Youth Justice and Crime | System and Theories

Running head: YOUTH JUSTICE AND CRIME
YOUTH JUSTICE AND CRIME
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

Introduction
Indigenous people can be described as the native people of a country who have been
residing in the country even before any development happened. They are the original and
earliest inhabitants known in a country. In Australia the indigenous community has inhabited
for almost 60000 years, even before the British Colonization happened in the territory. The
youths of the indigenous population in the Australian territories are seen as facing lot of
challenges (Cunneen & Porter, 2017). The most pressing challenge of them is their
inclination towards criminal activities. As the indigenous youths are more inclined towards
crime from a very young age therefore, the retention rate for the aboriginal youths in the
Australian prisons is significantly higher than the retention rate among the non-indigenous
youths. Although in the Australian justice system practices the both the rehabilitative and
restorative justice models of punishment, yet the prison overrepresentation is one of the major
issues faced by the country in the recent times. This paper aims to analyse in detail the reason
for such overpopulation in the Australian prisons among the indigenous youths. In context to
this the paper will discuss about the theories that can best describe the reason for such deviant
behaviours among the youth. The paper will primarily focus on the anomie theory, cultural
theory, and the lifestyle theory.
Criminal Justice system and related theories
The primary focus in the Australian criminal justice system is the delivery of justice
against the offenders committing criminal activities. The criminal justice system primarily
maintains law and control in the Australian society and safeguards the fundamental human
rights of individuals. The Australian criminal justice system also focusses on providing the

offenders with the scope of getting back to the society by the help of restorative and
rehabilitative justice.
The rehabilitative justice follows the utilitarian theories of punishment. The main
supporters of the utilitarian theories propose that crime is committed by the offenders as they
anticipate pleasure and are deterred from criminal activities by fearing pain. The utilitarian
theory of punishment suggests that the offenders should be punished for deterring them from
committing crimes or taking part in any sort of activities in the future that can be considered
as criminal. Rehabilitation can be categorized as punishments that have been incorporated for
the determination of the impending demeanour of the convicts. In the criminal theory based
on utilitarianism rehabilitation is deliberated as the best favoured system of justice for the
reason that by way of this kind of sentencing an offender gets a chance for recovering from
being felonious and in continuance is also provided with the prospect of becoming a
reputable person in the society. The foremost resolution of the theory of rehabilitation is that
by the application of proper teachings and treatment to the criminals it is ensured that the
offenders would be adept of regaining their position in the society and be prepared to act as a
law abiding resident in the community (Barn, 2019). Rehabilitation, in the recent times, has
been reflected as an alternate method to the retribution theories and deterrence theories and is
also thought to be more humane.
Restorative justice is referred to as a measure in the criminal justice system in which a
gathering between the wrongdoer and the victim is organised for the purpose of settlement of
the crime. Restorative justice, in Australia, is not used only in the penal system but also in the
education system for aiding the young students to confess their error. The main resolution in
the restorative justice is ensuring that the wrongdoers are given an effective and reasonable
justice (Maruna, 2016). The system of criminal justice is mainly seen to focus on
rehabilitating the wrongdoers by helping them to reconciliate with the victims and also with

the community as a whole against whom the wrongdoers have committed the crimes. The
aim for giving the offenders a chance of settlement is to provide them with a fighting chance
to be accountable for their activities and behaviours and further give them sufficient
understanding of the damage they have instigated to the victims and families or friends of
such victims. By way of the restorative justice the offenders are also given chances of
redeeming themselves from the crimes committed by them (Zehr, 2015). Restorative justice
also offers the victims a chance of facing those offenders who have committed wrong against
them and to ask the offenders to justify their behaviour.
Although in the Australian justice system practices the both the rehabilitative and
restorative justice models of punishment, yet the prison overrepresentation is one of the major
issues faced by the country in the recent times. The major concern in relation to this issue is
the overrepresentation of the indigenous people in the prison system in the Australian
territories.
Statistics
In Australia the indigenous community has inhabited for almost 60000 years, even
before the British Colonization happened in the territory. In Australia the indigenous people
constitute to almost 2.4 per cent of the total population in Australia, which sums up to
460,000 indigenous people in a total population of 22 million individuals (Australia.gov.au,
2020). The statistical data that has been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
provides that although the indigenous population constitutes for almost 2% of the total
population in the Australian territories yet the indigenous people represent almost 28% of the
total prisoners in the Australian prison system (Abs.gov., 2018). In the recent “Social Justice
and Native Title Report” it is observed that there has been tremendous rise in the
imprisonment rates of the indigenous individuals in the Australian prisons (Humanrights

