ACR302 Jasmine Awadallah

ACR302 Jasmine Awadallah

Student ID - S222006087

AT1 Literature Review

Total word count: 1,300

The Research Topic

This literature review examines the phenomenon of youth crime in Australia. The emphasis is on understanding the commonness, contributing factors, and interventions connected with juvenile offending within the Australian jurisdiction. The review envelops an expansive scope of youth crime issues, including property offences, drug-related exercises, and different forms of delinquency. The period of interest traverses the previous 10 years, allowing for the evaluation of patterns and changes over the long term. By delving into this topic, we plan to uncover insights that can inform powerful arrangements and interventions addressing youth crime in Australia (McCarthy et al., 2021).

The Research Context

Juvenile Justice System Effectiveness

The investigation into the adequacy of Australia's juvenile justice system holds crucial importance in gauging its ability to deter recidivism and effectively restore youthful offenders. By examining parts like diversion programs, rehabilitation facilities, and community interventions, the research looks to determine the system's adequacy in achieving its objectives. Central to this exploration is the appraisal of recidivism rates among youth drawn in with the justice system, differentiating those in rehabilitation programs from others (Benier et al., 2021). A similar examination helps with understanding the system's part in breaking the pattern of criminal behaviour. Case studies, quantitative data, and qualitative insights spotlight the factors contributing to fruitful rehabilitation, for example, education, therapy, family support, and community reintegration opportunities. The review's findings feature regions needing improvement as well as underscore achievements and potential upgrades, guiding evidence-based strategy choices to refine the juvenile justice system for better recidivism rates and more secure networks.

Youth Gangs and Criminal Behaviour

Exploring the dynamics of youth gangs in Australia involves an exhaustive examination of their formation, underlying motivations drawn in criminal exercises, and conceivable intervention procedures (Chow et al., 2022). This topic is of vital importance given the impact of youth gangs on community security and the more extensive social texture. Investigating their formation involves understanding the push and pull factors that bring youthful individuals into these gatherings, ranging from socio-economic conditions to a feeling of belonging. Delving into their motivations discloses the mental and sociological drivers that fuel pack involvement, like character, security, or economic gain. Scrutinizing the range of criminal exercises they participate in, from road-level viciousness to organized crime, reveals insight into their impact on both local neighbourhoods and more extensive criminal networks. Finally, examining potential interventions, ranging from community effort and mentorship to policing gives insights into ways of addressing the difficulties presented by youth gangs and relieving their hindering impacts on society (Payne and Roffey, 2020).

Risk and Protective Factors for Juvenile Delinquency

Examining the bunch of risks and protective factors shaping youth involvement in criminal behaviour within Australia envelops a complete examination of the complex influences that drive juvenile delinquency. By delving into these factors across family, peer, school, and community circles, this research looks to unwind the intricate interplay among conditions and behaviours. Family dynamics, including parenting styles, socioeconomic status, and openness to aggressive behaviour at home, essentially impact a youngster's powerlessness to criminal commitment. Peer interactions, spanning from peer strain to relationships with degenerate peers, add to shaping their behavioural decisions (van Miert et al., 2022). School-related factors, like academic achievement, truancy, and disciplinary measures, are instrumental in understanding pathways to delinquency. Community influences, ranging from neighbourhood crime rates to the accessibility of positive extracurricular exercises, additionally assume essential parts. The amalgamation of these risk factors features their aggregate impact on delinquency while unveiling potential intervention points. On the other hand, protective factors major areas of strength like support, positive peer relationships, school commitment, and community assets go about as cushions against delinquency. By systematically analyzing these influences, researchers plan to inform designated avoidance and intervention methodologies that relieve risk factors and support protective factors, fostering better formative trajectories for youthful individuals in Australia (Dellar et al., 2023).

Youth Recidivism and Rehabilitation Programs

The assessment of rehabilitation programs targeting the decrease of youth recidivism in Australia involves a far-reaching evaluation of their viability in shaping future criminal behaviour and facilitating effective cultural reintegration. By scrutinizing these results, this research tries to inform evidence-based approaches that address the steady test of recidivism among youthful offenders. Through a systematic examination of different rehabilitation interventions, ranging from counselling and education to professional training, this study expects to check their viability in deterring rehash offences. Evaluating the impact on future criminal behaviour involves tracking recidivism rates post-program finish, and exploring whether these interventions break the pattern of reoffending. Similarly crucial is the examination of reintegration processes, including business possibilities, family and community support, and admittance to social administrations, to measure the programs' ability to empower long-term cultural integration (Crofts, 2019). This research underscores the meaning of an extensive assessment of rehabilitation efforts, identifying strengths, limitations, and regions for improvement in curbing youth recidivism. The insights gathered from this examination can direct the advancement of more designated and impactful intervention techniques, accordingly contributing to the more extensive objective of fostering positive trajectories for youthful offenders in Australia's criminal justice system.

