p>When a young person comes into contact with police, <a href="http://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/police-the-youth-justice-system/the-youth-justice-system/#what-is-a-police-youth-aid-officer">Police Youth Aid officers</a> have specialised training to work with young people to divert them from the court system. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/new-zealand-youth-court-takes-fresh-approach-to-young/6617670">As a result</a>, as many as 80% of young people in New Zealand are diverted from the court system.</p>
<p>If a young person does end up going before the court, they first undertake a <a href="http://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/police-the-youth-justice-system/the-youth-justice-system/#what-is-a-family-group-conference-fgc">Family Group Conference</a> where the best form of intervention is determined. This process is supervised by the court and ultimately goes back before the judge for approval. </p>
<p>The young person is active in this process. But if they don’t comply, they must then go through a more formal process. This can take many forms, depending on the nature of the offence, such as a hearing in <a href="http://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/police-the-youth-justice-system/the-youth-justice-system/#what-is-the-youth-court">Youth Court</a> or the matter may be transferred to the district court. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-sexual-assault-in-youth-detention-centers-92336">Ending sexual assault in youth detention centers</a>
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<p>In part, <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/7/19/indigenous-families-to-lead-youth-justice-decisions-in-new-trial">this model is being trialled in Queensland</a>. The families of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who come into contact with the criminal justice system are being given a greater role in family-led decision-making and Youth Justice case planning.</p>
<p>While custody may have a place in the youth justice system, an overhauled framework might look to place a stronger focus on the role of the community and breaking down barriers and stigmatisation of justice involved young people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Robert McGregor is affiliated with SHINE For Kids. He is a mentor for the 'Stand As One' community mentoring program which runs out of Frank Baxter. </span></em></p>Australia should look to the New Zealand model, which has a strong focus on community, and recognises that the majority of young people grow-out of participating in crime.Joel Robert McGregor, Associate Lecturer, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181702019-06-13T01:32:52Z2019-06-13T01:32:52Z‘Naming and shaming’ juvenile offenders or open justice? A new battle over press freedom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279270/original/file-20190613-32356-12x6ccq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Northern Territory is the only Australian jurisdiction where the media can identify juvenile offenders. The government now wants to end the practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lucy Hughes Jones/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the past week, momentum has been building for a national <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/press-freedom-inquiry-appears-likely/news-story/0b60a9d17f715ab7d7309fd81d91c391">parliamentary inquiry</a> into media freedom following the police raids on ABC and News Corp journalists. </p>
<p>But the issue of press freedom isn’t restricted to Canberra – there’s another contentious debate taking place at the moment in the Northern Territory over a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/01/nt-plan-for-closed-courts-would-end-naming-and-shaming-children-advocates-say">plan by the government</a> to close the NT’s courts to the media in cases involving young offenders. </p>
<p>The debate centres on a <a href="https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/669305/Youth-Justice-and-Related-Legislation-Amendment-Bill-Serial-85.pdf">bill</a> that would introduce the nation’s <a href="https://journlaw.com/2014/08/21/court-restrictions-on-identifying-children-in-australia-a-guide-for-journalists/">most restrictive rules</a> on reporting on juvenile offenders, including punishments of up to a year in jail for journalists who enter a juvenile court or publish details of any case.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/naming-and-shaming-young-offenders-reactionary-politicians-are-missing-the-point-8690">Naming and shaming young offenders: reactionary politicians are missing the point</a>
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<p>The court closures were recommended by the <a href="https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-01/rcnt-royal-commission-nt-final-report-volume-1.pdf">Don Dale Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children</a>, which made numerous recommendations to address the failures of the NT’s juvenile justice system. The commission said that imposing restrictions on the media in cases like these would be beneficial to young offenders and those accused of crimes, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/31/system-is-broken-all-children-in-nt-detention-are-aboriginal-officials-say">vast majority of whom are Indigneous</a>.</p>
<p>In its <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2F6df64b46-5279-4c63-8df6-eee0abf5122e%22">final report</a>, the commission said:</p>
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<p>Media reporting identifying young offenders can affect their prospects of rehabilitation, their sense of identity and their connection to the community. </p>
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<p>It also quoted a young witness, who said that when his name was published by the media</p>
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<p>it made me feel like everybody knew that I was a criminal and not a person … It feels like the public can see right through me … I began to feel like I was a lost cause.</p>
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<h2>Why ‘naming and shaming’ can be harmful</h2>
<p>The so-called “naming and shaming” of young offenders has been a part of the media’s coverage of the territory’s courts for many years. The NT is the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2F6df64b46-5279-4c63-8df6-eee0abf5122e%22">only jurisdiction</a> in Australia where youth proceedings are held in open court, unless the court orders them closed.</p>
<p>More than a decade ago, NT barrister Mark Hunter <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/BalJlNTLawSoc/2006/78.pdf">detailed</a> examples of children being pursued by photographers outside territory courthouses. One was identified and described in the Northern Territory News as a “bored thug”. </p>
<p>In another instance, a 15-year-old offender was named and his photograph twice run on the newspaper’s front page, Hunter recounted.</p>
<p>He explained that past attempts by defence attorneys to suppress the identities of young offenders had been rejected by judges on the grounds it would infringe on open justice and press freedom. It was also believed that “shaming” offenders would <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/BalJlNTLawSoc/2006/78.pdf">purportedly assist with their rehabilitation</a> and reintegration into society.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://territorystories.nt.gov.au/bitstream/10070/265394/1/Naming%20and%20shaming%20of%20Indigenous%20Youth%20in%20the%20Justice%20system%20An%20exploratory%20study%20of%20the%20impact%20in%20the%20Northern%20Territory.pdf">study</a> by criminologists Duncan Chappell and Robyn Lincoln on media coverage of Indigenous youth in the NT, found that publicly identifying offenders actually had a number of adverse effects. These included limiting their opportunities for an adequate defence and reinforcing stereotypes of Indigenous criminality.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-if-locking-em-up-is-the-goal-nts-a-success-39185">State of imprisonment: if locking 'em up is the goal, NT's a success</a>
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<p>The government’s plan to close juvenile cases to the media has been supported by several Indigenous justice groups, as well as the <a href="https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/690626/85-2019-Submission-10-Law-Society-NT.pdf">Law Society of the Northern Territory</a> and the <a href="https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/690628/85-2019-Submission-12-Northern-Territory-Council-of-Social-Service-NTCOSS.pdf">Northern Territory Council of Social Service</a>. Other submissions, including those from the <a href="https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/690624/85-2019-Submission-8-Information-Commissioner.pdf">NT information commissioner</a> and the <a href="https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/690618/85-2019-Submission-3-Darwin-Community-Legal-Service.pdf">Darwin Community Legal Service</a>, supported the continued reporting of youth justice cases without naming the accused.</p>
<h2>Concerns over restrictions on press freedom</h2>
<p>Given these concerns about the well-being of Indigenous youth, why are media groups opposing the move to close the NT’s courts? </p>
<p>For starters, media organisations like the Darwin Press Club say the move runs counter to the longstanding principle of open justice in the territory. In its <a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/wig-chamber/25805-closed-court-reform-sees-nt-division">statement opposing the bill</a>, the press club said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the bill in its present form represents a retrograde step in terms of transparency and the community’s right to know about the Northern Territory’s youth justice system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It also made the key point that media access to the courts was necessary to expose “the widespread ineptitude within the Northern Territory’s youth justice system” and pointed out that it was the ABC Four Corners documentary in 2016, “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/australias-shame-promo/7649462">Australia’s Shame</a>”, that exposed the youth justice problems leading to the Don Dale Commission.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279273/original/file-20190613-32347-1n42i4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Darwin Press Club says the Four Corners report on Don Dale would have been ‘an offence to publish or broadcast under the proposed overhaul’ of the NT laws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glenn Campbell/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is a recognised <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/open-justice">common law rule</a> that the media should be able to publish fair and accurate reports of court proceedings. This includes the right to identify parties involved in cases. </p>
<p>But the High Court has ruled that this right is not absolute and courts <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/open-justice#_ftn62">may be closed</a> when it comes to matters of “privacy or delicacy” or “where it is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice.” This is why all <a href="https://journlaw.com/2014/08/21/court-restrictions-on-identifying-children-in-australia-a-guide-for-journalists/">other Australian jurisdictions</a> impose restrictions on media attendance in court cases involving juveniles and publicly identifying young offenders.</p>
<p>Some jurisdictions, including Tasmania and Queensland, only allow media access or reporting on juvenile cases with the permission of the court, while most others allow the media to report on juvenile cases without identifying the children involved. Victoria also prohibits the naming of the location of the proceedings, as is proposed in the NT.</p>
<p>But none of these jurisdictions goes as far as the proposed blanket ban on the reporting of youth offender cases in the NT. </p>
<p>Debates over the media’s rights to cover such cases are not isolated to the Northern Territory. The NSW Law Reform Commission is conducting a broader <a href="https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/lrc/lrc_current_projects/Courtinformation/Project_update.aspx">open justice inquiry</a> that includes an examination of restrictions on covering court proceedings, including those involving children. The Victorian Law Reform Commission has issued a <a href="https://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/projects/contempt-court-judicial-proceedings-reports-act-1958-and-enforcement-processes/contempt">consultation paper</a> in its inquiry into contempt of court and the restrictions placed on media organisations covering a variety of cases.</p>
<p>A key problem in the digital era is the lack of uniformity on reporting restrictions in Australia’s nine jurisdictions in a variety of court matters. These include sex crimes, coroners’ hearings, bail proceedings, mental health tribunals and the issuing of suppression orders, to name a few.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/suppression-security-surveillance-and-spin-the-rise-of-a-secret-state-34972">Suppression, security, surveillance and spin: the rise of a secret state?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The result is a confusing array of hundreds of reporting prohibitions representing a minefield for journalists and social media users wanting to report or comment on a court case.</p>
<p>All this is in addition to the tangle of national security laws that affect journalists and their sources, now at the centre of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-11/scott-morrison-meets-with-abc-chief-ita-buttrose/11198090">debate</a> over press freedom following the AFP raids.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome of the NT proposal, the Commonwealth, state and territory attorneys-general need to inject some uniformity into this confusing web of publishing laws, while also acknowledging the importance of transparency and open justice to the functioning of a healthy democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118170/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Pearson has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, the Commonwealth Government, and several other organisations and agencies. </span></em></p>Open justice is in contest with other rights as the Northern Territory considers a bill to ban the media from juvenile court cases.Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism and Social Media, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1078482019-01-03T11:21:15Z2019-01-03T11:21:15ZShould children as young as 12 be sent to juvenile detention?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251911/original/file-20181221-103631-1d7qh7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Youth detention center in Atlanta.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/David Goldman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children under 12 will no longer be treated as criminals in the state of California when they break the law, based on a <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article219287990.html">new law</a> that <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB439">went into effect on Jan. 1</a>.</p>
<p>Before the law was passed, California had no minimum age for sending children to juvenile court – and that’s still true of most states. That means that in many places, children <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/20/six-year-old-handcuffed-and-several-other-children-under-age-11-arrested-in-tennessee-sparking-outrage/?utm_term=.2e4f95e49b27">as young as six</a>, for example, can be arrested and detained. </p>
<p><iframe id="VcuCu" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/VcuCu/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Colorado <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/qa04102.asp?qaDate=2016&text=no&maplink=link1">and other states</a>, the minimum age is 10. Many California state legislators believe that setting a higher standard, 12 years old, will protect younger children from the dangers that come with juvenile detention. And, given that California’s juvenile justice system houses the largest number of youth in the <a href="https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/42-youth-residing-in-juvenile-detention-correctional-and-or-residential-facilities?loc=6&loct=2#detailed/2/2-52/false/573,36,867,133,18,17,14,12,10,8/any/319,17599">United States</a> and even <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260153/">the world</a>, their stance may influence how other states set their standards for criminal responsibility.</p>
<p>I am a doctoral student <a href="https://galvanlab.psych.ucla.edu/lab-members/">studying neuroscience</a> at UCLA. In my lab, we are examining how time spent confined in juvenile facilities affects brain development and behavior. To do so, we study a range of experiences kids encounter when confined, from the good – increased daily structure – to the terrible – <a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-sexual-assault-in-youth-detention-centers-92336">assault</a> by other youth and staff. Our study is just beginning, but previous research has shown that the majority of youth <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-45451-001">experience abuse</a> while confined and show structural <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27388804">brain changes</a> similar to individuals who have experienced lifetime trauma exposure. </p>
<h2>What happens in juvenile detention?</h2>
<p>Juvenile facilities <a href="https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/cms/files/criminal-justice/research-publications/ntcc_the_future_of_youth_justice.pdf">function as prisons</a> for youth. The key difference between adult prisons and juvenile facilities is that the latter advocate for rehabilitation. </p>
<p>That’s because young people, usually until their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28242797">mid- to late 20’s</a>, have brains that are still developing and so have the capacity for change – what scientists often refer to as “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25033176">plasticity</a>.” </p>
