Transforming Time: A New Tool for Youth Justice
| Author | Mark Drakeford,Lee Gregory |
| Published date | 01 August 2010 |
| Date | 01 August 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225410369293 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Corresponding author:
Professor Mark Drakeford, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue,
Cardiff, CF10 3WT, Wales.
Email: Drakeford@Cardiff.ac.uk
Transforming Time: A New Tool for
Youth Justice
Mark Drakeford
Cardiff University, UK
Lee Gregory
Cardiff University, UK
Abstract
This article introduces the idea of time banks and argues for its relevance to youth justice workers. It outlines
the purpose and functions of time banks before considering three practical ways in which they can be put to
use in contemporary youth justice practice in England and Wales. The article argues that time banks offer a
new possibility for local action by youth justice workers which both improves the immediate circumstances
of users and alters the nature of services themselves.
Keywords
assets, reciprocity, timebanks, youth justice
Introduction
Since 1997 anti-social behaviour and youth crime have been at the top of the political
agenda (Pitts, 2005), accompanied by rapid changes within the youth justice system in a
self-advertised attempt to establish ‘responsibility’ in young people, their families and
working class communities. This move to establish the conditions for the ‘responsible
citizen’ have occurred alongside attempts to manage poverty and disadvantage (Muncie,
2006). In an era when troubled and troublesome young people are no longer recognized
as the same (Goldson, 2002), the purpose of youth justice has become obscured, leading
to an effort to use criminal justice measures to resolve social problems. Muncie (2004: 142)
draws on the ideas of Pitts (2001) to argue that policy now ‘seeks new disciplinary tech-
niques rather than developing a political commitment to forge new routes to an active
citizenship based on tolerance, mutual respect and entitlement’.
Pitts (2005) argues that the speed at which reforms have progressed has led to young
people charged with trivial offences being drawn into the formal criminal justice system
Youth Justice
10(2) 143–156
© The Author(s) 2010
Reprints and permission: sagepub.
co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1473225410369293
yjj.sagepub.com
To continue reading
Request your trial