Cultural and Ethnic Disparities in Youth Crime

Investigating the influence of cultural and ethnic foundations on youth crime designs in Australia involves a fastidious examination of potential disparities in capture rates, offence types, and justice system results (Butcher et al., 2019). By delving into these dynamics, this research intends to reveal insight into whether and how cultural and ethnic factors add to differential encounters within the criminal justice system. Scrutinizing capture rates across various demographic gatherings reveals potential inclinations or discriminatory practices. Analysing offence types carried out by youth from assorted foundations offers insights into the intersections of cultural influences and criminal behaviours. Further, evaluating justice system results, including sentencing and incarceration rates, gives a nuanced understanding of potential inequities. The blend of these findings assists with pinpointing existing disparities and their underlying drivers, be they socio-economic, systemic, or cultural. By highlighting areas of concern, this research adds to the more extensive talk on social justice and prepares for evidence-based interventions that advance fair treatment and equivalent opportunities for youthful individuals from different cultural and ethnic foundations within Australia's criminal justice system (Garner, 2021).

Research Questions/ Hypothesis and Theoretical Framework

The central research question of this study is, " To what extent do restorative justice programs contribute to the reduction of recidivism among young offenders in the Australian context?" This question coordinates the concentration towards assessing the viability of restorative justice initiatives in addressing recidivism rates among youthful individuals involved in criminal exercises. Restorative justice underlines repairing harm brought about by criminal behaviour, fostering community involvement, and facilitating offender responsibility.

The picked theoretical framework guiding this research is Social Control Theory. This theory sets that individuals are persuaded to conform to cultural norms and rules because of their connections to life partners, the level of obligation to customary exercises, their faith in the authenticity of cultural norms, and the expense of abnormality (Cherney et al., 2021). The arrangement between social control theory and the restorative justice approach lies in their common accentuation on social bonds and reintegration. Restorative justice programs try to fix social harm by involving partners in the goal cycle, accordingly reinforcing an individual's connections to community values and norms.

This arrangement is especially pertinent to the research question as it gives a focal point to understanding what restorative justice programs can positively mean for recidivism rates. By encouraging offenders to effectively draw in with casualties, families, and the more extensive community, restorative justice initiatives work with the rebuilding of social security, potentially deterring future criminal behaviour. This theoretical framework offers a far-reaching viewpoint to explore the degree to which restorative justice programs successfully address recidivism among youthful offenders within the Australian setting, shedding light on their potential to add to a more secure and more rehabilitative criminal justice system (Cherney et al., 2022).

Reference List

Benier, K., Wickes, R. and Moran, C., 2021. African gangs in Australia: Perceptions of race and crime in urban neighbourhoods.Journal of Criminology,54(2), pp.220-238.

Butcher, L., Day, A., Miles, D. and Kidd, G., 2019. A comparative analysis of the risk profiles of Australian young offenders from rural and urban communities.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology,63(14), pp.2483-2500.

Cherney, A., Belton, E., Norham, S.A.B. and Milts, J., 2022. Understanding youth radicalisation: an analysis of Australian data.Behavioral sciences of terrorism and political aggression,14(2), pp.97-119.

Cherney, A., Putra, I.E., Putera, V.S., Erikha, F. and Magrie, M.F., 2021. The push and pull of radicalization and extremist disengagement: The application of criminological theory to Indonesian and Australian cases of radicalization.Journal of Criminology,54(4), pp.407-424.

Chow, J.C., Wallace, E.S., Senter, R., Kumm, S. and Mason, C.Q., 2022. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the language skills of youth offenders.Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research,65(3), pp.1166-1182.

Crofts, T., 2019. Will Australia raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility?.Criminal Law Journal,43(1), pp.26-40.

Dellar, K., Roberts, L., Bullen, J., Downe, K. and Kane, R., 2023. Validation of the YLS/CMI on an Australian Juvenile Offending Population.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology,67(8), pp.861-883.

Garner, J., 2021. Exploring Juvenile Justice Facility Library Provision in Australia and South Carolina, USA. InExploring the Roles and Practices of Libraries in Prisons: International Perspectives(Vol. 49, pp. 157-181). Emerald Publishing Limited.

McCarthy, M., Homel, J., Ogilvie, J. and Allard, T., 2021. Initial impacts of COVID-19 on youth offending: An exploration of differences across communities.Journal of Criminology,54(3), pp.323-343.

Payne, J.L. and Roffey, N., 2020. Youth crime as a way of life? Prevalence and criminal career correlates among a sample of juvenile detainees in Australia.Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology,53(4), pp.460-476.

van Miert, V.S., Dekker, A.L., van der Helm, P. and Robinson, M., 2022. Young peoples perception of group climate in juvenile justice centers in an Australian state, a pilot study.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology,66(8), pp.856-875.