<p>Every year, over <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb">1.3 million</a> youth in the U.S. are arrested and 60 percent face confinement for offenses neither violent or sexual in nature, such as probation violation, status offense, drug offense or property crime.</p>
<p>Rehabilitative efforts can include behavior management, writing classes, religious services and even training on how to manage finances. </p>
<p>Despite these efforts, the experience of being detained appears to have overwhelmingly negative consequences for young people.</p>
<p>Research shows that the more youth are involved with the juvenile justice system – from arrest to detainment to transfer to an adult court – the higher their chances are of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26585053">early death</a>, specifically a violent one. Going to juvenile detention also increases risk for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27992626">poorer life outcomes</a> in terms of educational attainment, relationships and gainful employment. At this point, these relationships are only correlational, but have been demonstrated across many large studies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251912/original/file-20181221-103638-1em1yjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center shows part of the interior of the building in Staunton, Virginia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Immigration-Abuse-Claims/bef7cb16fed34949ad73642be3a1b27b/11/0">Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://richardross.net/juvenile-in-justice">physical environment</a> inside juvenile detention facilities has an industrial feel, with limited natural light. They are surrounded by chain-linked fences topped with barbed wire.</p>
<p>Once inside, youth are rarely in contact with their support systems, whether that be family, friends or other individuals. While some youth may have been removed from abusive situations at home, the high-threat environment of secure juvenile facilities is far from a rehabilitation-oriented setting.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aecf.org/resources/maltreatment-of-youth-in-us-juvenile-corrections-facilities/">Maltreatment</a> has been documented in youth detention facilities in most states. According to one survey, about 42 percent of youth in detention are afraid of being physically attacked, 45 percent report unneeded use of force by staff and 30 percent state that staff use isolation as discipline. <a href="https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/Alone%20and%20Afraid%20COMPLETE%20FINAL.pdf">Isolation</a>, particularly during development, comes with a range of negative physiological and psychological reactions and is associated with the development of mood disorders, like depression and anxiety, and psychosis.</p>
<p>Under such stressful conditions, even young <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5074883/">brains</a> would have a difficult time learning or growing. To make matters worse, most youth in the juvenile justice system have experienced <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925492715301566?via%3Dihub">early life trauma</a> like abuse and neglect, which can compound the negative effects of these already detrimental experiences.</p>
<h2>No ‘magic number’</h2>
<p>The clinicians and academics who wrote a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5841225/">policy brief</a> on the California bill cite developmental research, court decisions on youth sentencing and international standards on juvenile justice as the reasons to adopt the age of 12 as the minimum age at which children can be sent to juvenile detention. </p>
<p>However, there is no strong evidence that setting 12 as the lowest age for sending children to detention will provide major benefits. Among these sources cited by the clinicians and academics, the only specific reference to the age of 12 is from <a href="https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/CRC.C.GC.10.pdf">international standards</a> set forth by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. </p>
<p>In 2007, the committee announced 12 as the absolute minimum age of criminal responsibility, but at the same time strongly advocated for higher ages, like 14 or 16. At the time, research investigating brain development in youth was still emerging. Now, more than 10 years later, we know that experiences during all of adolescence tremendously impact brain development and behavior into adulthood. </p>
<p>While a systemic overhaul would be needed to address the current conditions of juvenile confinement, existing diversion programs are an avenue to affect youth of all ages. One such program is the <a href="https://www.aecf.org/work/juvenile-justice/jdai/">Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative</a>, founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation more than 25 years ago. </p>
<p>The initiative monitors the treatment of youth in secure detention facilities and diverts youth or limits time spent confined. The initiative is implemented in over 300 counties nationwide. </p>
<p>Instead of placing young people in detention facilities, these initiatives promote confining them in their homes, in shelters and reporting centers. This approach has been shown to lower the number of times the youth commit crimes again – a large feat given that <a href="https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/cms/files/criminal-justice/research-publications/ntcc_the_future_of_youth_justice.pdf">70 to 80 percent</a> of youth involved in the juvenile justice system traditionally face rearrest within three years of their release.</p>
<p>Rather than focusing on a specific age for juvenile detention, I believe a greater impact would come from ensuring that confinement is truly rehabilitative and developmentally appropriate for all youth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalia Orendain receives funding from the Doris Duke Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. Natalia is also a creative writing teacher for detained youth with the nonprofit InsideOut Writers.</span></em></p>A neuroscientist explains how detention can affect a developing mind, as a new law in California sets the highest age limit in the US for minors to be held criminally responsible, at age 12.Natalia Orendain, Ph.D. Candidate in Neuroscience, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856342017-11-09T10:35:42Z2017-11-09T10:35:42ZVictorian child reformatories were more successful than today’s youth justice system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193752/original/file-20171108-27026-jftxlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=220%2C143%2C3212%2C2068&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plans for an industrial school in Feltham, England. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/brh5xq95"> Charles William Sheeres, Banks and Barry via Wellcome Images</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Victorian institutions designed to reform delinquent or vulnerable children were much more successful than today’s youth justice system in assisting children to recover from troubled starts in life, according to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Epg4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=Reformatory+School+Horrors+john+bull&source=bl&ots=GsupIzDF0U&sig=4AiieI8upndx6kVwFiOcg2mrVdU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt9KK83K7XAhXDVxoKHTe0DeQQ6AEIQjAJ#v=onepage&q=Reformatory%20School%20Horrors%20john%20bull&f=false">new research</a> my colleagues and I have published. </p>
<p>From the 1850s, the government, charities, and faith communities constructed a rudimentary welfare net for children who had committed crimes by sending them to reformatories or military training ships. Children who were at risk of committing crimes because of neglectful or criminal parents were sent to industrial schools rather than workhouses because they were deemed at risk of becoming delinquent. </p>
<p>Our research revealed that approximately 9,000 children a year were admitted to industrial schools from the mid-1850s to the end of the 19th century, and another 1,000 a year to reformatories, according to the annual judicial figures that my colleagues and I analysed.</p>
<p>The average reconviction rates for these institutionalised children were low. Taking the whole of their lives into consideration, only 22% of children who were in reformatories and industrial schools committed crimes in their adult lives following release – and only 2% committed more than one crime after release. Victorian and Edwardian children who had either committed offences or were deemed at risk of committing offences seem to have had better outcomes than today’s children, where the reconviction rate is much higher.</p>
<p>Today, 40% of juvenile offenders in England and Wales <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/633194/proven-reoffending-2015-q3.pdf">reoffend within just the first 12 months</a> of their release from custody.</p>
<h2>Why did the Victorians succeed?</h2>
<p>Both the reformatory and industrial school systems of the 19th century were orientated towards equipping children for work. Children were taught employment skills suitable for the Victorian marketplace. Stockport Industrial School, for example, trained children for the textile trade, and had relationships with local employers who employed children directly after they left their institution.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/SandbachRfy/">Bradwall Reformatory in Cheshire</a> gave their children the sort of skills required for the local agricultural economy. They too were employed as soon as they left the reformatory – many had already served work placements with their future employers. </p>
<p>Reformatories and industrial schools then maintained contact with the children, enquiring how they were getting on in the world of work for years after they were released. Our research found that many children wrote letters back “home” to the institutional alma maters when they became adults.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193753/original/file-20171108-27016-kzcv5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A swimming bath on the training ship Indefatigable, moored in the Mersey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/vsga665x?query=training+ship">Wellcome Images</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Institution staff provided a family life for children, many of whom had not experienced settled and loving family environments before they entered the institution, and formed lifelong relationships with their former charges. In 1896, eight-year-old William Brown had been found living in a house frequented by prostitutes. He was sent to <a href="http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/StockportBoysIS/">Stockport Industrial School</a> to stay there until he was 16. </p>
<p>After leaving, Brown enlisted as a “band boy” with the 21st Lancers but was discharged just one year later, despite his character being recorded as “very good” by his regiment. He then picked up a number of temporary jobs (barman, mechanic, chauffer, waiter) but found his feet in 1910 when he started work as a photographer’s assistant in London. </p>
<p>Commenting on the regular reports and photographs he sent back to Stockport Industrial School, the staff noted that he was “a fine young man, quite a swell”. He emigrated to Canada and found employment as a photographer, and married. Some 30 years after leaving Stockport, he brought his wife to the UK to visit the school. As with many children who went on to lead decent lives, a good relationship with institutional staff during and after their period in care was critical to them staying out of the courts and gaining useful employment.</p>
<h2>Violent and abusive places to grow up</h2>
<p>We know, of course, that many children suffered horrendous violent and sexual abuse. In 1910, the publication John Bull, in an article entitled “Reformatory School Horrors”, alleged that three boys had died as a result of excessive punishments and neglect. The newspaper particularly condemned the “cold water” punishments of “malingerers”, one of whom “was taken out into the courtyard in wintry weather, when he had 52 buckets of cold water thrown over him”.</p>
<p>Other punishments included birching and caning, and deprivation of food and clothing. Children at one of the other institutions my colleagues and I studied, the <a href="http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/sheet/9">Akbar Training Ship</a>, moored in the Mersey, often mutinied and rebelled against their brutal treatment.</p>
<p>Victorian society may have seen harsh treatment as a part of bringing reform and a successful life to institutionalised children. The measures of success were different, and the aspirations of the children in Victorian institutions may also have been different. We can imagine that any kind of “British Dream” that would have made sense to Victorian and Edwardian children would have meant a safe and secure residence, continuity of some form of employment, and their children having a better life than they had had. </p>
<p>The reformatories and industrial schools set up by the state and charity sector during the Victorian period ensured that most of the children who passed through them did actually achieve these modest dreams. For those who were irrevocably damaged by their early institutionalisation, of course, their childhood experiences may have haunted them into adulthood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry Godfrey receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and has received funding from The Leverhume Trust.</span></em></p>The reconviction rates of children put in institutions was lower than it is today, new research shows.Barry Godfrey, Professor of Social Justice, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/772902017-06-02T02:54:50Z2017-06-02T02:54:50ZShould we put juveniles away for life? Meet Cyntoia Brown, the teen who sparked a debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170425/original/file-20170522-7361-10nbuia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cyntoia after guilty verdict</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Birman Productions</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Inside the Juvenile Justice Center in Nashville, Tennessee is a steel door fitted with a high-security system. Push a button and the door unlocks, revealing another steel door with a slot for IDs. When that door buzzes, I walk through with video gear. I’m searched, as is the gear. An hour later, I hear the sound of shackles from down the hall, and a 16-year-old girl in an orange jumpsuit appears.</p>
<p>That meeting 14 years ago began an odyssey that eventually found me on the periphery of a political battle in Tennessee, one of the nation’s most conservative states. Bipartisan leaders there are struggling to change some of Tennessee’s heavy-handed juvenile sentencing laws that require juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to serve a minimum of 51 years.</p>
<h2>Laws under fire</h2>
<p>Juvenile sentencing laws in America have been under fire for many years. When compared to other industrialized countries around the world, America has the largest number of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/united-states">incarcerated youth</a>. Moreover, sentencing criteria for juveniles tried in the adult system are different from <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184748.pdf">state to state</a>.</p>
<p>In 2015, a group of influential people, including a juvenile judge, attorneys, bipartisan legislators, lobbyists and activist organizations, got behind <a href="https://legiscan.com/TN/text/SB2090/id/1302503">a bill</a> to change an aspect of Tennessee’s juvenile sentencing laws. The original bill called for a juvenile serving a life sentence to be considered for parole after serving 15 years. That bill was debated in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, but after its passage appeared unlikely, its House sponsor, Rep. Jeremy Faison, withdrew it for further study. A modified version of the bill was also pulled from the agenda in 2017. Meanwhile, other bills addressing sentencing requirements and juvenile rights during interrogation are also under discussed. </p>
<p>A documentary that my colleagues and I produced, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/me-facing-life/">“Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story</a>,” has been part of this conversation about changing Tennessee’s juvenile sentencing laws. The film came about after I met a juvenile forensic psychiatrist in Nashville in 2003. That meeting led to my developing access to the city for a possible documentary. </p>
<p>When I met 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown in 2004, just days after she was arrested for murder, her case seemed cut and dried. She was a young runaway caught up in a bad situation after a middle-aged man picked her up for sex. She got scared and killed him. To law enforcement, the courts and the jury, there was no question about her guilt and her subsequent fate. For me, there had to be more to the story. My camera began rolling during our first meeting.</p>
<h2>A legacy of abuse</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170428/original/file-20170522-7327-1zx9zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cyntoia Brown at a 2014 transfer hearing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Birman Productions</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The next six years were intense. I did extensive interviews with Brown during the years prior to and just after her criminal trial, and several interviews with her adoptive and biological families. I observed forensic psychiatric and psychological evaluations and had access to all of her court proceedings. </p>
<p>We learned that Brown’s mother was unmarried. Her grandmother was a single parent. That didn’t seem so unusual, but over time, a more disturbing narrative emerged – most of the women in Brown’s maternal family were survivors of abuse.</p>
<p>It started with Joan, Brown’s maternal grandmother. She confided, on camera, that she had been the victim of a violent rape. The rape resulted in the birth of her daughter, Georgina. Georgina became an unsupervised teenager who lived a reckless life with drugs, alcohol and prostitution, and became pregnant with Cyntoia at the age of 16.</p>
