TY - JOUR
T1 - Sentencing of adolescent offenders in Victoria: a review of empirical evidence and practice
AU - Chu, Chi Meng
AU - Ogloff, James Robert
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The contemporary juvenile justice system faces the challenge of balancing rehabilitation
for developing adolescents, as well as providing deterrence and ensuring public safety in
the face of crimes committed by young people. However, there are provisions for the
older adolescent offenders to be prosecuted in the adult court, as well as those
adolescents who commit serious offences. Some scholars are concerned that these
transfers to adult courts do not adequately consider the developmental needs of the
adolescent offenders, hence depriving them of the protective mechanisms and
rehabilitative possibilities provided by the juvenile justice system. This paper will
examine whether the relevant Victorian legislation and legal practices are consistent
with the available science; in particular, the paper will consider the assumptions that
sentencing laws make about adolescent offenders in the context of the existing literature
on adolescent development and treatment amenability. In line with the empirical
evidence, changes are suggested to current practices for juvenile transfer cases, and
further collaborations between legal, research, and mental health agencies are clearly
needed to enhance the state of science and practice in this area. The implications of these
suggestions and the roles of the mental health professionals are also discussed.
AB - The contemporary juvenile justice system faces the challenge of balancing rehabilitation
for developing adolescents, as well as providing deterrence and ensuring public safety in
the face of crimes committed by young people. However, there are provisions for the
older adolescent offenders to be prosecuted in the adult court, as well as those
adolescents who commit serious offences. Some scholars are concerned that these
transfers to adult courts do not adequately consider the developmental needs of the
adolescent offenders, hence depriving them of the protective mechanisms and
rehabilitative possibilities provided by the juvenile justice system. This paper will
examine whether the relevant Victorian legislation and legal practices are consistent
with the available science; in particular, the paper will consider the assumptions that
sentencing laws make about adolescent offenders in the context of the existing literature
on adolescent development and treatment amenability. In line with the empirical
evidence, changes are suggested to current practices for juvenile transfer cases, and
further collaborations between legal, research, and mental health agencies are clearly
needed to enhance the state of science and practice in this area. The implications of these
suggestions and the roles of the mental health professionals are also discussed.
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1080/13218719.2011.565716
U2 - 10.1080/13218719.2011.565716
DO - 10.1080/13218719.2011.565716
M3 - Article
SN - 1321-8719
VL - 19
SP - 325
EP - 344
JO - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
JF - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
IS - 3
ER -