Book Review: Understanding Law
| Author | W. T. Westling |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587400700407 |
| Published date | 01 December 1974 |
| Date | 01 December 1974 |
AUST.N.Z.J
.C. (1974) 7
BOOK
REVIEWS
255
Book
Reviews
Juvenile
Justice
Management.
Edited
by
Gary
B.
Adams,
Robert
M.
Carter,
John
D.
Gerletti,
Dan
G.
Pursuit,
Charles
C.
Thomas,
Illinois
U.S.A.,
1973,
642
pp
$19.75.
IN
AMERICA
some
40,000
law
enforcenlent
agencies,
probation
and parole
departments.
correctional
institutions
and related
community-
based organisations
are
involved
with
the man-
agement
of
the
juvenile
offender.
Although there
is some
interrelation
between the components
on
an
intra-state
basis each State system
normally
functions independently and autonomously. The
editors
describe
this
as
a
"non-system"
marked
by
an
unequal
quality
of
justice,
inadequate fis-
cal,
manpower
and
training
resources, shortages
in
equipment
and
facilities
and lack
of
relevant
research and
evaluation
to
provide
some meas-
ure
of
effectiveness.
The purpose
of
this book
is
twofold.
First.
to
explore
methods
of
effecting
change and devel-
oping a
blueprint
for
a
system
which
terminates
criminal
and
juvenile
justice
provincialism
and
requires
systematic
and
co-operative
planning
by
all
agencies concerned
with
crime
and
the
criminal
and
delinquency
and the delinquent.
Second, to organise the
product
of
this
enquiry
into
a
text
for
use
in
educating
police,
probation
officers
and
other
personnel
involved
in
the
man-
agement and
correction
of
juvenile
offenders.
The
material
was
collected
under the auspices
of
grants
from
various
government
agencies and
the
University
of
California
and comprises con:
tributions
from
24
authors,
the
majority
of
whom
are
senior
members
of
the academic
staff
of
various
universities
representing
the
faculties
of
public and business
administration,
law,
sociolo-
gy and
criminology.
It
includes a
chapter
on the nature and
extent
.of
juvenile
delinquency,
and sections devoted to
organisation and
management,
planning and co-
ordination,
prevention
and management pro-
grams,
police
and
community
relations
and
re-
search and
evaluation
methods. Because
of
the
diversity
of
authorship
the
standard
of
contribu-
tions
varies
and
at
times
the topics
are
some-
what
repetitive.
The
introductory
section discusses the
nature
and
extent
of
juvenile
delinquency and appears
to accept
tacitly
the
labelling
of
all
youthful
mis-
behaviour
as
delinquent. Although the
authors
agree
that
the
ma.lority
of
offences
committed
by
juveniles
are
of
a
minor
nature,
there
is no
dIscussion
of
the
diverse
types
of
behaviour
which
might
be considered
minor
offences
or
of
the
desirability
of
excluding
sonle
of
these
acts
from
the scope
of
the
criminal
law.
On
the con-
tra
ry,
the
editors
of
the book express the
view
that
the
"protection
of
society
comes
firsf'
and
that
society
must
be
"protected"
from
the young
offender.
Many
are
labelled
as I
juvenile
offen-
ders
because
of
the
rigidity
of
the
criminal
law
but
ought to have the same
rights
of
protection
from
officiousness,
whatever
guise
it
may
adopt.
Perhaps indeed they need to be
protected
from
society and this is an aspect not considered
in
this
book.
Because
of
the
lark
of
clarity
in
describing
the
class
of
persons to whom the strategies and
methods
of
management
outlined
in this book
are
directed.
many
of
the
contributions
fail
to
crvs-
talise. lose
their
focus and
it
is
difficult
to
detpr-
mine
whether the goals and objPctives
form
a
reasonable scheme.
Despite
its
shortcomings
there
are
some valu-
able
chapters
which
are
relevant
to
Australia
and
it
is useful to
be
able to study asystenl
of
management
of
the young
offender
designed
for
this purpose ra
ther
than having to
transplant
general management theories to this spflcialisf'd
field.
The
chief
value
of
the book lies in this area and
particularly
in acknowledging and
illustrating
that nlethods
of
management
can, and ought. to
be
incorporated·
into
the system
of
justice
and
correction.
The management methods suggested could
merely
supplant adisorganised
"non-system"
for
a
highly
structured
bureaucracy.
My
reserva-
tion is that this is
an
undesirable
feature
if
its,
consequence is the
sacrifice
of
the
individual
for
the benefi tof the organisation.
Drucker
has re-
rparked that each
member
of
an
organisation
must
pull in ttie same
direction
and
"their
contri-·
butions must
fit
together to produce awhole -
without
gaps,
without
friction,
without
unneces-
sary
duplicafionof
effort".
"Management"
emerges
from
this book
as
inculcating
amethod
of
control
with
little
recognition
of
the need
for
self-control
and
determination
in the
client.
LYNNE
FOREMAN
Criminology
Department,
Melbourne
iJniversi
ty.
Understanding
Law,
by
Richard
Chisholm· and·
Garth
Nettheim,
Butterworths,
1974,
107
pp.,
$2.00
THIS
witty,
informative
and
immensely
read-
able
little
book should be placed
on
the reading
list
of
all
non-lawyers
on
the
periphery
of
law
in
Australia.
The authors, both
lawyers
on
the
staff
at.
the
University
of
New
South Wales
Law
School, have managed the
difficult
task
of
com-
municating
in
simple,
·lay
terms,
some
of
the
bases
underlying
our
legal system, and some
of
the
intricacies
within
it.
The
resulting
demysti-
fica
tion
of
the
law,
the
legal
profession and the
impact
of
these on the
lives
of
every
citizen
is
the
obvious goal
of
this
work,
and
it
succeeds
admi-
rably.
An
example
of
the ease
wi
th
which
the authors
have conveyed
their
message is the
chapter
on
case law.
Starting
with
an
imaginary
case, then
moving
to a
real
case, and concluding
with
an
invitation
for
the
reader
himself
"to
be
the
judge",
they
have
captured
the essence
Qf
the
operation
and,
at
the same
time,
have-simplified
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