<p>We discussed Cyntoia Brown’s story with many professionals, on and off camera, and discovered that the life she led, where she was repeatedly forced into sexual acts, was a form of slavery, or sex trafficking. </p>
<p>After she ran away, Cyntoia Brown would meet people who would take her in. The last person, nicknamed Kutthroat, subjected her to multiple sexual acts with his friends. He then threatened her and said she had better get some money, which was how she met the man she murdered. We also discovered that Brown was a victim of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a condition that occurs when a mother drinks during pregnancy. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/facts.html">Typical symptoms</a> include difficulty with attention, and poor reasoning and judgment skills. </p>
<p>Cyntoia Brown was ultimately tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. She’s not eligible for parole until the age of 67, a sentence mandated by current Tennessee law.</p>
<h2>‘Transient rashness’</h2>
<p>Juveniles in Tennessee who are convicted of first-degree murder must serve a minimum of <a href="http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/">51 years before they can even be considered for parole.</a> First-degree murder includes those committed with “premeditation and deliberation,” which Tennessee law says can be formed in as few as one or two minutes. </p>
<p>First-degree murder also includes felony murder, which is a killing that occurs during the course of a felony such as a robbery, whether or not there was any intent to kill. A person can be convicted of felony murder regardless of their role in the crime. </p>
<p>It’s not difficult to see why there is a strong incentive to put a person convicted of murder behind bars for life. Such sentences eliminate the possibility that an offender could murder again.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797615627625">new scientific discoveries</a> and <a href="http://www.lawneuro.org/adol_dev_brief.pdf">several landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions</a> that took place while we were working on our documentary raised important questions. <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/juvenile-life-without-parole/">Since 2005</a>, the Supreme Court has recognized that children’s brains are not fully developed, which can impair their judgment and make them vulnerable to high-risk situations. In the 2005 case <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-633.ZO.html">Roper v. Simmons</a>, the court found that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death. Five years later, in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-7412.ZS.html">Graham v. Florida</a>, the court banned the use of life without parole for juveniles not convicted of homicide. In <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6291421178853922648&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">Miller v. Alabama (2012)</a>, the high court declared mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles unconstitutional. Writing for the majority in that case, Justice Elena Kagan described adolescence as marked by “transient rashness, proclivity for risk, and inability to assess consequences.”</p>
<p>And yet, Tennessee courts have not yet held that their laws violate Miller. Tennessee Code doesn’t require juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to serve life – but only to serve a 60-year sentence. The courts have the option to sentence convicted youth to a life sentence with a 15 percent reduction or <a href="http://www.ncrp.info/StateFactSheets.aspx?state=TN">parole eligibility after 51 years</a>.</p>
<p>Many advocates in Tennessee have taken the position that a 51-year sentence is functionally the same as life without parole because <a href="http://fairsentencingofyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Michigan-Life-Expectancy-Data-Youth-Serving-Life.pdf">the average life expectancy of a young person entering prison</a> is roughly 50 years.</p>
<h2>After the filming stopped</h2>
<p>I finally turned my camera off in 2011. The documentary was initially broadcast on PBS–Independent Lens, and was later distributed worldwide. It was also featured in community cinemas and adapted and incorporated into various educational curricula around the country. As a result, Cyntoia’s story became a part of the expanding conversation about juvenile sentencing laws and how kids are handled in the criminal justice system.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=me%20facing%20life%3A%20cyntoia's%20story">A Facebook page</a> we created for the film has attracted more than 8,000 followers. Most express frustration about our sentencing laws, but a few state clearly that Brown got what she deserved.</p>
<p>“We fail to acknowledge the contributions we make in the lives of people like Cyntoia,” one visitor wrote. “Don’t mistake my argument, she does need to be held accountable, but the sentence rendered in no way benefits society. … Wake up people! They are kids…”</p>
<p>An extreme opposite view was also expressed:</p>
<p>“When is this world gonna wake up!! She just killed a man for no reason!! She deserves the death penalty there is no question about it.”</p>
<p>For her part, Cyntoia Brown has accepted responsibility for the life she took and knows she cannot undo this harm. She has also taken advantage of every opportunity within the prison system to turn her life around. This includes gaining an education through a local university.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Cyntoia Brown is not the same girl who was arrested in 2004. </p>
<p>We learned that some children – not all – do change. But even though there are systems in place to effectively rehabilitate a juvenile in the prison system, there is no hope under current Tennessee law unless this changes. </p>
<p>In terms of the legal challenge, we continue to follow and document the Tennessee lawmakers’ progress. Whatever Tennessee decides, whether to enact new legislation or maintain their current laws, will be a profound decision. Lawmakers from other states, wrestling with similar problems, will watch, as will activists on either side of the issue. </p>
<p>The last time I saw Cyntoia Brown was in 2015 when she and six other inmates were part of a Lipscomb University ceremony receiving their associate’s degrees. As of 2017, she is a semester away from completing her B.A. degree.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Birman is the founder and president of Daniel H. Birman Productions, Inc., a film company that produced Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story and the subsequent digital series, Sentencing Children.</span></em></p>Cyntoia Brown was just 16 years old when she shot and killed a man in 2004. Under Tennessee law, she won’t be eligible for parole until she is 67 years old. Is such a harsh sentence constitutional?Dan Birman, Professor of Professional Practice, USC Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781612017-06-01T01:57:15Z2017-06-01T01:57:15ZHow yoga is helping girls heal from trauma<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171511/original/file-20170530-23672-m2il5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Photo copyright TheArtOfYogaProject.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Rocsana Enriquez started thinking about yoga again when she was pregnant. She was 19 and in an abusive relationship. </p>
<p>When she was younger, Rocsana, whom I interviewed as part of my research, had taken part in a yoga program in a San Francisco Bay Area juvenile hall run by <a href="http://theartofyogaproject.org">The Art of Yoga Project</a>. She began using the skills she learned on the mat to slow herself down when she got angry and to pause before reacting. She remembered the breathing techniques and poses that made her feel better about herself. </p>
<p>Now, seeking the same quietness she had been able to achieve in class back in juvenile hall, she reached out to the program, never expecting to hear back. </p>
<p>Childhood trauma has a devastating impact on both the mind and the body of children who experience it. But that mind-body connection also offers a path toward healing. A growing body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of addressing the mental and physical impact of trauma through yoga and other somatic, or body-based, programs.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/centers-institutes/poverty-inequality/">The Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality</a>, of which I am executive director, released a <a href="http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/centers-institutes/poverty-inequality/upload/gender-and-trauma.pdf">first-of-its-kind report</a> in April that synthesizes existing research, interviews with experts across the country and two original pilot studies focused on at-risk girls. </p>
<p>Our conclusion: yoga and mindfulness programs can equip girls like Rocsana – especially those in the juvenile justice system – with tools that help them thrive.</p>
<h2>Widespread abuse leads to widespread anxiety</h2>
<p>Research shows that Rocsana is not alone in experiencing abuse as a young person. Children in the United States experience trauma at breathtakingly high rates. In the seminal <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html">Adverse Childhood Experiences survey</a> of more than 17,000 participants, 21 percent reported experiencing sexual abuse as children; 26 percent reported physical abuse; and 14.8 percent reported emotional neglect. <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf">Youth in the juvenile justice system are the most vulnerable</a>, reporting higher rates of trauma than their peers. These experiences take a <a href="http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects-of-complex-trauma">long-term toll not only on their mental health, but their physical health as well</a>. These children are more likely than others to experience depression and substance abuse as adults – and they exhibit higher rates of heart disease, cancer and liver disease. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.traumacenter.org/products/pdf_files/Peaceful_Embodiment_Through_Yoga_R0002.pdf">Studies reveal</a> that yoga programs designed specifically for victims of trauma – programs that include regulated breathing, controlled movement and mindfulness practices – can have far-ranging benefits for any participant. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25004196">Improvements have been shown in mental health</a> (self-regulation, self-esteem) and <a href="http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30086944">physical health</a> (better sleep, a reduction in gastric symptoms and many other positive outcomes).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171519/original/file-20170530-23699-fg95i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yoga and relaxation can help trauma victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-practicing-yoga-studio-shavasana-311459891?src=BgBJgX63OUqGMKIXAdiQGw-1-52">Luna Vandoome/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As our report makes clear, these programs’ potential to help at-risk adolescent girls is only beginning to be realized. The next step is to design curricula that specifically address girls’ unique experiences and perspectives.</p>
<p>For example, yoga and mindfulness programs should emphasize relationship-building, to reflect the value that girls often place on interpersonal connections. Somatic therapy should also account for the fact that girls experience much higher rates of sexual abuse than boys. According to a <a href="http://nationalcrittenton.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ACE_REPORT_finalsm.pdf">recent study by The National Crittenton Foundation</a>, the differential between girls’ and boys’ reported rates of sexual abuse is 32 percent – a discrepancy seen in <a href="http://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/trauma_among_girls_in_the_jj_system_2014.pdf">other studies</a> as well. </p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/dmcdb/asp/display.asp?display_in=3">a disproportionate number of girls in the justice system are girls of color</a>; and many girls are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118668/">LGBT and have been targeted for violence because of their identity</a>. These layers of identity profoundly shape their experiences of trauma and the world’s response to them. To be truly effective, yoga and mindfulness programs must respond, thoughtfully, to these unique factors.</p>
<p>If they do, the physical and mental benefits of yoga can reach – and help – a much wider range of girls who are greatly in need. And that need is profound: <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/centers-institutes/poverty-inequality/upload/2015_COP_sexual-abuse_layout_web-2.pdf">In the justice system, girls are often underserved, with inadequate access to mental health services</a>.</p>
<h2>From student to teacher</h2>
<p><a href="http://theartofygaproject.org/">The Art of Yoga Project</a> did call Rocsana back. Not only that: She has now made the transition from student to teacher, employed by the program that she credits with changing her life and helping her become the kind of parent and role model she wants to be. </p>
<p>Rocsana told me that if people can learn the skills of regulated breathing, physical engagement and mindfulness, it can help break the cycle of trauma. <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/press-releases/yoga-helps-at-risk-girls.cfm">Our research supports her belief.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Epstein serves on a voluntary basis as an advisor to The Art of Yoga Project. </span></em></p>Yoga programs specifically designed to heal girls’ trauma are showing results in facilities across the country. Here’s how.Rebecca Epstein, Executive Director, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/763922017-05-16T02:31:56Z2017-05-16T02:31:56ZHow resilience can break the link between a ‘bad’ childhood and the youth justice system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167644/original/file-20170503-4096-181ute9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children currently in – or who have histories with – residential care services are more likely to have contact with the justice system.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most young people in the youth justice system have been found to come from “troubled” backgrounds. However, many people with similar backgrounds don’t ever end up in youth justice services.</p>
<p>Knowing why people with troubled childhoods may be more likely to engage in criminal activity is necessary to inform the development of effective prevention and early intervention initiatives.</p>
<h2>What is ‘a bad childhood’?</h2>
<p>The concept of a “bad childhood” is used a lot. </p>
<p>Conventional wisdom is that it is used to inform sentencing, with some believing it’s used as an excuse for lenience. Others are more sympathetic to the plight of the disadvantaged, arguing that those in prison are essentially hapless victims of circumstance.</p>
<p>But just what constitutes a bad childhood? The 2015-16 <a href="http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/975942/Youth-Parole-Board-Annual-Report-2015-16.pdf">Victorian Youth Parole Board annual report</a> provides some possible insights. Using data from a snapshot survey of 176 young people in custody, it revealed:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>45% had been previously subject to a child protection order;</p></li>
<li><p>63% had experienced child abuse and/or neglect;</p></li>
<li><p>30% had a current mental health issue;</p></li>
<li><p>90% had offended while under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs;</p></li>
<li><p>38% had a parent or sibling who had been imprisoned; and</p></li>
<li><p>62% had been suspended or expelled from school.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These statistics are most startling at the pointy end of the youth justice system. Research <a href="http://www.smartjustice.org.au/cb_pages/files/leaving_care_youth_justice_phase_3_final_report.pdf">has revealed</a> that while one in ten people on a youth supervision order have had contact with child protection services, the figure increases to one in two for those who have received a custodial sentence.</p>
<p>A similar pattern is apparent for children in contact with child protection services. Children currently in – or who have histories with – residential care services <a href="http://www.smartjustice.org.au/cb_pages/files/leaving_care_youth_justice_phase_3_final_report.pdf">are more likely</a> to have contact with the justice system than children who are not subject to residential care.</p>
<p>A particular challenge is that when young people report the kind of experiences listed above, they are more likely to become disengaged from meaningful daily activities and increasingly disconnected from family. Drug use becomes <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/de/book/9783319336749#aboutAuthors">more available and appealing</a>. Research demonstrates these are strong markers for criminal activity. </p>
<h2>Learning resilience</h2>
<p>Resilience is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane_Burns3/publication/10931288_Adolescent_Resilience_A_Concept_Analysis/links/00b7d521de377db8fa000000/Adolescent-Resilience-A-Concept-Analysis.pdf">a process of adaptation</a>. As we are exposed to risks, threats or trauma, we can learn to adapt to it – provided we have have adequate supports in place, such as safe and secure housing and feeling stable in other aspects of our lives. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijcyfs/article/view/12431/3767">most significant predictors</a> of a person’s resilience is the number of positive adult role models they have in their life. While every young person benefits from these kind of relationships, disadvantaged and/or disaffected young people have been found to benefit much more.</p>
<p>Importantly here, resilience is a learned trait that can be fostered. Studies have shown that children can be very resilient, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0WlDAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=resilience+war+young+people&source=bl&ots=VjAXsV9Tz-&sig=jOzB8Zqb-2d5i7PiCutl_XgxK7Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTnq7y-tDTAhWJm5QKHTHzAhwQ6AEIMzAD#v=onepage&q=resilience%20war%20young%20people&f=false">even in the most adverse situations</a>.
