LCRD104 - Juvenile Justice

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

LCRM104 Juvenile Justice

Unit rationale, description and aim

Youth crime comprises a significant proportion of all crimes. It is however unlike adult crime in many ways and therefore needs separate institutions and policies that sit alongside the adult justice system. Having a knowledge and understanding of these institutions, their roles and policies, the juvenile justice system as a whole and its relationship to the adult justice system, is needed to be effective in employment contexts involving any aspect of criminal justice.

This unit begins by helping students to identify and describe the key institutions and policies in the Juvenile justice system. Students will then develop their understanding of these institutions and policies, with a particular emphasis on the ways they help to support human dignity, recognise and accommodate diversity, and promote the common good. As students progress, this unit will help them develop a broader understanding of the juvenile justice system as a whole, rather than only the component parts. This is reflected in an understanding of emerging philosophies and trends within the criminal justice system, the efficacy of particular component parts as well as their co-dependencies on other parts.

The aim of this unit is to develop students' knowledge and understanding of the institutions, roles and policies of the Juvenile justice system, with a focus on Australia.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include:

• Introduction to juvenile justice
• Theories of juvenile crime
• Contemporary social context of juvenile crime
• Key institutions in juvenile justice
• Class and juvenile justice.
• Indigenous youth
• Ethnic minorities
• Gender issues
• Policing of young people
• Sentencing and institutional responses
• Prevention of youth crime
• Restorative justice and conferencing

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit will be delivered using a combination of lectures and workshops. Other study components might include on-line webinars, podcasts, readings, discussion forums etc. The balance of the hours is comprised of self-directed study.

This unit begins by introducing students to the key institutions and roles of the juvenile justice system in Australia. This is the basic knowledge of the system students need. It then helps students to develop their understanding of these institutions and their policies. When doing this, particular emphasis will be placed on examining the ways they help to support human dignity, recognise and accommodate diversity, promote the common good, and the need for a sustainable environment. In the later parts of the unit, the different institutions and roles of the criminal justice system are viewed more as a system of complimentary parts, operating through the application of different philosophies. As a consequence, students will develop their understanding of trends in the juvenile justice system, and emerging philosophies.

Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.

Assessment strategy and rationale

This unit has three assessments: a multiple-choice / short answer exam, a research essay, and a report. 

The assessment tasks have been explicitly created to address the identified learning outcomes for this unit (assessment of learning) and designed to allow students to learn about juvenile justice as required by professionals working in the field of criminology

1. Multiple-choice / short answer exam: students will be required to complete a short multiple-choice exam covering the first few weeks of course content. This assessment will require students to identify key terms and meanings relating to key concepts presented in the unit.
2. Research essay: this assessment requires students to critically evaluate one contemporary approach to policing and its impact on outcomes for crime and the community. The research essay will allow students to engage in the policing literature more broadly and demonstrate an understanding of policing strategies and evidence.
3. Report: the third assessment task involves students explaining the ways in which the juvenile justice system as a whole works in ways that aim to reintegrate offenders and reduce recidivism. When doing this, students would include consideration of the different and emerging philosophies operating within the system. 

Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Carrington, K., & Pereira, M. (2009). Offending youth: sex, crime and justice. Federation Press.

Cunneen, C., & White, R. (2015). Juvenile justice: Youth and crime in Australia (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Edberg, M., Fang, X., Florence, C. S., & Rosenfeld, R. (Eds.). (2013). Economics and youth violence: crime, disadvantage, and community. New York University Press.

Hoge, R. D. (2012). The juvenile offender: theory, research and applications (Vol. 5). Springer Science & Business Media.

Muncie, J. (2021). Youth and Crime (5th ed.). Sage Publications Ltd.

Pitts, J. (2001). The new politics of youth crime: discipline or solidarity? Palgrave. 

Roush, D. W. (2019). Recalibrating juvenile detention: lessons learned from the court-ordered reform of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acu/detail.action?docID=5683697

Sanders, B. (2005). Youth crime and youth culture in the inner city. Taylor & Francis Group. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acu/detail.action?docID=201224  

Whitehead, J., & Lab, S, (2018). Juvenile justice: an introduction (9th ed.). Routledge.