Cultural Perspectives on Youth Justice

Connecting Theory, Policy and International Practice

Elaine Arnull, Darrell Fox, Elaine Arnull, Darrell Fox

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781137433961
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137433978
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Política social

Young people, crime and delinquency are words that are commonly linked in public perception and young people are often blamed for social ills. Their deviancy and threat to social control has been held to be a social fact from Plato to today. This book subjects that 'fact' to critical examination through consideration of youth justice systems in six different countries, drawing on sociological and criminological analysis as well as expert practitioner opinion.

This book's comparative, cultural approach allows for consideration of the impact of new and emergent systems of communication and discourse and considers how these may impact future constructions of delinquency at a local and global level. Understanding changing constructions of delinquency, the systems and responses we already have and their strengths and weaknesses enables critique about what we do and what we know, and allows us to imagine how it might be otherwise.

© The Author(s) 2016

Elaine Arnull and Darrell Fox (eds.)Cultural Perspectives on Youth Justicehttps://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43397-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Elaine Arnull¹

(1)

Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

End Abstract

Young people, crime, justice and delinquency have been at the forefront of social concern across the world throughout much of history and the trajectory has not changed. These concerns have not only been a consistent historical feature but have also been a common pattern across many societies. We love our babies and children. We need future generations to develop and further our societies and to keep us in our old age. But we also appear to fear the young, especially adolescents and young adults. It would seem that we fear their enthusiasm, their challenge, their perceived delinquency and their replacing of us. They are often blamed for social ills, and their deviancy and its threat to social control has been held to be a social fact from Plato (Byron 2009) to the current period (Barnado’s 2008: Vidali 1998).

Young people are currently experiencing considerable social difficulties and pressures in a fast-changing world. The current difficulties are the result of economic circumstances which they did not create, but which have impacted worldwide in a number of ways. Access to work is problematic for many young people, with the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimating worldwide unemployment rates for those aged under 25 years at 12.5 per cent (Government of India 2013). But those rates are much worse in some countries as the result of greater economic recession. Eurostat (Eurostat Statistics Explained 2015) shows the disparity within and across Europe:

In July 2015, 4.634 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU-28, of whom 3.093 million were in the euro area. Compared with July 2014, youth unemployment decreased by 465,000 in the EU-28 and by 336,000 in the euro area. In July 2015, the youth unemployment rate was 20.4% in the EU-28 and 21.9% in the euro area, compared with 22.0% and 23.8% respectively in July 2014. In July 2015, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.0%), Malta (8.7%) and Estonia (9.5% in June 2015), and the highest in Greece (51.8% in May 2015), Spain (48.6%), Croatia (43.1% in the second quarter 2015) and Italy (40.5%).

As the figures show, for some young people in Europe, there is a significant probability that they will be unemployed, while in other countries the opposite is true.¹ The complexity of the picture is shown in developing countries like India, where the fast-changing international situation and the impact of technological and other changes are reflected in the unemployment statistics. Statistics in India are estimated across localities and unemployment rates for 15-24 year olds show rates between 15 and 18 per cent (ref as before). The figures for the employed include those in casual and unstable work (a work pattern that is an increasing feature in the developed world too). The report also highlights that the pattern of unemployment is worse for the educated young person as about one-third of 15-29 year old graduates are unemployed (ref as before).

Many young people across the world now pay for their education and this includes developed countries, such as the UK, in which education had been free at the point of access up to postgraduate level. The level of debt that many young people are now burdened with as a result of graduate education is something which is becoming an issue across the globe (ref as before). And there is growing concern that a similar position to that in India with regard to graduate unemployment is emerging in other countries (ref as before).

The position is exacerbated for young people by the many financial cuts and constraints that are being imposed worldwide. Neoliberal governments argue that they are necessary because of economic recession or difficult economic circumstances, although they rarely accept responsibility for having created the situation in which these circumstances arose (The Guardian 3 June 2015a). However, one of the outcomes for young people is that the cuts limit the services available to support and assist them. This is in contradiction with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UK has been recently criticised for the way in which its cuts have impacted on children and young people. The criticisms were reflected on in a government response that noted that submissions to it showed: ‘Particular concern was expressed in evidence to us about the way the report dealt with the impact of austerity on children’s rights’ (section 62 of the Joint Committee on Human Rights 2015) and further that ‘analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has also reported that poor families with children have been hardest hit’ (section 63 Joint Committee on Human Rights 2015).

Economic pressures therefore add to the social and educational pressures which young people experience across the world, across the world, and add to their levels of dissatisfaction. These may become evident in a number of ways; in the UK in 2011, there were riots and there is increased expectation of social dislocation and unease as the financial crisis deepens (The Guardian 29 September 2015b). Elsewhere in the world, we have seen similar dislocations, with riots across Europe and in factories in China, the growth of the far right and fundamentalist parties and religious movements, high levels of youth unemployment, riots and demonstrations in the USA in response to racist policing, and widespread social movements across the Middle East.