However, resilience is constrained by the environment in which they are in. Michael Ungar refers to this as the “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21219271">social ecology of resilience</a>”, where context can affect the <a href="http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781461405856">positive outcomes of adversity</a>.</p>
<p>It is typical for a young person to face a degree of hardship during childhood or adolescence. Provided this is supported, and in the context of an otherwise “healthy” life, the young person will probably be fine. <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/resilience-still-useful-concept-when-working-child/what-resilience">Research indicates</a> that exposure to some adversity helps to build resilience.</p>
<p>However, if we are exposed to a traumatic event but don’t have safety, security and support, we may suffer significant negative impacts – such as psychological impairment – rather than simply bouncing back.</p>
<h2>What we now know</h2>
<p>Historically, we have been focused on identifying risk factors for criminality. The logical premise of doing so has been that being able to identify these provides the necessary information to target prevention and early intervention initiatives. </p>
<p>But the subsequent assumption was that removing the young person from the risk factor was necessary for a positive outcome. The dilemma is that many of the risk factors are fixed or “static”, and therefore not necessarily amenable to change. </p>
<p>For instance, being raised in residential care is a risk factor for criminality. But we cannot suddenly undo this, or provide a loving a supportive family environment in which the young person can thrive. Protective factors – or a lack thereof – potentially <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1053775">shed more light</a> on who might be most vulnerable to a range of negative health and justice-related outcomes. </p>
<p>Some interventions are now <a href="https://www.crimesolutions.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=137">premised on the belief</a> that increasing protective factors does much to ameliorate the impacts of this risk, and decrease the appeal of drug use or crime.</p>
<p>Significantly, the social environment an individual is in, both prior to and following an adverse life event, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane_Burns3/publication/10931288_Adolescent_Resilience_A_Concept_Analysis/links/00b7d521de377db8fa000000/Adolescent-Resilience-A-Concept-Analysis.pdf">appears to be more influential</a> in the development of resilience than the specific event itself.</p>
<p>The demographies of young people in prison aren’t stories of a single childhood adversity. Intergenerational crime and poverty, parental substance abuse, mental health issues, early school disengagement, family breakdown, child abuse, domestic violence and experiences of homelessness are all typical and indicative of these young people’s stories. </p>
<p>No single event leads to crime. Rather, many traumas and their accumulated effects, compounded by a lack of protective factors, contribute to why some people are “less resilient”, and also more susceptible to commit crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Daley is a member of the Women's Correctional Services Advisory Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Thomas recently received funding from the Children's Court of Victoria as part of a review of a youth diversion program. </span></em></p>Knowing why people with troubled childhoods may be more likely to engage in criminal activity is necessary to inform the development of effective prevention and early intervention initiatives.Kathryn Daley, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, RMIT UniversityStuart Thomas, Professor in Justice and Legal Studies, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/745352017-03-23T19:14:24Z2017-03-23T19:14:24ZAustralia could alleviate its youth justice crisis by importing the right ideas from the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161446/original/image-20170320-6109-10o082g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Riots have hit youth detention centres in both Australia and the US.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There continues to be a barrage of bad news coming out about juvenile justice systems in Australia and the US. But rather than temporary crackdowns or cosmetic fixes, officials in both countries should enact permanent solutions that replace large and ineffective youth prisons with a safer, more decent alternative.</p>
<p>In Australia, a royal commission to investigate conditions in the Northern Territory’s juvenile detention facilities <a href="http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/northern-territory-royal-commission-hears-youth-detention-guard-allegedly-sexually-harassed-inmates/news-story/8f342856b3a1ad2fd042281f13d442a8">continues</a>. The inquiry was called after staff at the Don Dale centre were <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-25/four-corners-evidence-of-kids-tear-gas-in-don-dale-prison/7656128">captured on film</a> brutally abusing inmates. </p>
<p>In the US, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015">Kalief Browder</a>, incarcerated at age 16 in New York City’s Rikers Island jail, was filmed being beaten by guards and other inmates. He would spend two out of three years of his incarceration in solitary confinement without being brought to trial. After this, in 2015, he committed suicide, prompting US President Barack Obama to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-bans-solitary-confinement-for-juveniles-in-federal-prisons/2016/01/25/056e14b2-c3a2-11e5-9693-933a4d31bcc8_story.html?utm_term=.3efdbc9ac4d7">ban solitary confinement</a> in federal juvenile facilities.</p>
<p>And riots by detained youth <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-youth-justice-centre-hit-by-more-unrest-after-tumultuous-weekend-20161113-gsoh3j.html">in Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.scnow.com/news/state/article_3996aea0-1ceb-11e6-b471-a7f0594cb696.html">in the US</a> have caused officials to transfer them to adult prisons.</p>
<h2>Washington DC’s once-broken system</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/programs/criminaljustice/research-publications/executive-sessions/escommunitycorrections/publications/the-future-of-youth-justice">Research</a> I co-authored reported that atrocities in juvenile facilities are no anomaly. Between 1970 and 2015, we found evidence of systemic or recurring maltreatment in all but five American states’ youth prisons. </p>
<p>One out of eight youth in detention surveyed by the US Department of Justice in 2012 <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svjfry12.pdf">reported being sexually assaulted</a> in lock-up in the previous year. And the Associated Press surveyed every agency detaining youth in the US in 2007, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/02/AR2008030200927.html">uncovering 13,000 allegations</a> of abuse in facilities housing 46,000 juveniles.</p>
<p>When I took over Washington DC’s juvenile justice agency in 2005, it was a Dickensian nightmare. </p>
<p>Staff were routinely assaulting inmates. Kids were locked in their cells for so long without respite that they urinated or defecated in them. They complained of rats and cockroaches crawling on them at night. Sexual assaults and pressuring was evident between staff and inmates, and among staff.</p>
<p>A staff member was so regularly selling drugs to inmates that they tested positive for marijuana more often after they had been in the facility for a month than whent hey were taken in.</p>
<p>Every person committed to juvenile corrections in Washington over the five years I ran that system was from a minority background. Likewise, <a href="https://correctionalservices.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/238198/Review-of-the-Northern-Territory-Youth-Detention-System-January-2015.pdf">more than 95%</a> of juveniles in detention in the NT are Aboriginal.</p>
<h2>Change brings results</h2>
<p>Rather than replace my ageing, 208-bed facility (whose population often exceeded 250) with a larger one, my department and Washington’s leaders went in a different direction. We created a range of community programs for those who did not belong in locked custody, which ended up being most of them. </p>
<p>For the handful who did need to be confined, we dramatically downsized our facility to 60 beds, and went from trying to extinguish youths’ weaknesses through a punitive approach to building on their strengths. We did this by providing a range of education, work, volunteer, arts and athletic opportunities.</p>
<p>Washington is not alone in taking this tack. From 2001 to 2013, there was a <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/multimedia/data-visualizations/2015/juvenile-commitment-rate-drops-53-percent">53% decline</a> in the number of young people locked up in the US. During this time, one-third of all US juvenile facilities – and two-thirds of all facilities with more than 200 beds – <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/declines-in-youth-commitments-and-facilities-in-the-21st-century/">were closed</a>.</p>
<p>Several jurisdictions – like <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/cms/files/criminal-justice/research-publications/ntcc_the_future_of_youth_justice.pdf">New York City, Missouri</a> and <a href="https://www.educationdevelopmenttrust.com/%7E/media/EDT/Reports/Research/2013/r-improving-outcomes-2013.pdf">Auckland in New Zealand</a> – have moved away from incarcerating juveniles in large, distant, prison-like facilities to smaller, more homelike facilities near their homes.</p>
<p>The downsizing of youth corrections in the US has been accomplished while still maintaining public safety.</p>
<p>After a horrific sex abuse scandal was uncovered in Texas, <a href="https://csgjusticecenter.org/youth/publications/closer-to-home/">the state</a> reduced youth incarceration by 38% in six years, closed eight facilities, and saved US$150 million. It shifted $50 million of those savings to community programming, and experienced a 49% decline in youth arrests.</p>
<p>Likewise, Ohio <a href="http://jjohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Bring-Youth-Home-Report-11.25.15.pdf">reduced youth incarceration by 47%</a> between 1997 and 2013. It reallocated savings into community-based programs as alternatives to confinement. During this time, juvenile arrests dropped by 65%.</p>
<p>The state-by-state innovations we examined recognised that the most effective way to create safer communities is to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills they need to reintegrate back into the community – reserving detention as a last resort.</p>
<p>Australia has had its own successes in this regard. Victoria <a href="https://www.liv.asn.au/Staying-Informed/LIJ/LIJ/March-2017/Lawyers-fear-youth-crackdown">previously led the way</a> with a humane and effective approach to youth justice, steering young people away from detention and towards rehabilitative and restorative solutions.</p>
<p>But now, Victoria’s officials are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/parkville-youth-justice-to-be-shut-down/8243448">poised to build</a> a massive, 224-bed youth prison in suburban Melbourne. The millions that will be poured into a failed institutional approach will likely produce negative public safety outcomes and sap funds that could be spent on more successful alternatives.</p>
<p>The combination of chronic institutional atrocities and widespread success reducing youth incarceration means large, prison-like facilities must be closed in favour of a range of in-home programs and support for youth, and small, home-like local facilities for the few who must be detained. </p>
<p>As Australian officials grapple with the challenges of their youth justice system, they must eschew youth imprisonment and build on their system’s many successes that have led to low re-offending and incarceration rates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent Schiraldi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian jurisdictions should enact permanent solutions to juvenile justice crises that replace large and ineffective youth prisons with a safer, more decent alternative.Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/722172017-02-12T19:10:44Z2017-02-12T19:10:44ZThe faulty child welfare system is the real issue behind our youth justice crisis<p>Somewhere along the way, many vulnerable children in state care turn to crime. How this happens and what can be done about it are two of the most important crime-prevention questions facing society. Evidence indicates that, if the care-to-crime pathway is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-have-so-many-people-in-prison-spent-time-in-care-as-children-66941">not acknowledged and addressed</a>, today’s vulnerable kids will become tomorrow’s criminals.</p>
<p>There have recently been a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/malmsbury-riot-youth-justice-is-out-of-control-pressure-mounts-on-premier-daniel-andrews-20170125-gtypkd.html">series of riots</a>, escapes and assaults in youth detention centres across the country, most notably in Victoria. Victims of such assaults, as well as commentators, immediately called for <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/woe-is-me-20170126-gtz8se.html">tougher sentencing</a> and harsher treatment of detainees.</p>
<p>Critics have cast a wide net of blame for Victoria’s woes. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/victorias-youth-justice-crisis-has-been-building-for-decades-20170130-gu1bwa.html">Paul McDonald</a>, the CEO of Anglicare Victoria, the state’s largest provider of out-of-home care services, blamed the changing demographics of young offenders – their age, ethnic origin and circumstance. He said the youth justice system had failed because the state’s justice program had “for too long … been the poor cousin to child protection issues”. </p>
<p>McDonald is a former government official responsible for both Victoria’s juvenile justice and child protection systems. Yet in all his criticism, he has been silent about one fact: children in our juvenile jails were failed by child protection systems like the one he used to run. He is not alone in ignoring this link.</p>
<p>Policymakers are reluctant to acknowledge the care system is producing criminals. This is despite abundant research showing children <a href="http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:38185/SOURCE02?view=true">become involved</a> in crime through the processes of the care environment itself. </p>
<h2>Residential care</h2>
<p>Last year, ABC’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">Four Corners</a> highlighted the brutality in the Northern Territory’s Don Dale youth detention facility. Footage of Aboriginal boys teargassed, taunted and abused by guards led the prime minister to institute a <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/About/RoyalCommissions/Pages/Royal-Commission-into-the-Detention-of-Children-in-the-Northern-Territory.aspx">royal commission</a> into how the NT treats juvenile offenders.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/11/14/4572365.htm">Four Corners</a> focused on the Australian child welfare sector’s failure to protect children placed in state care. One form of care in particular, residential care – where children live with paid workers in small group-based facilities – has been linked to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-19/substantial-changes-for-state-care-system-abuse-cases-report/6707986">sexual exploitation</a> of children by adults, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-08/child-protection-systems-royal-commission-findings/7699900">recruitment into prostitution</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3514803.htm">violence and crime</a>. </p>
<p>State governments have tried to address some of the issues. The Tasmanian government recently <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-02/children-removed-from-safe-pathways-care/8086738">closed one of its residential facilities</a> after allegations of neglect. The NSW government <a href="https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/about_us/media_releases/media_release_archive/nsw-residential-care-gets-multi-million-dollar-overhaul">began an overhaul</a> of its residential care system, while the Victorian government <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/fixing-victorias-residential-care/">announced the imminent transfer</a> of hundreds of so-called “resi kids” to other, purportedly safer forms of care.</p>
<p>At the same time, agencies such as UnitingCare, whose staff were recently embroiled in the <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/girl-x-uniting-care-in-new-abuse-case-after-earlier-debacle/news-story/f990efb06a2b9e0b5aa2c8bffd6a147e">alleged sexual assault</a> and death of NSW resi-care teen “Girl X”, announced it <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-19/uniting-church-residential-care-homes-close-nsw-after-review/8130558">would no longer provide</a> residential care services. The agency also <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2015/11/uniting-a-new-nfp-name-for-advocacy/">launched a “rebrand”</a> of its tarnished image.</p>
<h2>Towards criminality</h2>
<p>Few are talking about how children in residential care and those in juvenile jail are essentially the same people. Yet the evidence is everywhere. </p>
<p>Several of the Don Dale kids had come through the NT’s out-of-home care system. Half of all children in Victoria’s youth detention centres <a href="http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/890932/Youth-Parole-Board-and-Youth-Residential-Board-Annual-Report-2013-14.pdf">have come from</a> the child protection system. And last week, <a href="http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/files/vla-care-not-custody-report.pdf">Victoria Legal Aid announced</a> children in residential care were much more likely to be charged with a criminal offence than those who stay with their families. </p>
<p>Studies from the <a href="http://archive.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/Foster_care_bias.pdf">United States</a>, <a href="https://www.rcybc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/reports_publications/kids_crime_and_care.pdf">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/6781-DfES-CM%20Summary.pdf">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/files/vla-care-not-custody-report.pdf">Victoria</a> have shown few of these children engaged in criminal behaviour before coming into care. </p>
<p>In other words, we are making criminals. Residential care in particular is criminogenic. Badly trained and poorly supported staff, inadequate matching of children of different ages, experiences and background (offenders and victims of abuse are often placed together), and a readiness to call police to manage children’s behaviour are all <a href="http://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Criminal-Care.pdf">factors</a> contributing to <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/care%20review%20full%20report.pdf">children being turned</a> from child-in-need to child offender.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:38185/SOURCE02?view=true">research shows</a> that children in care make up less than 1% of the NSW child population but comprise half of all cases before the NSW Children’s Court. I found children in care are arrested earlier, more often and more quickly than other children. </p>
<p>This is important <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/Reoffending_by_Children_and_Young_People_in_Victoria.pdf">because we know</a> that the earlier a child comes into contact with the justice system, the more deeply he or she is enmeshed, and the more protracted their exposure to crime is likely to be. Yet my research also found an <a href="http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:38185/SOURCE02?view=true">Australian policy vacuum</a> when it comes to recognising the link between out-of-home care and crime.</p>
<h2>We need to make the links</h2>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/files/vla-care-not-custody-report.pdf">compelling evidence</a> children in care are more likely to re-offend than other children, and that prisoners who have grown up in care are more likely to commit multiple offences and <a>return to jail</a>. </p>
<p>Yet there are still no Australian government policies, programs, training or care-specific statistics to help us understand how to respond to children in care who get caught up in the justice system.</p>
<p>For a start, our child welfare agencies do not publish information on the number of children who go to jail while in care. Police don’t include care status on their official forms. Children’s courts don’t record it either. Neither does the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Or the Victorian Sentencing Council. Or the departments that run our jails.</p>
<p>Other countries have adopted a decidedly different approach. While the UK has a far-from-perfect record in responding to the needs of children in care, its government has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-have-so-many-people-in-prison-spent-time-in-care-as-children-66941">channelled millions of dollars</a> into reducing the disparity between the arrest rates of children in care and other children. Theirs isn’t a complete solution, but at least the UK has made the link and is having the conversation about how to fix it. </p>
<p>Recently, a New Zealand service, established by the government to assist people who had been abused in state care, estimated 40% of the country’s prisoners had been in care. The service blamed <a href="https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Confidential-Listening-and-Assistance/$file/Confidential-Listening-and-Assistance-Service-Final-Report-Some-Memories-Never-Fade.pdf">its child welfare system</a> for creating the criminal gangs that now fill its jails. </p>
<p>Australia’s silence on this issue is costing us. In addition to the devastating impact for the individual children involved, creating criminals through the child welfare system <a href="http://www.justreinvest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/report.pdf">costs society billions of dollars</a> in the long term. That’s more money for police and courts, more money for youth detention centres and more jails.</p>
<p>Governments, and the agencies they work with, must be transparent and honestly inform the public the child welfare system is creating criminals. Only then can we start to solve the real issues behind our youth justice crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine McFarlane was part of a CSU research team which was awarded a Criminology Research Council grant in 2016. She has been contracted to conduct a review for the NSW Children's Guardian (2017) and was previously the Chief Investigator in a government tender to review juvenile bail (2010).
