Book Review: Young Offenders: Law, Policy and Practice
| Author | Ann Grady |
| Published date | 01 April 2002 |
| Date | 01 April 2002 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/147322540200200109 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
discussion. This is an approach that seems particularly worthwhile in respect of ethnic minority
groups and groups, such as women sex workers, who may be deeply suspicious of formal
agencies.
While only a reviewer is likely to read these reports in sequence and from cover to cover,
they are all accessible, and all contain stimulating ideas as well as useful information. They will
be a valuable resource.
Caroline Ball, Kevin McCormack and Nigel Stone, Young Offenders: Law, Policy
and Practice, Sweet & Maxwell, London, 2001, £60 Hb, 0 421 657 103.
Reviewed by: Ann Grady, School of Law, University of Birmingham.
The text by Ball et al. will appeal to a broad audience from practitioners to students. It has a
clear structure and extensive content, although there is scope for the table of contents to be
more detailed. The text is factual and exacting, and proves to be an informative reference to
the law relating to all issues surrounding young offenders. Although the authors themselves
note that the text is not intended to deal with broad criminological or social policy issues
relating to youth justice, they do hope to adequately include wider issues of criminal justice
and demonstrate their application to young offenders, and this they do well. For example, of
interest to me was the chapter on young offenders and the police. Ball et al. successfully outline
concerns about general police practices such as stop and search, the role of the custody officer,
and appropriate adults, before highlighting the particular regulations and problems affecting
young people. Yes, there is often opportunity to say more, but this would have created more
voluminous and perhaps even cumbersome text. As it is, the book is a quick reference guide
suitable for professionals, but with enough substance to make it a valuable academic text.
Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Young Homeless People, Macmillan Press, Basingstoke,
2000, 0 333 77334 9 Hb.
Reviewed by: Katherine S. Williams, Department of Law, University of Wales,
Aberystwyth.
Young Homeless People is a disturbing book in that it tackles a disquieting subject: the plight of
homeless young people in Glasgow. It does this in an exhaustive manner so uncovering many
aspects of homelessness often ignored in other texts. Firstly, it explores the experiences of the
youths, their motivations and decision-making and how these impact both on the initial
experience of homelessness and on its resolution or continuation. It also studies the effects of
their experience of homelessness on other social problems. Secondly, it analyses and assesses
the local structural problems such as housing provision, poverty and unemployment as factors
that contribute to its occurrence. Thirdly, in covering each of these it compares the situation,
choices and experiences faced by both young males and young females and so investigates
gender differences within the area of youth homelessness in Glasgow. Fourthly, it includes at
least a limited concept of ‘hidden’homelessness (often experienced as insecure accommodation
-moving around friends and relatives or in hostels), which is not evident on the streets or
recorded in the official agencies and analyses. Finally, it analyses distinct subgroups within the
homeless population, maps how these subgroups move through and deal with their experience,
and critically evaluates local policy and practice. In this last section it draws on best practice
to make key policy suggestions for dealing with this disturbing problem, in particular calling
on holistic approaches which deal not only with the problem of homelessness but also offer
help in addressing other problems which often accompany this situation.
Book Reviews58
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