Book Review: Youth Justice
| Author | James Warr |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225411420534 |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
420534YJJXXX10.1177/1473225411420534Youth Book Reviews
Youth Justice
11(3) 292 –297
Book Reviews
© The Author(s) 2011
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225411420534
yjj.sagepub.com
J Johnstone and M Burman (eds), Youth Justice, Dunedin Academic Press Ltd, Edinburgh,
2010, £14.50 Pb, ISBN 978-1-90376-591-3
Reviewed by: James Warr, Flintshire Youth Justice Service, UK.
Written in the shadow of devolution and the Criminal Justice (and Licensing) Bill, 2009
this edited volume aims to provide an account of the contemporary youth justice practices
and policies in Scotland and to consider their effectiveness in the context of a fast-moving
and expanding youth justice system. Across seven chapters the various contributors reflect
on recent developments to assess the extent to which Scotland has retained its distinctive
welfarist youth justice culture.
The first two chapters provide an informative overview of the approach to youth justice
in Scotland which is essential reading for those unfamiliar with the ethos and workings of
the Scottish Children’s Hearings System (CHS). In Chapter 1, Jenny Johnson provides an
accessible outline of the overarching youth justice structures, processes and practices,
with a useful illustrative flowchart (pp. 2−3), while in Chapter 2, Susan Batchelor and
Michelle Burman contribute a more detailed and nuanced historical account of the CHS
and its traditionally welfarist approach to youth justice. Both chapters highlight the fact
that for over 30 years the CHS has retained its commitment to the Kilbrandon principles
whereby generally all children under 16 years of age deemed to be truants, offenders, out
of parental control or lacking in parental care, are held to have a common need for special
measures adjudicated on the basis of their needs and best interests. Notwithstanding the
national pride and international interest elicited by the CHS, since devolution it...
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