A Return to Social Justice

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. A Brief History of Youth Justice

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 1-27

3. Rawls’ Role in Improving Structures

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 29-54

4. The Current State of Youth Justice

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 55-82

5. Care Versus Control Ideologies

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 83-114

6. Unbalanced Principles, Fractured Identities

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 115-138

7. A Better Structure

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 139-166

8. Social Justice in Practice

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 167-199

9. Signs of Change

   • Jessica Urwin

   Pages 201-218

10. Conclusion

    • Jessica Urwin

    Pages 219-222

11. Back Matter

    Pages 223-226

    PDF

Youth justice has always focused on criminal justice but this work argues that taking a social justice approach is the best way to reduce youth crime. Drawing on philosophy, new research, and practitioners’ views, a new organizational structure and approach is developed. Urwin outlines the philosophical and historical background of youth justice and clarifies how this has led to problems within current practice. Prominent debates within the field are also explored in depth, such as care vs. control, and the issue of professional identity. Ultimately, all of these factors are considered in relation to the organizational structure of youth justice, and this bold and engaging study highlights the need for a more principled approach to practice. Timely and authoritative, this book is will be of great interest to youth justice practitioners, academics, students, and those who would like to apply social justice to social institutions.

• young offenders
• community
• policy
• social work
• identity
• welfarism
• responsibilisation
• neo-correctionism
• desistance
• criminal justice
• Rawls
• Weltanschaaung
• service pathways
• managerialism
• Foucault
• custodial settings
• Youth justice workers

• Applied Social Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom

  Jessica Urwin

Jessica Urwin is a researcher and lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester. With an interest in philosophy, organizational structures, and social justice, she has carried out work relating to youth justice for several years. This book is based upon her doctoral research which was funded by the ESRC.

Policies and ethics