In addition, at a psychosocial level, we have seen rising levels of mental ill health and suicide rates amongst young people in many parts of the developed world. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2014) estimates that suicide rates are about 11.4 per 100,000 worldwide, with the numbers higher for males than females (15 per 100,000 compared to 8 per 100,000). They express concern that in many European countries, suicide is the main cause of death for those aged 15–29. But they also note high suicide levels in India and particularly elevated deaths by firearms in the Americas for this age group. Regional variations therefore exist, but for many countries featured in this book, there are economic and social issues which impact on the lives of young people, creating a great sense of fragility and uncertainty, giving them little sense of control and leading for some to untimely death.

Furthermore, in times of economic uncertainty and difficulties, there can be considerable social dislocation that may manifest itself in foreseen and unforeseen ways (The Guardian 29 September 2015b). The conflicts within society that are thereby unleashed may mean that governments look for someone to blame and young people have traditionally provided such a focus within many societies.

In addition, tensions within social groups within and across societies are exacerbated. We see in many parts of the world the denial of equal human rights to girls and women, the denial of access to education on the grounds of gender and the denial of access to medical support. Further, these constrictions take place against a background of extreme levels of violence, deprivation of liberty, and the use of kidnap, forced sexual engagement and rape. These ‘techniques’ are currently regularly used against young girls and women across the world, but form major concerns in particular areas at this time, for example, in the north of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, parts of Pakistan and parts of the Middle East, especially under certain regimes such as that in Saudi Arabia and in areas controlled by extreme Islamist groups.

The power of some young women to resist such tyranny was forcefully thrust on the world in the person and experiences of Malala Yousafzai, but every day millions of girls and young women are subjected to terror and deprivation of rights on the basis of their gender. These acts are counter to direct stipulations in the UNCRC, for example, Articles 1 and 2, which declare equality for all, or Article 35, which specifically prohibits abduction. But those committing these acts either consider the Convention irrelevant, challenge its validity and basis, or use their acts to discipline and control others through the very real fear which their behaviour engenders and spreads throughout those societies.

In societies which deny girls and women equal rights, their attempts to gain equality are termed delinquent at best or are perhaps said to be against their nature, while at worst they lead to their imprisonment, torture, kidnap, capture and death. Their ‘delinquency’ may range from their attempts to receive an education like Mala, but may involve other social behaviours such as attempting to discuss the constraints on their freedom or actually attempting to exercise their social rights, such as attending a sports match or driving a car (see, for example, The Guardian 25 June 2014). Challenging one’s society therefore has real and profound implications, and this is the daily reality for many young people worldwide.

Racism and its impacts also remain key factors in the lives of many young people across the world. Racism impacts directly on the construction of delinquency through racialised imagery, stereotyping and the labelling of individuals and communities, and this can lead to discrimination and over-policing. And, as for other structural inequalities, there are clear intersections and interlinking factors and facets. Thus, in the criminal and youth justice systems, race, gender and class are key factors.

In the societies featured within this book, racism impacts their youth justice systems and the ways in which they construct delinquency and criminality. Media coverage in Canada has, for example, dealt with both the persistence of racism despite equality legislation and the way in which racism shapes their criminal justice system (Toronto Star 20 March 2012). In the UK, public protest and riots followed the death of a young man at the hands of police officers in Tottenham in 2011 and in the USA race riots arose after the shooting dead of a young man in 2014 in Ferguson and the death in custody of a young man in 2015 in Baltimore (Reuters 30 April 2015). In addition, an article in The Hindu (12 June 2012) reflected on the ways in which racism and discrimination impacted the lives of particular ethnic groups in India. The article considered how this affects the Indian justice system, as well as other parts of social and cultural interaction. In Croatia, war is a recent memory. Ethnic conflicts formed a significant factor in those wars and as the Chap. 4 reflects had direct impacts on the youth justice system. And, finally, a simple Google search using the terms ‘racism and ethnic discrimination in the Philippines’ produces a slew of articles, blogs, media coverage and comment. The focus is related to discrimination within the Philippines and how this impacts those of ethnic Chinese origin in particular. But the coverage also discusses how internalised racist imagery has led many Filipinos to declare that they prefer a ‘look’ that is tall, blond and blue-eyed. Other discussions on those sites document discrimination based around religion (i.e. if someone is a non-Catholic). What appeared similar in the live media and the cultural debates captured on the Web is that in India and the Philippines, the debates show a real sense of societies and cultures struggling to accept that they might also be racist and discriminatory despite considering that the long...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Theoretical Perspectives: Delinquency
• 1. Europe
• 2. American Subcontinent
• 3. Developing Economies and Youth Justice Systems
• Backmatter