Managing Youth Justice Systems

Abstract

Chapter 3 summarised an understanding of systems management in the youth justice field, and suggested some important modifications to that approach. This chapter now moves on to consider the contemporary application of such techniques in practice, providing a detailed discussion of the implementation of effective systems management strategies at the different points at which significant decisions come to be made about young people in their contact with the criminal justice agencies. These are the points at which the different interest and power groups within the system combine in different formations and where the opportunity to shape the behaviour of systems rises most accessibly to the surface. The discussion here is set out around the following key decision points within the youth justice system:

• At the police station

• Pre-court diversion\

• Bail

• Remand

• Preparing pre sentence reports

• Supervision and breach

• Custody and post-custodial work