scholarly journals Imposed Stories: Prisoner Self-narratives in the Criminal Justice System in New South Wales, Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Hall ◽  
Kate Rossmanith
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
South Wales

This article examines the ways in which offenders are required to provide very particular accounts of themselves and to self-narrate in confined ways. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews conducted in the New South Wales justice system, it explores how the stories that offenders are made to accept and tell about themselves often bear little relationship to their own reflections. It analyses how, despite the expectations of judges and prison authorities, these self-narratives are not products of an offender’s soul-searching concerning his past actions and experience; rather they are products of an official legal narrative being imposed on an offender whose capacity to own and enact such a narrative is already seriously compromised.

Care-criminalisation: The involvement of children in out-of-home care in the New South Wales criminal justice system

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kath McFarlane
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Children’S Court

This article discusses the involvement in the New South Wales criminal justice system of a cohort of children in out-of-home care. The paper reports the findings of a four-year research project that investigated the relationship between the child welfare and justice systems as experienced by a cohort of children in the New South Wales Children’s Court criminal jurisdiction. Analysis of 160 case files identified that children in out-of-home care appeared before the Children’s Court on criminal charges at disproportionate rates compared to children who were not in out-of-home care. The out-of-home care cohort had a different and negative experience of the justice system, entering it at a significantly younger age and being more likely to experience custodial remand, than children who had not been in out-of-home care. While both cohorts shared many of the risk factors common to young offenders appearing before the Children’s Court, the out-of-home care cohort experienced significant additional disadvantage within the care environment (‘care-criminalisation’), such that living arrangements designed to protect them from harm instead created the environment for offending. The paper concludes by arguing that a paucity of research exists regarding the drivers and dynamics of care-criminalisation and that more research is needed to explore the criminogenic impacts of a childhood spent in out-of-home care.

The Prosecution of Child Sexual Assault: A Survey of NSW DPP Solicitors

1995 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Cashmor
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Full Advantage ◽  
Justice System ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Child Witnesses ◽  
Child Sexual Assault ◽  
South Wales

Over the last decade, there has been a number of changes in the law and in courtroom procedures in relation to the prosecution of child sexual assault. These changes were intended to ease the restrictions on the admission of children's evidence and to make the experience of testifying less stressful for child witnesses. Court statistics on the outcome of child sexual assault prosecutions and the results of a survey by the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of prosecuted cases of child sexual assault in New South Wales were examined to throw some light on the way such prosecutions and the child witnesses involved were dealt with in the criminal justice system. One of the major concerns was that while some reforms have allowed more and younger children to give evidence, full advantage has not been taken of other reforms to ease children's experience at court.

scholarly journals ‘Just another policy document?’ Can a protocol end the criminalisation of kids in care?

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
Kath McFarlane ◽  
Emma Colvin ◽  
Andrew McGrath ◽  
Alison Gerard
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Home Care Providers

This article examines the New South Wales Joint Protocol to Reduce the Contact of Young People in Residential OOHC with the Criminal Justice System (2016 ) from the perspective of residential out-of-home-care providers, police, lawyers and departmental staff involved in the child welfare and criminal justice systems in New South Wales.

scholarly journals Police and Vulnerability in Bail Decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Hughes ◽  
Emma Colvin ◽  
Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
New South ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Vulnerable People

Since bail legislation was enacted in the 1970s, Australia has experienced a continual increase in the number of prisoners on remand. Amendments to bail legislation and police discretion have been shown to contribute to this increase. Further, an accused’s vulnerability affects whether they are granted or denied bail, with vulnerable people being more likely to be denied bail. Vulnerability in the criminal justice system refers to factors such as race, age, sex and socioeconomic status. Many vulnerable people have multiple intersecting vulnerabilities, which further compounds their contact with the justice system. This study employed a qualitative content analysis of bail legislation for the Australian states of New South Wales (NSW), Tasmania, and Victoria, along with key correlating second reading speeches. The aim was to better understand the way in which bail decision-makers, such as police, consider vulnerability when making decisions about bail, in particular, if and how they are legislated to consider factors relating to vulnerability. The research found that only police in NSW and Victoria were required to consider an accused’s vulnerability explicitly under the law. Although legislation may cater for varying vulnerabilities, intersecting vulnerabilities are not considered.

scholarly journals Responding to Harm: The Challenge of Children’s Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Kevin Haines ◽  
Anthony Charles
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Children’S Perspectives ◽  
Alternative Discourse ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Children’S Views

This article draws upon research undertaken in South Wales to understand children’s views concerning what it means to be a ‘victim’ of crime and their experiences, in that context, of engaging with the criminal justice system. Significantly, and moving beyond traditional policy and service provision concerns, child participants argued passionately that not only did adults fail to provide them with appropriate advice and support, but that their understandings of victimhood were inaccurate. Rather, children articulated an almost zemiological understanding of ‘harm’ which was the basis for an alternative way of understanding what it was to be a ‘victim’. Furthermore, children suggested that they were not taken seriously by an adult-led criminal justice system and that the operation of that system did not address their needs. Reflections are offered in this article concerning children’s views, and the profound implications that their alternative discourse pose for criminal justice policymakers and practitioners.

