Towards a New Paradigm for Positive Practice

Abstract

If the limitation of a minimalist approach was its myopic focus upon social reaction to individual young offenders, the limitation of 1960s-style ‘welfarism’ was its equally myopic concentration upon juvenile crime as pathological social action. A further limitation they shared was their reluctance to enter the real world. While minimalism found its spiritual habitat in the court, welfarism was most at home at a case conference. This refusal to address the relationship between juvenile crime, justice and broader social economic and political developments meant that both positions were victims of time and change. Being wedded to theories which only addressed one variable in the complex equation of crime, justice and victimisation, they were destined to be overtaken by events.