Book Review: M. Stephenson, H. Giller and S. Brown, Effective Practice in Youth Justice, Willan Publishing, Cullompton, 2007, £19.50 Pb, ISBN 978—1-84392—286—5
| Author | Stephen Case |
| DOI | 10.1177/14732254080080020704 |
| Published date | 01 August 2008 |
| Date | 01 August 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
182 Youth Justice 8(2)
considered to be of major signifi cance in the promotion of community safety. The authors’ use of
the concept of social capital to justify less use of custodial sentences and more use of community
justice, represents a determined attempt to focus on individual agency in such a way as to include
an argument for the necessity of support for offenders from social institutions. One concern here,
which is not dealt with by the authors, is that social institutions such as the education system
have often already failed the offender.
The book draws on a body of research that engages with concepts of change delivered through
supportive interventions that respect and foster the offender’s personal agency and refl exivity. McNeill
and Whyte indicate that successful interventions rest on a balance between responsibilization and
tolerance which is matched to individual need, and that investing meaningfully in the person results
in the individual acquiring something to lose and can work to reduce offending behaviour. Un-
doubtedly adaptations to practice may need to be made as a result of changing social and political
contexts and shifting public sensibilities. However, the authors welcome the clear and stated purpose
of intervention as outlined in National Offender Standards and a move towards active collaboration
for partnership working. While this book deals with the Scottish system, it provides a great deal of
material on the reduction of offending behaviour that is useful to refl ect on in any jurisdictional
setting. The emphasis on social need and the care agenda in the face of a risk agenda is especially
welcome.
Reference
Kilbrandon Committee (1964) Report on Children and Young Persons. Edinburgh: HMSO.
M. Stephenson, H. Giller and S. Brown, Effective Practice in Youth Justice, Willan
Publishing, Cullompton, 2007, £19.50 Pb, ISBN 978–1-84392–286–5.
Reviewed by: Dr Stephen Case, Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology,
Swansea University, UK.
In Effective Practice in Youth Justice, Stephenson et al. have produced a text predominantly targeted
at UK-based practitioners taking youth justice practice courses with the Open University. The book
consists of updated versions of a series of manuals on ‘effective practice’ produced for the Youth
Justice Board by authors unconnected with the current text. The resultant chapters are intended to
use as ‘a summary of relevant research evidence to be fi ltered through the professional judgement of
those working in youth justice’ (p. xvii).
The text is divided into four distinct thematic sections that encompass the Youth Justice Board’s
‘Key Elements of Effective Practice’ (the ‘KEEPs’) for youth justice practitioners:
• An introductory chapter focusing upon evidence-based and effective practice which sets the
context for the rest of the book;
• Part one – a set of four chapters dealing with assessment, planning and the accessing of main-
stream services, including chapters on assessment, planning interventions and supervision,
education, training and employment, mental health and substance misuse;
• Part two – four thematic sections looking at predominantly preventative interventions, including
targeted neighbourhood prevention programmes, parenting, restorative justice and mentoring;
• Part three – three chapters outlining and evaluating more intensive intervention activity focused
upon offending behaviour programmes, Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes and
custody and resettlement.
To continue reading
Request your trial