Book review

Title: Youth justice in practice - making a difference
Author: Bill Whyte
Year: 2008
Edition: 1
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 9781861348395
Price: £16.99

Reviewer: Kay Wall, Lecturer in Social Work, North East Worcestershire College
Review date: 29/01/2009

Table of contents and more information 

This book provides a contemporary critique of the political response to children and young people who offend. It takes the reader on a journey; setting the issue of youth justice in an international context before embarking on a discussion of current debates of effective approaches, and providing a comprehensive plan for future responses. It is grounded fully in research from a wide range of sources but, more importantly, does not provide ‘simple solutions’ to a complex area. It therefore engages the reader in thoughtful reflection.

This book provides an excellent overview for those students interested in this area. It could therefore prove a useful text across a number of disciplines, including social policy, psychology, social welfare, criminology or social work. It particularly attracts those students with a developed skill of critical analysis. I was particularly impressed by the way in which young people were firmly discussed within the realm of children’s services, coupled with sociological and psychological discourses to ‘unpick’ the complexities of predicting offending behaviour and responding to it.

Linked reading was appropriately placed within a social justice context. At times, chapters appeared a little repetitive in the messages conveyed, for example separate chapters on ‘principles of effective practice’ and ‘effective responses to youth crime’. However, for someone new to this topic, the key concepts could be said to be reinforced throughout. In addition to students, in my opinion, this text would be a useful resource to youth justice practitioners. I felt that the research findings included could provide a useful basis on which to support points made in, for example, pre-sentence reports. This would enable practitioners to reinforce the message to sentencers that there are no ‘quick fix’ solutions to young people’s offending behaviour, in particular if interventions are poorly resourced or separated from wider community and societal issues such as poverty, poor educational provision, lack of employment or other life opportunities.

‘Best practice’ principles are set out clearly, which complement current thinking regarding integrated services, common assessment frameworks, and in this area, links to adult services dealing with people who offend. There is also an interesting section on ‘corporate safeguarding’ that would provide a useful reflection for Children’s Services workers. Other international perspectives are provided within a European context as well as perspectives from the United States of America and Canada, which clearly underpin current initiatives within the youth justice system.

I therefore intend to use this book to complement studies on both a research and social policy perspective. Moreover, it will be used as a reference point for work in practice within the youth justice context. If readers are inspired by this book, they may find the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies provides an ongoing medium which will enhance and debate themes raised within this text (www.crimeandjustice.org.uk).