Young People Are Overrepresented As Offenders

Introduction

Young people are overrepresented as offenders. The justice system deals mostly with working class offenders and indigenous and ethnic minorities. Young people are often targeted by mainstream media and become perceived as delinquents and menaces to society. They are considered to be “at risk” of offending. This creates an age and class bias amongst communities and results in the negative stigmatisation of young people, especially those in minority groups. Young, disadvantaged people lack resources and are therefore disregarded by society. They have a lack of recognition so are unable to gain the opportunity to participate in community projects. Young people are trapped in a system ruled by adults and authoritative figures and
It represents an individual’s failings. It often ignores the social context that directly affects young people. Young people who experience a lack of supervision, truancy from school, negative influences by peers and unemployment are considered to be socioeconomically disadvantaged and at risk (AIHW 2005). These factors are extrapolated from the information drawn from the result of interviews with juvenile detainees in Australian Detention Centres. Detained young people may have been affected by these circumstances but the management of these factors does not serve as a direct means of prevention of crime. It does not target the core source of criminal delinquency amongst young people in disadvantaged communities. In order to promote change, restorative justice is required. A change in the community is necessary in order to involve young people as decision makers and to induce feelings of hope and achievement. Acts of positivity should be encouraged. No longer should we assess young people based on their
A multi-layered support system prevents the causes of antisocial and dangerous behaviour. Barry’s desistance study and the progress of the Local Justice Initiative Program involvement have demonstrated that communal involvement is necessary for the development of young people. Young people have reportedly started committing crimes to seek feelings of acceptance within temporary friendship groups. It became a sense of identity as reputation of an individual depended on the involvement the individual had with crime. The Local Justice Initiative Program has demonstrated positive results. It gave the chance for local communities to become involved in the criminal justice agencies and allowed them to plan successful programs. Young people were given a voice. This enabled better communication and understanding between the community and the Government.

White and Case support the findings of these studies and critique the Government’s general process of preventing young people from offending. They stated that targeted interventions stigmatise and marginalise young people. Social and political factors, such as social exclusion, were neglected due to the focus on the risk factors of young people. Case states that we should be working “with” young people, not “on” young people. A shift in focus needs to be