Book Reviews : Diversity in a Youth Correctional System R. B. Coates, A. D. Miller and L. E. Ohlin John Wiley & Sons Ltd, £17.60 hard- back, £10 paperback
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057902600110 |
| Date | 01 March 1979 |
| Published date | 01 March 1979 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
33
Diversity
in
a
Youth
Correctional
System
R.
B.
Coates,
A.
D.
Miller
and
L.
E.
Ohlin
John
Wiley
&
Sons
Ltd,
£17.60
hard-
back,
£10
paperback
In
the
early
1970’s
a
major
shift
away
from
the
institutionalised
detention
of
young
od’enders
was
dramatically
in-
troduced
in
Massachusetts,
USA.
Virtually
overnight
the
old
style
&dquo;training
centres&dquo;
and
secure
units
were
closed
to
be
replaced
by
smaller
units
of
group
homes,
foster-care
and
non-residential
programmes,
all
of
which
were
notionally
&dquo;community
based&dquo;.
The
whole
period
of
the
re-
forms
was
extensively
monitored
by
the
Harvard
Law
School
and
this
book
is
the
third
of
a
series
of
five
volumes
which
examines
the
reforms
not
only
as
a
comprehensive
case
study
but
as
a
medium
to
explore
the
theory
and
future
direction
of
such
reforms.
Were
the
reforms
successful?
Nat-
urally
this
depends
on
how
success
is
perceived.
For
those
who
wish
to
measure
the
success
of
such
a
pro-
gramme
in
terms
of
recidivism
then
the
findings
show
that
there
was
little
change
between
the
recidivist
rates
of
the
new
system
to
that
of
the
old.
This
is
not
surprising
since
it
may
be
argued
that
the
phenomenon
of
delin-
quency
is
not
generated
solely
in
the
youth
corrections
system
and
that
re-
form
in
this
direction
will
have
at
best
minimal
impact
if
there
are
not
comparable
reforms
in
other
areas.
For
those
who
look
for
success
on
a
qualitative
level,
the
evidence
pre-
sented
shows
that
the
new
programmes
succeeded
in
the
key
aim
of
human-
ising
the
process
of
handling
youths
in
trouble.
Furthermore
the
research
indicates
that
this
had
a
resultant
effect
upon
the
youths
in
terms
of
improved
self-image
and
perceptions
of
others.
In
the
long
term,
however,
these
gains
were
not
sustained,
point-
ing
to
a
failure
to
provide
follow-up
work
with
the
youths
in
their
normal
living
situations.
Such
findings
would
tend
to
indicate
that
it
is
relatively
easy
to
take
kids
out
of
institutions
and
place
them
&dquo;in
the
community&dquo;.
However,
this
can
easily
be
a
cos-
metic
operation,
unless
the
quality
of
relationships
established
are
sufficient
to
link
youths
in
constructive
ways
to
community
resources.
This
book
pro-
vides
plenty
of
useful
background
in-
formation
for
this
country
at
a
time
when
we
are
debating
the
issue
of
young
cnenders
and
the
government
green
paper.
DAVID
MIDDLETON
The
Journal
of
Social
Welfare
Law
Sweet
and
Maxwell,
November
1978,
£14
Annually
Those
whose
professional
duties
in-
clude
trying
to
read
as
much
as
pos-
sible
of
what
is
published
in
their
subject
area
will
probably
groan
at
the
arrival
of
yet
another
learned
journal.
It
could
be
argued
that
the
kind
of
articles
and
reviews
published
here
could
be
placed
in
existing
jour-
nals-but
the
frontiers
of
law
and
social
work
overlap
and
in
recent
years
there
has
developed
a
central
interest
where
the
two
professions
meet
across
a
common
client.
The
differing
perspectives
of
lawyer
and
social
worker
have
led
to
some
interesting
developments
with
&dquo;trad-
itional&dquo;
lawyers
having
a
good
deal
in
common
with
&dquo;radical&dquo;
social
workers.
This
is
well
illustrated
in
David
May’s
article
on
the
Scottish
Children’s
Hearing
System
which
he
sees
as
conservative
in
conception
and
consequence
and
in
line
with
juvenile
justice
systems
in
most
west-
ern
countries.
Lawyers
relying
on
rights
and
safeguards
of
legal
pro-
cesses
think
they
can
get
a
better
deal
for
clients
than
social
workers
whose
intervention
is
sometimes
a
threat
to
personal
freedom.
These
issues
will
be
a
great
interest
to
probation
offic-
ers
who
are
daily
involved
in
such
situation3,
but
they
are
the
concern
of
all
social
workers
operating
statu-
tory
services.
The
antecedents
of
the
journal’s
editorial
board
are
impressive,
with
well
known
names
from
law
and
soc-
ial
work.
This
should
ensure
that
the
quality
of
contributions
will
be
of
the
level
of
the
first
issue.
The
price
will
probably
limit
individual
subscribers
(and
it
is
not
clear
from
the
first
issue
whether
it
will
be
published
monthly
or
quarterly),
but
practitioners
in
the
common
ground
it
has
identified
will
find
it
useful
and
convenient.
HUW
REES
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