Barry Goldson, Chris Cunneen, Sophie Russell, David Brown, Eileen Baldry, Melanie Schwartz, and Damon Briggs, Youth Justice and Penality in Comparative Context
| Published date | 01 July 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14624745211063121 |
| Author | Jasmina Arnez |
| Date | 01 July 2023 |
the authors build on existing literature on family experiences of incarceration, strength-
ening the depth of their narrative. They speak to what little research exists on what influ-
ences parenting after prison, how parenting might influence the prisoner’s reintegration
into the family and community, or the long-term effects of incarceration on parenting
and, in particular, the father-child relationship. Though this study did not address
every knowledge gap, it lays a strong foundation for future research to build upon –cre-
ating knowledge gaps by exerting and demonstrating an admirable grasp of the literature
and thus identifying future research needs. Nevertheless, despite the complexity of the
topic and the sheer volume of the data collected, Holding On showcases why studying
both sides of the coin –the prisoner side and the family side –is essential to truly under-
stand the human experience and impacts of incarceration and reentry.
Reference
Massoglia M., & Pridemore W. A. (2015). Incarceration and health. Annual Review of
Sociology, 41(1), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112326
Rosemary Ricciardelli and Sara MacNaull
Barry Goldson, Chris Cunneen, Sophie Russell, David Brown, Eileen
Baldry, Melanie Schwartz, and Damon Briggs, Youth Justice and Penality in
Comparative Context, Routledge: London and New York, 2020, 260 pp.
ISBN 9780815374459, £120.00 (hbk), ISBN9780815374466, £34.99
(pbk), ISBN 9781351242134, £31.49 (eBook)
Youth and crime, as well as how children in conflict with the law are treated within the youth
justice system, has always been an important area of criminological research. Yet, penality
as the ‘whole system of punishment, ranging from its philosophies, laws, and methods, to its
material effects and the wider social, cultural, and political environments in which it is
located’(p. 1) has rarely been interrogated holistically in reference to young people.
This book rectifies the lack of attention on penality in relation to young people. It com-
pares the similarities and differences between four Australian states and England and Wales,
with special emphasis on locality and the sub-national reasons for convergences and divi-
sions between the two jurisdictions. The book emphasises how, in the Western liberal-
democratic nations of England and Wales and Australia, illiberal and undemocratic penal
practices against children are negotiated on the ground when criminal laws and youth
justice policies clash with organisational discourses and institutional working practices,
yielding discriminatory treatment of structurally marginalised young people that McAra
and McVie (2005) have, albeit in another context, called the ‘usual suspects’. The book out-
lines and explains current manifestations of such processes, including the racialised practices
of stop and search, arrest, detention and police custody, restrictions of freedom of movement
816 Punishment & Society 25(3)
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