Battered Women, Startled Householders and Psychological Self-Defence: Anglo-Australian Perspectives

2013 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 433-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Wake
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Battered Women ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Loss Of Control ◽  
Loss Of Self ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Self Defence

This article provides a timely and critical reappraisal of the interconnected, but discrete, doctrines of loss of self-control, under ss 54–56 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, and self-defence within s. 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The loss of control conceptualisation renders it difficult for defendants to claim the partial defence where exculpatory self-defence has been rejected, and fear of serious violence is adduced. This doctrinal incoherence has been exacerbated by the fact that s. 43 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 effectively legitimises the use of disproportionate force in self-defence, but only in ‘startled householder’ cases. A more appropriate avenue of reform is provided by developments in Australian jurisdictions. This comparative extirpation engages the introduction of a new partial defence of self-preservation/psychological self-defence predicated on the notion of excessive utilisation of force in self-defence as in New South Wales, supplemented with a ‘social framework’ provision, akin to that in Victoria. The new defence would avoid the problems associated with requiring the abused woman to establish a loss of self-control and/or affording an affirmative defence in ‘startled householder’ cases.

scholarly journals Court diversion for those with psychosis and its impact on re-offending rates: results from a longitudinal data-linkage study

BJPsych Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olayan Albalawi ◽  
Nabila Zohora Chowdhury ◽  
Handan Wand ◽  
Stephen Allnutt ◽  
David Greenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Serious Mental Illness ◽  
Justice System ◽  
New South ◽  
Order Group ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Court Diversion ◽  
Treatment Order

BackgroundWith significant numbers of individuals in the criminal justice system having mental health problems, court-based diversion programmes and liaison services have been established to address this problem.AimsTo examine the effectiveness of the New South Wales (Australia) court diversion programme in reducing re-offending among those diagnosed with psychosis by comparing the treatment order group with a comparison group who received a punitive sanction.MethodThose with psychoses were identified from New South Wales Ministry of Health records between 2001 and 2012 and linked to offending records. Cox regression models were used to identify factors associated with re-offending.ResultsA total of 7743 individuals were identified as diagnosed with a psychotic disorder prior to their court finalisation date for their first principal offence. Overall, 26% of the cohort received a treatment order and 74% received a punitive sanction. The re-offending rate in the treatment order group was 12% lower than the punitive sanction group. ‘Acts intended to cause injury’ was the most common type of the first principal offence for the treatment order group compared with the punitive sanction group (48% v. 27%). Drug-related offences were more likely to be punished with a punitive sanction than a treatment order (12% v. 2%).ConclusionsAmong those with a serious mental illness (i.e. psychosis), receiving a treatment order by the court rather than a punitive sanction was associated with reduced risk for subsequent offending. We further examined actual mental health treatment received and found that receiving no treatment following the first offence was associated with an increased risk of re-offending and, so, highlighting the importance of treatment for those with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals Dealing With Radicalised Youth Offenders: The Development and Implementation of a Youth-Specific Framework

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Barracosa ◽  
James March
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Case Management ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Youth Offenders ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Violent Extremism

Background: In 2018 in the Australian State of New South Wales, a specialist Countering Violent Extremism Unit was established in the youth criminal justice system. This was in direct response to a number of youth below the age of 18 who have been charged for terrorism offences and identified as involved in violent extremist acts. This youth-specific framework was the first of its kind in Australia. It was designed to provide multidisciplinary practitioner-based approaches for the early-identification, diversion, and disengagement of at-risk and radicalised youth offenders.Aims: This paper will explore the experiences and lessons learned by the Youth Justice New South Wales Countering Violent Extremism Unit. It will discuss the relevance of youth radicalisation within Australia's evolving national security climate. This includes emerging trends in relation to youth radicalisation to varied violent extremist ideologies. This paper will explore the specialist approach adopted for preventing and countering violent extremism through the identification, assessment, and case management of at-risk and radicalised youth offenders.Implications: The Youth Justice New South Wales experience indicates that youth criminal justice settings can be designed to tackle the challenges posed by at-risk and radicalised youth. The practitioner experience canvassed in this paper highlights that a pluralistic and non-punitive approach to supervision, client-focused assessment and case management processes, and widespread resourcing of multidisciplinary practitioners and programs can be used to account for developmental and psychosocial vulnerabilities in addition to violent extremism risk factors amongst youth offenders. These approaches should be supplemented by youth-specific countering violent extremism practitioner expertise, and a range of violent extremism case management and risk assessment measures.

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