She was formerly a Chief of Staff in the NSW Government (2011-2015).
</span></em></p>Few people are talking about how children in residential care and those in juvenile jail are essentially the same people.Katherine McFarlane, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Law & Justice, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/633292016-08-03T20:08:37Z2016-08-03T20:08:37ZRethinking youth justice: there are alternatives to juvenile detention<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132735/original/image-20160802-17180-7pwg3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rather than assisting in prevention and allowing children to mature out of offending, juvenile detention does the opposite.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Neda Vanovac</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">recent exposure</a> of the abuse inflicted on child detainees at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/don-dale-royal-commission">Don Dale facility</a> in the Northern Territory has shone a much-needed light on youth justice in Australia. </p>
<p>Important questions are being asked about why these children were treated this way in detention. But we also need to ask why children are being detained at all. </p>
<h2>The ‘tough on crime’ response</h2>
<p>Law-and-order rhetoric often pervades the community’s thinking about youth justice. Examples can be found <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/index.html?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a&mode=premium&dest=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/andrew-bolt-complete-story-of-treatment-of-youth-detainees-needs-to-be-told/news-story/810c707331d7401c7b4326ff9ce2dcec&memtype=anonymous">in the comments</a> in response to News Corp commentator Andrew Bolt’s column on the Don Dale revelations:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Of course the poor little darling was just a hard done by, misunderstood little fella who needed a cuddle. Spare me. If [sic] spits, bites or in any way endangers the life of an officer then the hood and chair routine should be the least of his issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is this tough-on-crime, law-and-order rhetoric that spurred changes in the youth justice system in Queensland in 2014. The state’s attorney-general and justice minister, Jarrod Bleijie, <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2014/2014_03_18_WEEKLY.pdf">suggested</a> the amendments, which included removing the principle that detention should be a last resort for young people (along with “ending the fun in detention centres”) were necessary as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will no longer tolerate the shallow slap-on-the-wrist approach of those opposite to a generation of our most vulnerable. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These amendments became law, despite opposing claims that they were contrary to what works in youth justice. The new Queensland government later reversed the amendments.</p>
<p>Many of the aims and principles of youth justice systems in Australia are consistent with the <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/145271NCJRS.pdf">United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice</a>. The specialised sentencing regimes in these systems recognise that children differ from adults. They provide for the possibility of detention, but stress it as an option of last resort. </p>
<p>These systems aim to prevent children from re-offending and divert children from the system, recognising that most children <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi409.html">“grow out” of offending</a>.</p>
<h2>The harms of youth detention</h2>
<p>However, adolescent brains are not fully developed. Changes during puberty lead young people in search of excitement and reward, especially in the presence of peers. </p>
<p>But the part of the brain that provides the ability to control oneself does not develop until late adolescence or even early adulthood. Adolescence, then, is a time of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2396566/">“heightened vulnerability to risky and reckless behaviour”</a>.</p>
<p>The US Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-9646g2i8.pdf">has accepted</a> the American Psychological Association’s claim that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Adolescent brains are not fully mature in regions and systems related to … impulse control, planning ahead, and risk avoidance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The upshot of this is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>children should not be considered as blameworthy as adult offenders whose brains are fully mature; and</p></li>
<li><p>locking children up as a means of teaching them, and others like them, to refrain from offending in the future is largely futile.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Instead, detention can result in significant harm to children. Offending children often have:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>intellectual disabilities and low levels of education;</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.justicehealth.nsw.gov.au/publications/ypichs-full.pdf">poor mental and physical health, and engage in substance abuse</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>been exposed to <a href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=481985">violence</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907177/">other mistreatment</a>; and </p></li>
<li><p>been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3714673/">placed in care</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The traumatic experiences of young people in immigration detention have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-another-reason-kids-dont-belong-in-detention-trauma-changes-growing-brains-50582">previously reported</a>. And the same can certainly be said for youth justice detention.</p>
<p>Research on young people in detention in Southern California <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263919832_Victims_Behind_Bars_A_Preliminary_Study_of_Abuse_During_Juvenile_Incarceration_and_Post-Release_Social_and_Emotional_Functioning">found</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When all types of abuse (i.e. direct, witnessed, and vicarious) were combined, nearly all youth experienced at least one type of abuse during incarceration. The majority of youth reported some form of direct abuse during incarceration. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those who did experience or perceive abuse were more likely to re-offend and:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… experience poor mental health functioning post-release, above and beyond prior child maltreatment experiences. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apart from this abuse, detention itself can traumatise a young person and can delay – or, worse, permanently impair – their development. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20173266">Research</a> has found greater levels of psychiatric disorders among children who had been incarcerated for a lengthy period of time. And <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jir.12109/abstract">Australian research</a> suggests a strong association between juvenile incarceration and intellectual impairment of Indigenous young people.</p>
<p>Rather than assisting in prevention and allowing children to mature out of offending, detention does the opposite.</p>
<p>Why, then, do we resort to detention? One of the answers will no doubt be to protect the community. However, <a href="http://www.aecf.org/resources/no-place-for-kids-full-report/">experience in the US</a> shows a substantial decrease in the use of youth confinement did not see a consequent increase in youth offending. </p>
<h2>Alternatives do exist</h2>
<p>Alternatives to detention exist for those children who would otherwise be kept in detention pre-trial and for those who would otherwise be sentenced to detention. </p>
<p>There is no need for Australia to reinvent the wheel to find effective options. They can be adapted from options found in research from <a href="http://www.csben.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/MANUAL-JODA-english-version.pdf">Europe</a>, the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.bond.edu.au/doi/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00244.x/full">US</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364207">New Zealand</a>, and <a href="http://info.mstservices.com/blog/western-australias-mst-program-wins-prestigious-award">Western Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Many of these programs have had <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.bond.edu.au/doi/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00244.x/full">success</a> in changing children’s behaviour and reducing recidivism. </p>
<p>Particularly successful sentencing initiatives include multi-systemic therapy and functional family therapy. These programs target children with complex behavioural problems, involve the child’s family, and are community-based. They aim to provide a holistic approach – engaging, for example, with mental health services and education providers. </p>
<p>And, in addition to being more effective than detention, these programs are <a href="http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/806/Wsipp_The-Juvenile-Justice-System-in-Washington-State-Recommendations-to-Improve-Cost-Effectiveness_Full-Report.pdf">more cost-effective than detention</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Jodie O'Leary will be online for an Author Q&A between 2 and 3pm AEST on Thursday, 4 August, 2016. Post any questions you have in the comments section.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodie O'Leary is affiliated with the Law and Justice Institute of Queensland (as the co-chair of the Youth Justice Subcommittee). </span></em></p>Important questions are being asked about why children were abused in juvenile detention in the Northern Territory. But we also need to ask why children are being detained at all.Jodie O'Leary, Assistant Professor in Criminal Law/International Criminal Law, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/632072016-07-31T20:05:33Z2016-07-31T20:05:33ZShould we be locking people up in prisons at all?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132450/original/image-20160729-24689-b7rs9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should places like the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre even exist?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Neda Vanovac</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Footage aired last week of children being abused in a Northern Territory prison sent shockwaves around the nation. These images forced us to grapple with the problem as if it were breaking news, despite the fact that so many people knew so much about it for so long. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2016-07-28/royal-commission-child-protection-and-youth-detention-systems-northern-territory">a royal commission</a> is being established, and although many would like to see a wider scope, accountability for abuses of this nature must be the ultimate result. </p>
<p>But there is a much broader question to be asked about the use of incarceration in circumstances such as these. When we know that prison entrenches harm, as well as crime, it is hard to imagine how the deprivation of liberty in its current form – let alone the unmitigated deprivation <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">within the walls of Don Dale</a> – could really correct or rehabilitate anyone. </p>
<p>There is a reason why international law demands that incarceration or detention be an option of absolute last resort where children are concerned. When a significant proportion of all offenders come into custody profoundly disadvantaged – and traumatised – in some way, imprisoning them only compounds these effects. </p>
<p>Without doubt, there are hardened offenders for whom there seem no other options but incarceration. This applies to a small minority and means that more work has to be done around providing effective supervision and support in the community once prisoners are released. </p>
<p>Notably, very few – if any – of the most-hardened offenders are women or children. In fact, incarceration is a policy designed mainly around men, with women and children the collateral damage in a centuries-old battle to contain the impacts of poverty, maintain the authority of some men and punish the infractions of others. </p>
<p>This is not an essentialist or patronising statement. The reality is that, with few exceptions, women’s offending <a href="http://www.rcfv.com.au/getattachment/8E5F49BB-1D8C-4893-B6EC-F39B4C3F0B79/Mental-Health-Legal-Centre-Inc;-Inside-Access;-Centre-for-Innovative-Justice-">differs from men’s</a>. Low-level drug offences, property crimes and theft are the primary offences committed by women. Most are categorised as minimum security and are sentenced to short custodial periods that leave them ineligible for the limited rehabilitation services available. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, while in prison they may be exposed to strip searches and other intrusive surveillance and restriction. In Victoria until just over a decade ago, this potentially included shackling women while they gave birth, as apparently male decision-makers considered labouring women a flight risk. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, we know that the majority of incarcerated women are victims of some kind of gendered violence. This in turn contributes to their offending, either through its association with mental illness, homelessness and other forms of disadvantage or through the foisting of debt or culpability on them by their abusers. </p>
<p>Then our sympathy evaporates and we send them to an environment that entrenches others’ control over their bodies. The only advantage is that it sometimes offers a brief period of respite from the people who have hurt them outside. </p>
<p>In other words, we are spending vast amounts of money on incarcerating women and young people who, for the most part, need more protection from the community than the community needs from them. </p>
<p>Also, the prevalence of women’s prior victimisation raises the question of whether would we need a women’s prison – or juvenile detention – at all <a href="http://mams.rmit.edu.au/r3qx75qh2913.pdf">were it not for</a> men’s use of gendered violence?</p>
<p>Posing this question is not about demonising men. Incarceration is not a smart response for most of the people in our prisons – male, female, or transgender. A significant proportion of all prisoners are from backgrounds of intergenerational poverty and low educational attainment, are living with mental illness or an acquired brain injury. </p>
<p>Given the vast majority of violent offenders – from whom the community rightly wants protection – are men, and we know the criminogenic effects of prison – not only on those in custody, but on the children left behind – the use of this as a mainstream policy response seems even more bizarre. </p>
<p>The community rarely questions the use of incarceration as a response to crime. But this is an opportunity to ask ourselves what the purpose of a corrections system really is. Is it to punish? Detain? Rehabilitate? Shelve intractable problems? </p>
<p>Or should it function as a positive intervention which protects the vulnerable from further harm? </p>
<p>Incarceration may have been a useful policy for those in privileged positions down the ages who were keen to secure the authority of the state. For the most part, however, it’s become a stone around our necks – unfit for purpose for the majority of those it houses, and definitely unfit for the women and children we’re increasingly locking away.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Rob Hulls and Elena Campbell will be appearing in a panel discussion about the value of conventional justice policy responses at the 2016 Women’s Policy Action Tank, <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/power-to-persuade-symposium-tickets-26189963887">Putting Women at the Centre: A Policy Forum</a>, on Tuesday, August 16, in Melbourne.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63207/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Hulls is the Director of the Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT University (‘the CIJ’). The CIJ is strategic partners with the Mental Health Legal Centre in a multidisciplinary service into Victoria’s maximum security women prison which aims to increase the chances of women’s successful integration into the community upon release. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elena Campbell is Manager, Policy and Research, Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT University (‘the CIJ’). The CIJ is strategic partners with the Mental Health Legal Centre in a multidisciplinary service into Victoria’s maximum security women prison which aims to increase the chances of women’s successful integration into the community upon release.</span></em></p>The Don Dale scandal is an opportunity to ask whether incarceration achieves the aims it sets out to achieve, or just further hardens criminals.Rob Hulls, Director, Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT UniversityElena Campbell, Manager, Policy and Research, Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631022016-07-29T00:36:53Z2016-07-29T00:36:53ZThe NT royal commission: it’s a good start but more leadership is needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132427/original/image-20160728-12120-1ra9xp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">George Brandis, former NT chief justice Brian Martin, who will head the royal commission, and Malcolm Turnbull announce the commission's terms of reference.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Andrew Taylor</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The harrowing image of a child, partially clad, hooded and shackled to a chair in a prison cell, has provoked public outrage and the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-calls-royal-commission-into-youth-detention-abuse-at-don-dale-detention-centre-20160725-gqdm7x.html">prime minister’s resolve</a> that a royal commission “get to the bottom of it”. </p>
