‘My counsellor just came with the bail’: Perspectives of the ‘case managed’ in youth justice

For almost half a century, case management has remained the preferred method of service delivery in juvenile (and adult) corrections in Australia and other OECD countries and is widely purported to offer a supportive framework for the delivery of rehabilitative interventions. Despite its popularity, there is a dearth of research focused on case management in correctional contexts, particularly as it relates to youth justice. Given the ongoing push towards ‘evidence-based practice’ in corrections and reducing recidivism, it is paradoxical that so little is known about an approach that fundamentally defines the way correctional services are delivered. Moreover, virtually nothing is known about how case management is understood or experienced by youth justice clients, who – by virtue of being both ‘young’ and ‘offenders’ – represent a particularly disadvantaged and marginalised group in society. Their views and voices are notably absent from the public and other discourses that focus on youth justice and case management. Instead, these discourses are dominated by academics, administrators and practitioners; those who administer, fund, design, and deliver youth justice and case
management programs. In contrast, the voices of clients or ‘consumers’ – the case managed – are essentially silent. This paper challenges those dominant discourses by contributing the perspectives and voices of youth justice clients about their understanding and experiences of case management. As Foucault (1977: 209) argued: ‘It is this form of discourse which ultimately matters, a discourse against power, the counter-discourse of prisoners and those we call delinquents – and not a theory about delinquency’.