RT Article
T1 Police decision-making with young offenders: Examining barriers to the use of diversion options
JF The Australian and New Zealand journal of criminology
VO 53
IS 1
SP 137
OP 154
A1 Green, Rachael
A2 MacLean, Sarah 1978-
A2 Bryant, Joanne
A2 Gray, Rebecca M.
A2 Rance, Jake
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1782039953
AB Youth justice policies in Australia feature an overall welfare-oriented approach and an emphasis on diverting young people away from the justice system. Nevertheless, some young people, particularly those with complex needs, are incarcerated at a young age and are at greater risk of poor outcomes. This paper explores barriers to the use of diversion options by police through analysis of in-depth interviews with 25 police staff. Consistent with the previous literature, role constraints, workload and lack of specialist knowledge were discussed. This paper explores the interplay of these factors with values, beliefs and expectations about young offenders - many of which were framed by experiences of adversarial encounters with young people and damaged faith in the system to rehabilitate. Naturalistic decision-making scholarship is drawn on to identify the potential role of ‘schemas’ in police use of discretion and of practical strategies that may support welfare and rehabilitation-oriented police practice with young people.
K1 Discretion
K1 Diversion
K1 Naturalistic decision-making
K1 Policing
K1 Young People
DO 10.1177/0004865819879736