<p>This swift commitment to a royal commission directs much-needed attention to the abuse of children in correctional institutions. Decisive action is welcome, but it is crucial that this results in a commitment to long-term systemic change in every Australian state and territory. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2016-07-28/royal-commission-child-protection-and-youth-detention-systems-northern-territory">terms of reference</a> make it clear that the inquiry will have the capacity to address only part of the problem.</p>
<p>Among the limitations is the Northern Territory government’s involvement, raising concerns about the independence of the inquiry. Additionally, the terms of reference prioritise expedience, with the commission due to report by March 2017. Prompt findings will come at the expense of scope and, despite advocates’ <a href="http://res.cloudinary.com/www-changetherecord-org-au/image/upload/v1469626218/OpenStatement_Final_28.07.16_zjnqtb.pdf">call for a national inquiry</a>, the focus will be limited to the NT. </p>
<p>The commission will have the authority to inquire into the failings of both the NT child protection and youth detention systems. It will also consider whether the treatment of children in NT detention facilities has been in breach of Commonwealth, NT or human rights law. </p>
<p>It will have the scope to recommend changes to law, administrative and management practices, safeguards and oversight mechanisms. There is also scope for attention to early intervention strategies to divert children from the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Despite the narrow jurisdictional scope, the terms of reference hold some promise. The emphasis on both the child protection and youth detention systems is an extremely important facet of the inquiry. </p>
<p>Effective reform demands that we properly understand, and address, the conditions that increase the likelihood that children in out-of-home care will come into contact with the criminal justice system. It is also crucial that we direct attention to bail conditions and the circumstances in which children are detained in correctional facilities in the absence of adequate housing or welfare services. </p>
<p>Although not specified in the terms of reference, it is imperative that children’s well-being be considered in comprehensive terms, with attention to the risks of physical, sexual and psychological violence. </p>
<p>The trigger for this inquiry was the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">deplorable abuse depicted in the closed setting of the Don Dale facility</a>, but comprehensive safeguards will only be possible if the inquiry considers the broad range of settings in which children are vulnerable to abuse. This means both open and closed institutional settings. These include the contexts of police questioning, court appearances, transit, all forms of out-of-home care, and children’s contact visits with parents or caregivers. </p>
<p>It is extremely concerning that the terms of reference make no specific provision for inquiry into the over-representation of Indigenous children in child protection and criminal justice systems. A genuine effort to redress the violence that these children face in institutional settings demands close consultation with Indigenous leaders and Indigenous service providers. Legislative or policy changes that will have a disproportionate impact on Indigenous people should be led by Indigenous people.</p>
<p>There is no question that urgent action is required to immediately halt the abuse of children detained in the Don Dale facility. But it would be a grave error to think that institutional violence against children is restricted to the NT, or that it is the result of actions by rogue individuals in an otherwise functional system. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4507671.htm">two-phase inquiry</a> would ensure the prompt action required for the NT and that detention practices in each state and territory are subjected to independent scrutiny. A national inquiry is necessary to ensure that we confront the deeper, more troubling questions about why we incarcerate children. How might we adopt a principled and therapeutic approach to ensure children’s well-being, using detention only as a measure of absolute last resort?</p>
<p>There is a wealth of work at the international level to guide Australian reform. Of particular relevance are the UN Model Strategies on the <a href="http://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Model_Strategies_violence_children.pdf">Elimination of Violence Against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice</a>. These strategies, taken together with Australia’s legal obligations as a party to the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, require that we now set a high bar: not only to eliminate institutional violence against children, but to take active measures to ensure the well-being of all children in the care of the state. </p>
<p>But this is just a start. Australia’s human rights obligations provide that children be treated in a manner that promotes their sense of dignity and worth. </p>
<p>This requires that we challenge the currency of “tough on crime” policies. We need to shift the emphasis from punishing children to focusing on the rehabilitation and support they require to reintegrate into society. Trauma counselling, education, specialised rehabilitation programs and ensuring that children have access to their culture are fundamental parts of the required response, consistent with Australia’s human rights obligations. </p>
<p>The prime minister’s decisive action is welcome and offers renewed scope for the Australian government to demonstrate human rights leadership. By ratifying the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx">Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture</a> the government would ensure the independent inspection of places of detention. By ratifying the <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/source/signature/2012/CTC_4-11d.pdf">Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, the government would provide children with a mechanism to lodge human rights complaints with the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Both protocols are much needed. </p>
<p>Juvenile justice is the business of states and territories, but the chronic abuses that have come to light demand that the Australian government demonstrate the leadership necessary to achieve human rights change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy is the National Coordinator for the Human Rights Program of the United Nations Association of Australia. In her previous role, at the Australian Crime Commission, Wendy conducted research on the wellbeing of children in conflict with the law.</span></em></p>The royal commission’s terms of reference hold some promise, but more needs to be done about juvenile justice and child protection systems across Australia.Wendy O'Brien, Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631012016-07-27T18:11:11Z2016-07-27T18:11:11ZAbuse in youth detention is not restricted to the Northern Territory<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132128/original/image-20160727-5653-y0l38i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The shocking abuse of young inmates at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre has prompted a royal commission.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Neda Vanovac</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The controversy over the appalling treatment of young people in the Don Dale detention centre and the announcement of a royal commission into <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-calls-royal-commission-into-youth-detention-abuse-at-don-dale-detention-centre-20160725-gqdm7x.html">juvenile detention in the Northern Territory</a> raises some important questions about how we arrived at this point.</p>
<p>On the face of it, Australia has a relatively comprehensive complaints-based system for children and young people in detention. All states and territories have various investigation, review and reporting procedures in place. </p>
<p>Inspection, monitoring and complaint bodies include the <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/childrens-commissioners-and-guardians">children’s commissioners and guardians</a> (federal and all states and territories), Ombudsman (all states and territories), <a href="http://www.juvenile.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/Juvenile%20Justice/minister/officialvisitors.aspx">Official Visitor Schemes</a> (New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland); and the <a href="http://www.custodialinspector.wa.gov.au/">Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services</a> (Western Australia and NSW). Many of these organisations conduct both announced and unannounced inspections of places of juvenile detention.</p>
<p>Since 2010 we have seen numerous reports from these monitoring bodies detailing
complaints similar to the problems identified at Don Dale.</p>
<p>In 2010, the Victorian Ombudsman investigated <a href="https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/getattachment/47eb3c0d-36fb-4b5b-b7fb-d584c03ca46f">allegations of serious staff misconduct</a> at the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct, including staff inciting fights between detainees, assaulting and restraining detainees with excessive force, and supplying contraband including tobacco, marijuana and lighters. </p>
<p>The Ombudsman reported that the centre was overcrowded, and many of its design features were unsuitable for a custodial environment for young people and posed a number of health and safety concerns. These included: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>hanging points and opportunities for self-harm;</p></li>
<li><p>blind spots in common areas;</p></li>
<li><p>roof access points;</p></li>
<li><p>excessive graffiti;</p></li>
<li><p>mouldy and unhygienic conditions; and </p></li>
<li><p>a high prevalence of communicable infections among detainees. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some 36% of the staff did not have a <a href="http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/home/about+the+check/">Working with Children Check</a> on file. The Ombudsman determined the facility was inappropriate for custodial purposes and was in clear breach of the <a href="http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/45/a45r113.htm">UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty</a>, and a number of domestic safeguards.</p>
<p>Prior to its closure in 2015, the Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre in NSW was the subject of widespread criticism following a number of incidents relating to the treatment and control of detainees. A <a href="http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/3370/SR_Kariong-Juvevile-Correctional-Centre.pdf">2011 NSW Ombudsman report</a> identified problems with the centre’s rehabilitation programs. The report also highlighted a lack of case management by detention centre staff, particularly for young people with mental health issues, and criticised the length of time detainees were kept in isolation.</p>
<p>In 2012 the Queensland children’s commissioner <a href="http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/ccypcg_use-of-force-investigation-report_2012.pdf">released a report</a> into the use of force in detention centres. The report followed an investigation into six instances where young people sustained significant injuries, including fractures of the wrist, arm fractures, and a dislocated shoulder. </p>
<p>The commissioner found that the:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… incidents highlight the potential problems with the force techniques approved for use on young people in youth detention centres. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In January 2016, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/22/aboriginal-boy-11-bashed-by-guards-in-youth-detention-centre-say-family">it was reported</a> that an 11-year-old Indigenous boy detained at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre was allegedly assaulted by youth officers, leaving him with two black eyes and a broken cheekbone. </p>
<p>In WA, the Inspector of Custodial Services <a href="http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3912933affb78e1ac2a2bad248257e660027b056/$file/2933.pdf">raised concerns</a> over the high number of strip-searches, inadequate visiting and under-resourced educational facilities, weak case management, and severely stretched mental health services at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre.</p>
<p>These reports raise important concerns about the ability of our current monitoring system to tackle institutional and systemic problems that occur to varying degrees in all states and territories. These include abuse and the use of excessive force.</p>
<p>At a broader level, these systemic problems negatively affect Australia’s compliance with children’s rights. One important step forward would be for Australia to ratify the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx">Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture</a> (OPCAT). Ratifying OPCAT would provide a system of regular inspections to places of juvenile (and adult) detention by the UN and through the establishment of a National Preventative Mechanism (NPM).</p>
<p>The NPM would also monitor other places of detention including mental health facilities and immigration detention centres. Australia signed the OPCAT in 2009, but is yet to ratify the protocol.</p>
<p>There already exists considerable support for Australia’s ratification of OPCAT. In 2014, 64 organisations <a href="https://castancentre.com/2014/09/16/open-letter-to-the-attorney-general-regarding-the-optional-protocol-to-the-convention-against-torture/">signed a statement to the attorney-general</a> endorsing Australia’s ratification of the protocol.</p>
<p>So, given all of this, what difference will a royal commission make? It may well assist in uncovering the truth behind the mistreatment of young people in NT detention and sheeting home some responsibility. But we are left wondering why our regulatory systems have failed, not only in the NT but throughout Australia.</p>
<p>There are good arguments for expanding the royal commission to include juvenile detention nationally, and also for specifically considering the dramatic over-representation of Indigenous children in detention. These need to be balanced against what we already know about both these systemic problems, their solutions, and the likelihood that an expanded royal commission could take years to complete, further delaying any action.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: All 27 recommendations of the Victorian Ombudsman’s 2010 report have been implemented, and all staff in Victorian youth justice precincts must have a Working With Children Check.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Cunneen receives research funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The shocking incidents at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, revealed this week, are not in isolation.Chris Cunneen, Professor of Criminology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/630422016-07-26T06:55:31Z2016-07-26T06:55:31ZFour Corners: why did the two previous investigations have no impact on changing this abuse?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131934/original/image-20160726-31202-1xdwbp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The forthcoming royal commission should bring recommendations that could improve the future treatment of young people in juvenile detention.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Four Corners</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s prompt and decisive response to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm">Monday night’s Four Corners program</a> on the torture of young people at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre is welcome. The forthcoming royal commission should bring important and high-profile recommendations that could improve the future treatment of young people.</p>
<p>But these pictures, although shocking, should not have surprised anyone with an interest in the welfare of incarcerated children. Turnbull is not correct <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jul/26/malcolm-turnbull-announces-royal-commission-northern-territory-detention">to say</a> that previous inquiries did not turn up evidence of this treatment.</p>
<p>It is more accurate to say that the two inquiries produced different conclusions, reducing their impact.</p>
<p>The restraints that produced such disturbing pictures were approved by the Northern Territory parliament and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-22/cable-ties-restraint-chairs-could-be-used-on-child-detainees-nt/7350092">highly publicised at the time</a>. The incident in August 2014 that led to the use of the tear gas has already been subject to two inquiries.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/238198/Review-of-the-Northern-Territory-Youth-Detention-System-January-2015.pdf">Michael Vita’s 2015 report</a>, on behalf of the NT government, takes quite a defensive tone. It describes the action in the centre on the day as “justifiable”, and asks those who criticise the action of guards to take the volatile context, the poor infrastructure, and the background of the detainees into account. </p>
<p>The report acknowledges some failings and makes some suggestions for change, although most of these are at an operational rather than strategic level.</p>
<p>Somewhat unusually, the report challenges civil liberty groups for criticising but not putting forward specific suggestions, and criticises “Aboriginal legal and justice agencies” for not spending time in institutions running programs. These comments add to the impression of a report prepared for political reasons rather than as an objective attempt to uncover the truth. </p>
