'An effective interweaving of complex theory with mainstream concepts. Overall an excellent book for use in Australian universities teaching criminology/social work.' Dr Jane Bolitho, Lecturer, Criminology and Social Sciences, UNSW The concept of community justice - of engaging with offenders within the community - offers an important new approach to the prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of offenders. Community Justice in Australia is the first text to consider how this concept can be successfully applied within Australia by social workers, criminologists, parole officers, police and anyone working with both adult and youth offenders. Brian Stout begins by defining community justice and outlining its successes in the United Kingdom and the United States. He then explains theories of offending behaviour, considers relevant Australian legislation, policy and common intervention strategies, and considers the implications of community justice approaches for both adult and juvenile offenders. Restorative justice is also examined and contrasted. The book's second half details practice issues including working in community justice organisations, the use of technology, and the need for community justice workers to co-create long-term change with their clients. The importance of risk management and protection of the public is explored together with a comprehensive guide to practice skills and working with involuntary clients. Each chapter also contains a detailed analysis of the implications and potential benefits of a community justice approach for culturally diverse groups and Indigenous people.

This new edition of Community Justice in Australia expands on the discussion of how people who have committed offences can be engaged in the community. It considers how the concept of community justice can be successfully applied within Australia by social workers, criminologists, parole officers and anyone working in the community with both adults and young people. The book defines community justice and applies the concept to the Australian context. It then explains theories of offending behaviour, considers relevant Australian legislation, policy and intervention strategies and examines the implications for both young people and adults. Restorative justice is also discussed. The latter part of the book focuses on practical issues including working in community justice organisations, technology, public protection and desistance approaches. Each chapter contains an engagement with the implications of community justice approaches for Indigenous groups and features reflective questions, practical tasks and guidance for further reading. This accessible and practical book will be indispensable for instructors, students and practitioners working in the community with people who have committed offences.

This book examines the phenomenon of Community Justice Centres and their potential to transform the justice landscape by tackling the underlying causes of crime. Marred by recidivism, addiction, family violence, overflowing courtrooms, crippling prison spending and extreme rates of incarceration, the criminal justice system is in crisis. Community Justice Centres seek to combat this by tackling the underlying causes of crime in a particular neighbourhood and working with local people to redesign the experience of justice and enhance the notion of community. A Community Justice Centre houses a court which works with an interdisciplinary team to address the causes of criminality such as drug addiction, cognitive impairment, mental illness, poverty, abuse and intergenerational trauma. The community thus becomes a key agent of change, partnering with the Centre to tackle local issues and improve safety and community cohesion. This book, based on research into this innovative justice model, examines case studies from around the world, the challenges presented by the model and the potential for bringing its learnings into the mainstream. This book will appeal to academics in law and criminology as well as psychology; it will also be of considerable interest to people working in the criminal justice system, including the police, government policy advisers, psychologists and social workers.

Provides a complete overview of the criminal justice process. It analyses the influences that shape criminal justice and examines the institutional and administrative features of its operation in all jurisdictions. Findlay, University of Sydney, Australia.

How much crime is committed in Australia? What sort of crime, where and by whom? What can we do to stop it? This book deals in facts and dispels myths. Don Weatherburn, Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, shows how policies are driven by the political need to manage public reactions, not to control and prevent crime. Law and Order in Australia informs public debate about crime in Australia by contrasting popular assumptions about crime and crime control with what is actually known to be true. The opening chapter sets the scene by asking how serious Australia's crime problems are. Weatherburn then offers a critique of the way Australian governments attempt to deal with Australia's crime problems. This is followed by the foundations for a discussion of what actually works in crime prevention and control by highlighting some basic facts about crime and offenders. The final chapters discuss what the evidence reveals about crime prevention and control and the key issues in crime prevention and control in Australia. Weatherburn clearly provides numerous ideas for better policies, ones that will actually work.

For more than 40 years, Professor Peter Norden has worked in a variety of roles within the Australian criminal justice system. These include his years as Catholic Chaplain to the Victorian Prison system including Pentridge Prison (1985-1992) and as Convenor of the Victorian Criminal Justice Coalition (1992-2008). 'Seeking Justice' reflects on this rich and diverse journey, providing reflections on decades of front-line work and advocacy. As one of the six reviewers of the book, Melbourne Barrister, Julian McMahon AC QC, renowned death row defence Counsel for Australians awaiting execution in our Asian region notes: 'Peter Norden has drawn a remarkable portrait of an era: of jails, executions, police killings, prisoners lost in their cells, brutality, survival and hope'.'Seeking Justice' is an extensive volume of 450 pages, and covers such historic personalities as Bill O'Meally, the last man flogged by the State in Australia, and Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged by the State in Australia. Norden describes the crisis surrounding the infamous death of the Jika Jika Five in a protest fire within Pentridge in 1987, and details hitherto unreported from the Walsh Street murder trial following the execution killing of the two young Police Officers in Walsh Street, South Yarra in 1988. But Seeking Justice does much more: it points to an alternative model of restorative justice that could be implemented to secure a more secure and safer society in Australia in coming decades. Such a model would address the current international scandal of the mass incarceration of Indigenous Australians. It would set a new direction for the Australian criminal justice system founded on evidence, and not on a misguided model based on our past as a penal settlement. Peter Norden is well placed to call for our political leaders to explore new paths in pursuit of true justice and greater community safety in Australia today.

This book provides an introduction to the main concepts and issues in juvenile justice in Australia, and provides a consolidated overview of the dynamics of youth crime and the institutions of social control. This book will be of particular interest to criminology and law students.