Youth Justice

Prof Rachel Condry and Dr Estelle Zinsstag

The aim of this course is to provide students with a critical and advanced understanding of youth justice. The competing aims, principles, and strategies underpinning responses to offending behaviour in young people will be explored and the diverse ways in which these have influenced contemporary youth justice in the UK will be examined. In particular, the course will investigate the relationship between theory, research and policy in the shaping of youth justice policy and practice.

The course will highlight the key shifts in state responses that centre on issues of justice, welfare, prevention, risk and related policy. The course will draw closely on a wide range of data from current research in youth justice. Throughout, attention is given to the importance of understanding the connections of youth crime with race, class and gender. This course will provide an opportunity to engage with the most up-to-date debates in an area of great interest in contemporary society.