<p>The NT children’s commissioner (initially Howard Bath, then Colleen Gwynne) investigated the 2014 incident, in an <a href="http://www.childrenscommissioner.nt.gov.au/publications/Childrens%20Commissioner%20DDYDC%20-%20Report%20to%20Minister%20170915.pdf">own-initiative report</a>. It found the children, some as young as 14, were tear-gassed, had fabric hoods placed over their heads, and were deprived of drinking water for 72 hours in solitary confinement.</p>
<p>The report challenged the description of the events as a “riot”, saying there was no unlawful assembly and that, in one instance, children were gassed in their room when playing cards.</p>
<p>Re-reading the children’s commissioner’s report after watching the Four Corners program, it is striking how accurate a description of events is provided. At the time the NT corrections commissioner, Ken Middlebrook, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-17/juveniles-hooded-in-nt-by-corrections-staff/6785344">condemned the report</a> as inaccurate and one-sided. His response, along with the Vita report, seemed to provide enough political cover to enable the children’s commissioner’s report to be ignored by both the NT and federal governments. </p>
<p>The problem with youth custodial institutions is not that we don’t know the impact they have on young people. It is that we lack the political will to tackle them. </p>
<p>This is perhaps because the questions are so big and the required response is so significant that it is impossible to properly discuss how we treat young people in Australia without linking their treatment to history, race and gender. </p>
<p>The default response to young people who offend seems to be to exclude them from society and from visibility – a response that runs right through Australia’s history. We know that Aboriginal young people are massively disproportionately likely to be incarcerated, and this disproportion is particularly marked in the NT. </p>
<p>The Australian state judges and punishes Aboriginal parents for perceived shortcomings in how they bring up their children. But Four Corners showed starkly what can happen to an Aboriginal child when that state takes on the role of parent.</p>
<p>Gender issues are important too. Young people in the community are primarily looked after by an army of professionally trained women – usually by teachers but, when necessary, by social workers, counsellors and psychologists. However, the most troubled children who exhibit the most troubling behaviour are left in the custody of a group of men within the most macho, confrontational and violent culture.</p>
<p>The children’s commissioner recommended that Don Dale be closed; it is difficult to disagree with that recommendation. But it is not enough for Don Dale simply to be replaced by a newer facility with more accountability and better-trained staff (although all three of those things are needed). </p>
<p>What would demonstrate a genuine commitment to these children – most of whom are Aboriginal – is a radical change in approach to juvenile justice in line with international instruments and best international practice. </p>
<p>Australia should ratify the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx">Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture</a>. Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 would not only protect children under that age, but also require organisations and society at large to find different responses to children who offend. This impacts on older children too. </p>
<p>Detention should genuinely be used as a last resort; this requires the design of interventions in the community for high-risk offenders. Where detention is used, facilities should be small, local and staffed by professionally qualified and properly trained workers. </p>
<p>It may well be true that there has been a culture of cover-up in the NT but there is also, clearly, a culture of complacency among decision-makers. It is Aboriginal children who are most affected, so now is the time for Aboriginal leaders and elders to be included in the leadership and decision-making processes about what happens to their children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Stout does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The abuse at Don Dale detention centre has been known for some time, but nothing has been done about it.Brian Stout, Associate Professor of Social Work & Deputy Dean, School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/604512016-06-28T03:00:44Z2016-06-28T03:00:44ZHow the desire for masculinity might drive some disadvantaged young men to substance abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128423/original/image-20160628-28366-w9wb1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young men with problem drug-use have high rates of mental health problems and backgrounds of contact with child protection.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Males <a href="http://www.ysas.org.au/sites/default/files/SYNC_2013_Statewide%20Results_FINAL_0414.pdf">make up two-thirds</a> of people accessing alcohol and other drug services; 75% of them have been involved in the justice system.</p>
<p>Those with problem drug use also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740916301931">have high rates</a> of mental health problems and backgrounds of contact with child protection. They <a href="http://www.ysas.org.au/sites/default/files/SYNC_2013_Statewide%20Results_FINAL_0414.pdf">have much lower levels</a> of educational attainment and employment than their peers. </p>
<p>While poverty or childhood trauma certainly don’t <em>cause</em> substance abuse, they do play a part. But awareness of other social and environmental factors, such as society’s perpetuation of masculinity, are critical to understanding the interconnections between trauma, disadvantage and substance abuse in young men.</p>
<h2>The ‘wrong crowd’</h2>
<p>I interviewed 35 young males between the ages of 14 and 25 accessing drug treatment services in Victoria. The usual drugs of concern are cannabis, methamphetamine and alcohol. </p>
<p>When asked about what they wanted for their future, the men’s answers were remarkably similar: they wanted a home, job and wife. Traditional ideas of being a provider pervaded their narratives.</p>
<p>Achieving this kind of masculinity is difficult for these young men. Primarily because it necessitates education and employment. Only 9% of those in my study completed school, with most (66%) leaving by the end of year nine. </p>
<p>At a time when <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/department/brochuremarch.pdf">87% of Victorian males</a> are completing their final year of school, lack of formal education is a considerable barrier to employment. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128428/original/image-20160628-8002-1pt6vxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional ideas of being a provider and having a family pervaded young men’s narratives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I asked how they transitioned from school to unemployment, many spoke about falling in with “the wrong crowd”. The description of this group as being wrong showed they felt a deviation from their idea of what young men ought to be doing. </p>
<p>Gerald was acutely aware of the steps to this conception of manhood he had not taken:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can’t help but compare myself to some of my other friends. Like my other mate, he’s got a trade, he’s paying off a house, he’s got a girlfriend - he’s living the dream pretty much … and I’ve got nothing, and it’s my fault – I am not making excuses. It’s just hard to not feel like an idiot.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At a time in their lives when they were realising there was no place for them in the labour force, the “wrong crowd” offered another variety of masculinity and a place where they felt belonging. Chris described the appeal:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whether it’s drugs, or fighting, or graffiti, or knives, it’s all just cultures – subcultures. Wherever somebody feels that they fit in, or feel comfortable with that group of people, then they want to do what those people are doing. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another boy, Pailin, was struggling at school with a poor grasp of English which was not his native tongue. He described his pathway into the wrong crowd as a process of learning to be assertive:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I got picked on because I couldn’t speak properly … It kind of changed me a little bit, because I had to stand up for myself. I wasn’t an aggressive kid or anything you know… But what happened to me… made me more aggressive because I had to stand up for myself… I needed to become one of those cool kids who smoked at school at that’s what I kind of turned into. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Among the wrong crowd, rather than being a worker and provider, men are celebrated for rebellion of these things. From minor delinquency, such as skipping school, through to drug use and violence; the more these young men defied mainstream norms, the more masculine they were perceived to be. </p>
<h2>Men are tough</h2>
<p>According to my interviews, a <a href="http://jmm.sagepub.com/content/8/1/44.abstract">key implicit rule</a> in the wrong crowd is to never show any vulnerability: men are tough. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128432/original/image-20160628-28391-1xrv4rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even those who did not initially like drugs learned they were able to anaesthetise their emotions by getting stoned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=DcMmAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">a seminal study of street-based crack dealers in East Harlem</a> found the excessive displays of confrontation among men were performances of power from a group who, beyond their housing estates, had no power in the world.</p>
<p>The machismo perpetuated in these subcultures appeared to prevent the men I interviewed from being able to work through their past trauma in ways that didn’t harm them socially. </p>
<p>The middle classes often defer to therapy – formally or informally – but these men did not have spaces where talking, crying and expressing vulnerable emotions would be greeted with compassion. So these were unsurprisingly expressed in other ways. </p>
<p>As Brandon explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I get depressed all the time. I get upset over nothing… and then it goes to anger and I blackout and whatever happens, happens … I’ve smashed a lot of things, a few people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was similar to Mick:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’d go to a pub or whatever, pick on someone, wait until they’d fight me. I’d get smashed – I didn’t care; I loved it. I loved being hurt so much ‘cause it relieved all of the tension out of me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another common practice of the “wrong crowd” was drug use. Even those who did not initially like drugs learned they were able to anaesthetise their emotions by getting stoned. </p>
<p>Getting out of problem drug use was hard. Criminal records, illiteracy, little formal education and lack of housing or family supports created and exacerbated barriers to entering expected young-adulthood. These barriers seemed insurmountable; in turn, drug use increased. </p>
<p>This cycle is replicated in studies of youth homelessness where it is established that the longer and earlier a person is homeless, <a href="http://jos.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/11/04/1440783311422458.abstract">the less likely</a> they are <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=546983225278750;res=IELAPA">to escape homelessness</a>.</p>
<p>Understanding these pathways is integral to any prevention or intervention initiatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Daley received funding from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and in-kind support from the Youth Support + Advocacy Service (YSAS). </span></em></p>Awareness of social factors, such as society’s perpetuation of masculinity, are critical to understanding the interconnections between trauma, disadvantage and substance abuse in young men.Kathryn Daley, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/492932015-11-05T19:04:35Z2015-11-05T19:04:35ZHere’s how we can stop putting Aboriginal people with disabilities in prison<p><a href="https://www.mhdcd.unsw.edu.au/">Our research</a> shows how Australia imprisons thousands of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities each year because of a lack of understanding, and a dearth of community-based services and support. </p>
<p>It also shows what can be done about this shameful breach of human rights.</p>
<p>We have data on hundreds of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities that tells the story of their early and regular contact with police, courts and custody. And Aboriginal researchers in our team have spoken with Aboriginal people with disabilities, their families, communities and service providers in New South Wales and the Northern Territory so we can better understand their experiences. </p>
<h2>What will make a difference</h2>
<p>Based on that research, we are recommending these principles and strategies to underpin policy reform:</p>
<p><strong>1. Self-determination</strong></p>
<p>Self-determination is key to improving the human rights and well-being of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities. This means an <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/right-self-determination">ongoing process of choice</a> on matters affecting them, their families and communities.</p>
<p>Community-led knowledge, solutions and services to respond to the over-representation of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities in prison should be properly supported and resourced. And we must ensure the input of Aboriginal women on their needs and aspirations given their particular disadvantage and vulnerability in the criminal justice system. We also need better services for Aboriginal people in regional and remote areas. </p>
<p>Education and cultural competency for non-Aboriginal organisations and people working in this area is crucial.</p>
<p><strong>2: Person-centred support</strong></p>
<p>Person-centred support that puts Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities at the centre of their care and that’s appropriate to their culture and context is essential. People should be supported to make decisions about their own needs and recovery. </p>
<p>Disability services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) need an overt strategy to support Aboriginal people with disabilities in the criminal justice system. This initiative should also cover the needs of people with borderline intellectual disability and fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD), who may not be recognised as having a disability but who often need targeted support so they don’t end up in prison.</p>
<p>Specialised housing, services and treatment options should be available in the community to prevent incarceration and improve well-being.</p>
<p><strong>3. A holistic and flexible approach</strong></p>
<p>A determined holistic and flexible approach to services for Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities is needed from a young age to avoid contact with the criminal justice system. Early recognition by maternal and infant health services, early childhood and school education, community health services and police is important. </p>
<p>Governments should provide positive and preventive support that allows Aboriginal children and young people with disability to develop and flourish. We need supported housing and case management options for people with cognitive impairment to help keen them out of the the criminal justice system. The <a href="https://www.portal.facs.nsw.gov.au/Guidelines/SourceDocuments/cjp_tailored_support_packages.pdf">NSW Community Justice Program</a> is a good example. It provides specialised intensive 24-hour supported accommodation to drop in support for people with an intellectual disability who have been in the criminal justice system. </p>
<p><strong>4. Integrated services</strong></p>
<p>Government and non-government services need to work in a more integrated way to improve referral, information sharing and case management, and to better support Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities.</p>
<p>Justice, Corrections and Human Services departments and non-government services should take a collaborative approach to program pathways for Aboriginal people with disabilities who need support across their sectors. All prisoners with a cognitive impairment should be referred to the public advocate of the state or territory they are in.</p>
<h2>Better practice and prevention</h2>
<p>It’s vital that Aboriginal understandings of “disability” and “impairment” underpin support for Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities in the criminal justice system. The particular experiences and perspectives of Aboriginal women should be central.</p>
<p>Better education and information on Aboriginal people with disabilities is needed for police, teachers, education support workers, lawyers, magistrates, health, corrections, disability and community service providers to help them understand and work with Aboriginal people with cognitive impairment, mental health disorders and complex support needs. </p>
<p>More resources are also needed for Aboriginal communities, families and carers so they can better support people with mental and cognitive disabilities.</p>
<p>Our data tracks the pathways of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities into early contact with police, courts and custody largely due to a lack of appropriate health, education, disability and community services. We heard about the racism and stigma faced by Aboriginal people with disabilities that drives the cycle of over-policing, under-servicing and incarceration.</p>
