Unnecessary and disproportionate: the outcomes of remand for indigenous young people according to service providers
| Pages | 141-156 |
| Published date | 20 June 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-04-2015-0016 |
| Date | 20 June 2016 |
| Author | Brenna Mathieson,Angela Dwyer |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services |
Unnecessary and disproportionate: the
outcomes of remand for indigenous young
people according to service providers
Brenna Mathieson and Angela Dwyer
Brenna Mathieson is based at
the School of Justice, Faculty of
Law, Queensland University of
Technology, Brisbane,
Australia.
Angela Dwyer is based at the
School of Social Science,
Faculty of Arts, University of
Tasmania,Hobart, Australia and
School of Justice, Faculty of
Law, Queensland University of
Technology,Brisbane, Australia.
Abstract
Purpose –While research often elaborates on outcomes of youth remand more broadly, the specific impact
that remand has on indigenous young people can be overlooked, particularly in Australia. The paper aims to
discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach–This paper analyses interview data gathered from eight individual service
providers from six community youth organisations in a city in Queensland, Australia.
Findings –Participantsreported the specific effectsof remand for indigenous youngpeople and their families,
noting especiallythe negative impact on the youngpeople’s emotional, socialand psychological development.
Originality/value –Results strongly suggest there is a blurring of the welfare and justice systems inherent
within remand processes with indigenous young people, with remand employed so frequently that it has itself
become a form of social support.
Keywords Indigenous, Young people, Welfare, Criminal justice, Remand
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The pre-trial detention of young people[1] is of major concern internationally and has been
subject to much debate (Shaw, 2008; Goldson, 2011). While internationally many countries are
experiencing consistent and significant decreases in their pre-trial detention of young people
(Ericson and Vinson, 2010), Australia continues to attract criticism as one of a few Western
developed nations where pre-trial detention populations continue to rise (Ericson and
Vinson, 2010; Richards and Lyneham, 2010). Pre-trial detention is known as remand in Australia
and refers to detaining people in detention before guilt or innocence has been determined
(Mazerolle and Sanderson, 2008). Young people are detained before they have been sentenced,
either when charged by police or at their first or subsequent court hearings (Richards and
Renshaw, 2013). This is a key concern because research shows that young people remanded
are more likely to be sentenced to detention than those bailed and some remanded young
people are unlikely to be sentenced to detention (Richards and Renshaw, 2013; Smith and
Utting, 2011). This is a serious social problem “because if the young person’s (alleged) offending
is not serious enough to justify a sentence of detention, they should not be deemed risky enough
to detain on custodial remand”(Richards and Renshaw, 2013, p. 24).
Indigenous young people are currently hugely overrepresented in youth detention populations in
Australia (Richards and Lyneham, 2010). They comprise only 5 per cent of young people aged
10-17 years (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2014) and although there is
Received 20 April 2015
Revised 30 October 2015
Accepted 11 December 2015
DOI 10.1108/JCS-04-2015-0016 VOL. 11 NO. 2 2016, pp. 141-156, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
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relative little difference between the proportions of indigenous and non-indigenous young people
being remanded, “Indigenous young people have remained more than 20 times more likely to be
on custodial remand compared with the rate for non-indigenous young people”(Richards and
Renshaw, 2013, p. 13). Whilst studies highlight the problematic outcomes of remand (Willis,
2008; Kinner, 2006; Dawes, 2008), only one project has examined youth remand across
Australia (Richards and Renshaw, 2013) and only one project has investigated remand
specifically in Queensland (Mazerolle and Sanderson, 2008). Although indigenous young people
are significantly overrepresented in remand, no research has focused specifically on exploring the
impact of remand on them.
This paper presents an analysis of interview data collected from non-government, community
based service providers in a Queensland city about their understandings of the impact of remand
on indigenous young people. First, it examines existing evidence, arguing that the specific impact
of remand on indigenous young people has been overlooked. Second, it outlines an alternative
theoretical framework using the concepts of intersectionality (Davis, 2008), enabling an account
of the impact of remand in terms of Indigeneity, gender, social class and hyperincarceration, thus
allowing an exploration of how Indigeneity, gender and class relate to the mass imprisonment of
this group. Third, it presents an intersectional analysis of the interview data because participants
emphasised the outcomes of remand as the intersection between different forms of harm. Finally,
the paper makes suggestions for future research.
While Queensland, Australia might seem a significantly localised context for this study, this is a
timely study. The United Nations is very focused on remand and many amendments have been
made to youth justice legislation in countries the world over to ensure that young people are
separated from adults and only held for short periods (Ericson and Vinson, 2010). In direct
contravention of these expectations, Queensland has removed the principle of detention as a last
resort and has defunded programmes that would typically enable more effective community
supervision (O’Leary, 2014). This means that Queensland has fewer options for young people to
be supervised in the community, something which has led to more young people across Australia
being remanded into custody for their own good (Richards and Renshaw, 2013). Queensland
now also has the highest level of overrepresentation of indigenous young people of all Australian
youth justice systems (AIHW, 2014). Most importantly, “since 2007 Queensland has had a
consistently higher proportion of young people on custodial remand (approximately two-thirds)
than the other jurisdictions”(Richards and Renshaw, 2013, p. 13), and has more than 80 per cent
of young people in detention unsentenced (AIHW, 2014). Currently, indigenous young people on
remand in Queensland comprise around 50 per cent of the 10-16 year olds held (Quixley, 2008),
they are 18 times more likely than non-indigenous young people to be remanded, and are
detained for longer than other groups of young people than in any other Australian state (Richards
and Renshaw, 2013). In these circumstances, they are especially disadvantaged given that
research demonstrates the overall criminogenic effect of any period in detention for young people
(Quixley, 2008). Whilst the reasoning behind the severity of remand rates for indigenous young
people is unclear, a Tasmanian review has proposed some suggestions regarding length of stays
and high remand rates generally. Tresidder and Putt (2005) found that young people’s cases are
adjourned for lengthy periods for further investigation, information exchange, and to gain better
legal representation. Furthermore, they noted that high remand rates are likely a result of recidivist
young offenders, a lack of adequate bail services and a dearth of emergency accommodation.
Young remandees were also noted to favour remand, preferring to start serving their anticipated
sentence rather than delaying it (Tresidder and Putt, 2005).
Why is remanding indigenous young people an issue?
There is limited international research on the effects of remand but available studies note the
consequence of mass incarceration or hyperincarceration of offenders as increased recidivism
rates, difficulti es in community reintegra tion, disconnection fro m family and community and a
disillusion with authority (Garland, 2007; Orrick and Vieriatis, 2014). Statistics on pre-trial
remand in Australi an youth detention centres s how that out of the total young peo ple on
pre-trial remand in the period 2012-2013, indigenous young people spent two weeks longer
in custody than non-indigenous ones. They spent anywhere between 15 and 90 nights in
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