<p>This predictable path is preventable. Early intervention and diversion into holistic, therapeutic, culturally responsive, local community-based services are essential. These will enable Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities to live with dignity and support in their communities.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is the fifth in a series of articles by this research team. Click <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/aboriginal-people-with-mental-and-cognitive-disability-43089">here</a> to read more on the Indigenous Australians with Mental Health Disorders and Cognitive Disability in the Criminal Justice System (IAMHDCD) Project.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Ruth will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 10 and 11am AEDT on Friday November 6, 2015. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth McEntyre was the Australian Postgraduate Award Industry recipient for the IAMHDCD Project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eileen Baldry receives funding from The Australian Research Council, FaCS NSW, Dept of Justice NSW. She is affiliated with PIAC & CRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth McCausland is Vice-President of the Board of the Community Restorative Centre.</span></em></p>The predictable path into prison for Aboriginal people with disabilities is preventable. Here are some solutions.Elizabeth McEntyre, PhD Candidate in Social Work and Criminology, UNSW SydneyEileen Baldry, Professor of Criminology, UNSW SydneyRuth McCausland, Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/486592015-10-13T02:25:46Z2015-10-13T02:25:46ZYoung offenders must be screened for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders before sentencing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98153/original/image-20151012-17853-8cvs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's vital to ensure youth put behind bars have been properly assessed before sentencing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s prison population is growing at <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2014%7EMedia%20Release%7EAustralian%20prisoner%20numbers%20climb%20to%20ten%20year%20high%20(Media%20Release)%7E10023">unprecedented rates</a>. In some states Indigenous prisoners far outnumber their non-Indigenous counterparts. </p>
<p>Last year in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-if-locking-em-up-is-the-goal-nts-a-success-39185">Northern Territory</a>, 86% of those in prison and 96% of those in juvenile detention were Indigenous. <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-lopsided-incarceration-rates-blight-west-38986">In Western Australia</a>, Indigenous people account for only 3% of the population, but 40% of prisoners. </p>
<p>It is unacceptable to ignore the intellectual capacity of a person facing the court and it’s vital to ensure that youth put behind bars have been properly assessed before sentencing. This is particularly important for Australians affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These occur throughout society and in high levels in some Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>The capacity to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26338492">screen for prenatal alcohol exposure</a> – as well as to diagnose FASD – must urgently be increased. This echoes <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/test-kids-before-courts-for-fetal-alcohol-syndrome-magistrate/story-e6frg97x-1227546353318">recent calls by Perth Children’s Court magistrate</a> Catherine Crawford for clinicians to assess children and youth before sentencing, so the court understands their cognitive limitations. </p>
<h2>Cognitive limitations</h2>
<p>Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25848734">group of preventable conditions</a> resulting from exposure to alcohol in the womb. Alcohol readily crosses the mother’s placenta, entering the circulation of the developing fetus with devastating effects. </p>
<p>Significantly, it can disrupt brain development and that of other organs, causing lifelong problems. These include developmental delay, intellectual and memory impairment, as well as a range of behavioural, emotional and mental health disorders. </p>
<p>People with FASD can suffer from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), communication disorders, poor impulse control, disobedience and hostility issues, and learning difficulties. </p>
<p>They often struggle to distinguish right from wrong and fail to learn from mistakes. Few with FASD will live and work independently. Many have mental health and substance misuse problems. </p>
<p>It is no surprise that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15308923">many also come in contact with the law</a>. An adolescent living with a FASD in Canada or the United States, for instance, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22032097">is estimated to have</a> a 19 times higher risk of incarceration than someone without a FASD.</p>
<p>Despite this, the condition remains poorly recognised and few obtain a diagnosis prior to offending. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888044">Offenders with FASD</a> are often poor witnesses and fail to understand why they have been detained. Unable to negotiate the justice system, they are adversely influenced by others and often enter a cycle of re-offending.</p>
<h2>FASD and the justice system</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/14/jailed-without-conviction-send-rosie-anne-fulton-home">Rosie Fulton</a>, a 21-year-old Aboriginal woman with FASD and significant intellectual impairment, was arrested last year after stealing and crashing a car. Declared unfit to stand trial, Rosie was sent to Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie Prison for lack of alternative accommodation. </p>
<p>She stayed in jail for 21 months with no trial or conviction. Only after her story broke, mounting pressure on the health ministers of Western Australia and the Northern Territory led to Rosie being <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-25/aboriginal-woman-in-jail-without-conviction-to-be-freed/5550790">transferred</a> to supervised community accommodation close to her family in Alice Springs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98155/original/image-20151013-17809-10fddn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people with a FASD often have learning difficulties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/francisco_osorio/8425548570/in/photolist-dQx93N-fwr2cP-dYzGoR-dQx5qh-dQwVB1-dQwTi9-dQrk7x-8v4TQ-tFR8Jw-BLfMq-dQwQsw-dQxavq-dQrwZH-BM4DM-pdYzyy-rbD36X-ruXheR-aYtadR-dQwRxL-cdmjho-dQrhXV-dQriPF-p3N7f7-dQx8D7-dQwTxj-ebGSib-dQwSi9-ehTt4H-eeW2XT-dQxaYy-dQrheM-wEzWQQ-dQxcTf-dQrECB-6TJzFk-dQrEaM-ebBe6z-dQrF8P-dQwR1b-dQru36-dQrv3r-dQxbx3-eeW1NR-dQrkCr-aYtadZ-6fnd68-azyH5Z-aYtae2-dQxbL5-dQrqZn">Francisco Osorio/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>In Australia, we don’t know how many people deemed “unfit to plead” are in prison and how many have cognitive impairment, as we lack recent data regarding rates of FASD in prisons. US studies suggest up to 60% of young people with FASD will at <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15308923">some time enter the juvenile justice system</a>. </p>
<p>Another study, conducted in a forensic mental health facility in Canada, showed <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10533996">23% of resident youth</a> had one type of FASD. This figure <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693629">may be higher in vulnerable Australian populations</a>, particularly in some remote regions where alcohol use in pregnancy is prevalent. </p>
<p>The economic impact of incarcerating people with FASD is huge. In Canada, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25846557">the direct cost to the correctional system</a> between 2011 and 2012 was CAD$17.5 million for youth and CAD$356.2 million for adults. </p>
<h2>Screening for FASD</h2>
<p>Diagnosing FASD is a challenge because as children get older, a firm history of prenatal alcohol exposure may be elusive. With age, the characteristic facial features (small eye openings, a thin upper lip and flat philtrum, the area between the upper lip and base of the nose) of fetal alcohol syndrome – a subset of FASD – diminish, and growth deficits correct.</p>
<p>Thorough assessment by a physician, a psychologist and, if necessary, allied health professionals, can identify impairments required for a FASD diagnosis, whether fetal alcohol syndrome or a neuro-developmental disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. Such impairments can be in IQ, communication, memory, motor and executive function, and other areas.</p>
<p>In Canada, youth probation officers are using a <a href="http://www.asantecentre.org/">tool for screening young offenders for FASD</a>, and identifying the need for referral and assessment. </p>
<p>Another tool for health professionals with accompanying guidelines for assessing and diagnosing people with FASD is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24083778">being developed in Australia</a>. This will standardise the diagnostic approach.</p>
<p>Tools such as these are necessary to increase screening and diagnostic capacity in the justice and health systems. If a diagnosis is known, the associated behavioural and cognitive deficits can be taken into account when considering the reliability of evidence given by an offender, the supervision required in detention, and the sentence. </p>
<h2>Appropriate care</h2>
<p>There has been a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888044">call for better legal support</a> for people with vulnerabilities in their journey through the criminal justice system. Consideration should be given to the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23228502">defence of diminished responsibility</a> in conditions such as FASD. </p>
<p>And alternative models of care need to be found to avoid imprisonment of those unable to plead. As identified in the case of Rosie Fulton, this poses a significant challenge, particularly in remote Australia where alternative accommodation is not readily available and would be costly to establish. </p>
<p>But prison is far more costly. In Canada, the justice system accounts for <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26072470">40% of the total costs of FASD</a> (including health and education). And Australia’s <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2010-13/justicereinvestment/report/index">Senate inquiry on justice reinvestment</a> heard that the estimated cost of detaining a juvenile offender in New South Wales in 2010–11 was much higher ($A652 per day) than the cost of supervision in the community ($A16.73 per day).</p>
<p>To end the cycle of re-offending, we urgently need evidence-based strategies to ensure offenders with FASD are recognised early and receive the care they deserve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Elliott receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Australian Government for research into Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
She is a Member of the Board of charities Cure Kids Australia and the Institute for Creative Health and a member of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Steve Waugh Foundation. </span></em></p>Many young people in jail suffer fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Diagnosing these before sentencing will establish the most appropriate path for these vulnerable offenders, which often isn’t jail.Elizabeth Elliott, Professor of Paediatrics & Child Health, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/92082012-10-24T03:36:38Z2012-10-24T03:36:38ZBoot camps a poor fit for juvenile justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14929/original/rq8cmb9k-1346640547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Queensland unveils tenders for two new boot camp programs for young offenders.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">flickr.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Queensland Attorney-General, Jarrod Bleijie, has authorised a tender process for the operation of <a href="http://www.jarrodbleijie.com.au/news/attorney-general-invites-input-boot-camp-trial">two youth boot camps</a>. The camps, aimed at 13 to 17 year olds, are to be trialled in Cairns and on the Gold Coast for a two-year period. The camp in the north of the state is an intensive diversion program for “sentenced” juveniles, while that in the south-east corner is an early intervention scheme for “at risk” youth.</p>
<p>As with all matters of justice, Queensland is not alone in proffering boot camps as the “answer to youth crime”. The Brumby Government <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/school-boot-camp-money-is-needed-elsewhere-20101117-17x34.html">proposed school-based camps</a> for Victoria in 2010, and both the Northern Territory and Western Australia have flirted with such programs as early as the 1980s.</p>
<p>In the wake of calls for the operation of boot camps to solve problems of youth crime, it is instructive to examine what they are, what inspires them and what the research evidence reveals about their outcomes.</p>
<h2>The shape and size of boot camps</h2>
<p>There was a proliferation of boot camps in the USA in the 1980s and 1990s, where millions of dollars were diverted to their operations.</p>
<p>They come under the guise of wilderness, bush, work, motivational and challenge camps. Some are attached to schools or prisons and many are geared toward adult offenders, but a significant proportion are aimed at “recalcitrant youth”, some set up specifically for females.</p>
<p>While the camp programs vary, the common features of these residential programs are that they are established on militaristic lines with an emphasis on deference to authority, conformity, intimidation, isolation, and concentrated physical training.</p>
<p>The tender documents for the proposed Queensland camps appear no different. The program intends to <a href="http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/160951/sentenced-youth-boot-camp-factsheet.pdf">instill “discipline and respect”</a>, ensures “direct consequences for offending” and entails considerable “supervision”.</p>
<h2>Moral foundations</h2>
<p>The very concept of a boot camp is based on the notion of individual responsibility for crime and anti-social behaviour. It is about failure of parents or families and ultimately of the young people who find themselves in trouble with the law.</p>
<p>The principles revolve around shock treatment, power and control, and disciplinarian techniques. To that end they exemplify the “get tough” politicisation of crime, a misplaced view that we have the capacity to correctly identify threat and risk. A misguided belief in the effectiveness of the punitive approaches of past centuries.</p>
<p>This is what has been labelled by some as “vengeance justice”. For even though these programs purport to “address the causes of crime”, they are mean-spirited and sheet the blame for crime solely at the individual level.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14927/original/qzdjfgh5-1346639394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie addresses the press.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dave Hunt</span></span>
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<h2>Evaluating boot camps</h2>
<p>During the 1990s in particular and in the USA specifically, a number of studies were conducted into the effectiveness of boot camps. Similar evidence emerged from the UK about a range of “short sharp shock” treatment regimes.</p>
<p>All of this empirical work shows quite clearly that there is no benefit to boot camps. Whether the measures are re-offending rates or whether it is centred around cost-effectiveness — there is little to show that boot camps offer a beneficial alternative.</p>
<p>Of course given the variety of boot camp philosophies and the practices of their daily regimes some caution needs to be exercised about the research evidence. In addition, trying to conduct any truly robust research is difficult and rarely are quasi-experimental designs used (that is, random allocation of youth to boot camp versus a range of other interventions that are then followed up in the long term). </p>
<p>Yet even in studies where there were some differences in outcomes, they were marginal or negligible and could often be sheeted home to the backgrounds of the offenders (age, sex, previous convictions) rather than any militaristic-style intervention they had undergone.</p>
<p>Of most significance is that some studies showed that there was potential for greater effectiveness when the boot camp included some kind of “treatment” option which flies in the face of the fundamental philosophy of such camps.</p>
<p>In the last decade more sophisticated research has emerged including meta-analyses of multiples studies. However the findings remain, that there were no significant differences on re-offending measures between those who attend a correctional boot camp and those who did not.</p>
<p>Even when the “softer” style of boot camps were evaluated there were no differences on recidivism. Similarly studies that have undertaken longer term follow-ups show no benefit. In research where a cost-saving has been identified this was only because offenders spent slightly less time in prison. Finally, one evaluation of a school-based camp again found no differences on re-offending but participants displayed “favourable” views of the program. </p>
<h2>Does the boot fit?</h2>
<p>Thus several decades of evaluations of boot camps has demonstrated quite conclusively that they are not effective in reducing recidivism and have marginal impact on cost-savings.</p>
<p>The problem with these “shock and awe” tactics is that they are centred around individual responsibility. This shows a fundamental lack of appreciation of the “causes” of crime — demographic changes, deployment of police, reform to criminal codes, urban design, extended surveillance, tougher supervision orders.</p>
<p>Most of all it signals a vengeful justice system. Let’s face it, boot camps are founded on fear and terror.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Lincoln does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Queensland Attorney-General, Jarrod Bleijie, has authorised a tender process for the operation of two youth boot camps. The camps, aimed at 13 to 17 year olds, are to be trialled in Cairns and on the…Robyn Lincoln, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.