2019). The rate of incarceration among the youths in aboriginal societies is observed as to
reach to almost 58% which is higher than the rate of retention in the education systems
(White, 2015). As per the researches it has further been observed that the indigenous youths
represent almost 5.5% of the total youth population of the country. However, they constitute
to almost more than half of the youth population in the prison systems in Australia. A
growing concern among the aboriginals is the engagement of their youths in acts related to
crimes. As per a study directed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare it was
observed that almost half of the youth population in the Australian prison contains of
indigenous juveniles. In that study Mick Gooda, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner, was also seen as commenting that the retention rate among the
indigenous juveniles is much higher in custody than that in the education system. In every
jurisdiction in the criminal justice system in Australia the incarceration rate for Aboriginal
juveniles is observed to be much higher than the rate of incarceration among the non-
indigenous juveniles. The level of over representation of the youths in the reformatories is
observed as being the maximum in the state of Western Australia. In Western Australia an
aboriginal juveniles is observed to be 62% more likely to end up in detention than their
equivalents in the non-indigenous communities (Abs.gov. 2018). The position of an
Aboriginal individual is collected by the penal system in absence of the use of any precarious
method (Tubex, Blagg & Tulich, 2018).
Reason for the increase in overrepresentation
According to the data collected by way of the numerous report deductions can be
made that the overrepresentation of the aboriginal juveniles in the Australian prison is
because of the disadvantages they are observed as facing both socially and economically in
the Australian territories. Some of the chief explanations of over representing prison

populations among the juveniles in the indigenous communities include the problems related
to exploitation of alcohol and drug, domestic violence they face at home, poor conditions of
health, less presence in school, limited housing and lack of proper expertise for job and
proper employment prospects. The Australian government can be seen as stating that the
increase in the degree of custody among the juveniles in the indigenous communities is an
extremely concerning matter and instant arrangements are required to be taken to address
these pressing concerns (Aph.gov.au, 2019).
Numerous explanations can be enumerated for increase in the degree of custody
among the juveniles in the indigenous communities for their delinquency. The predominant
clarification that can be stated for the increase in the representation of the custody among the
juveniles in the indigenous communities is the inclusion of the statement that the juveniles in
the indigenous communities commit a higher extent of offenses which also includes grave
offenses as well (Cunneen & Porter, 2017). An undeviating connection can be observed to
exist between the offending levels of the juveniles and the data found by help of the statistics.
The juveniles in the indigenous communities are often observed to get involved with crimes
related to properties, offenses against civic orders, offences that can be considered as
ferocious and hostile. To a specific degree the police are also observed as devising the
unrestricted determination following which the juveniles go into the justice system in juvenile
delinquency, In furtherance to this the unrestricted determination of the police also provides
for the positions on which juveniles in the indigenous communities go into the justice system
in juvenile delinquency (Trotter, Baidawi, & Evans, 2015). Several different approaches are
monitored by the police officers in the Australian penal system to address the matters of over
representing the juveniles in the prison system. The police officers in the Australian penal
system are seen as having the rights to issue official caution as an alternative of indicting the
juveniles, like summoning, arresting or deviation.

Theories related to Juvenile Delinquency
The overrepresentation of the degree of custody among the juveniles in the
indigenous communities for their delinquency can be explicated by applying of different
crime theories (Tubex, Blagg & Tulich, 2018). In the given context the anomie theory,
cultural theory, and the lifestyle theory can be discussed.
Anomie Theory
The individuals in the indigenous communities are deliberated by several
researchers to exist in a state of anomie for the reason of the quick vicissitudes happening in
the society. With these deviations and cruelties they had faced in the past and in the recent
times, it had instigated confusion among them about the roles they have to partake in the
society and further makes them act in such manner that is not acceptable legally or socially
whatsoever (Carrington & Hogg, 2017).
Cultural Strain Theory
The individuals in the indigenous communities are deliberated to be vehement
towards even the slight defiance to any social protocol or norm placed since long.
Vehemence is considered to be ceremonially and communally acknowledged etiquette among
the individuals in the indigenous communities in Australian territories (Anthony, T., 2013).
Growing up in this type of principles the youths in the indigenous communities are also
observed as tending to wander towards the way of viciousness and crime. This, in
continuance, is observed to lead to a major overrepresentation in the prison system in the
Australian criminal justice system (Eriksson & Broidy, 2017).
Lifestyle Theory

Conferring to the words of many researchers the key reason for the progression in the
proportion of delinquency among youths in the indigenous communities is the choice of
lifestyle they follow. The aboriginal youths are seen as abusing drugs and alcohol from a very
young age (Johnstone & Lee, 2016). This leads them to astray from a normal lifestyle. Many
of the indigenous juveniles are seen as dropping schools at a young age. This leads to a lack
of proper training among them for a good job. In furtherance to this they are often seen as
starting to misuse drugs and alcohol because of peer pressure. All these lead them to the path
of crime. Apart from this, as the children in these communities observe the adults to lead
these kinds of lifestyle in crime and violence, hence they grow up believing violence and
aggression to be natural.
Apart from these theories several other issues can be seen as being the major reasons
for the overrepresentation of the aboriginals in the Australian prisons and the deviance of the
youths in the indigenous communities towards crime. The major reason for such deviance
behaviour is the racial discrimination they have to face each day in terms of the social
indicators such as health, education, wealth and unemployment (Rudin, 2016). Although
discriminating anyone based on their race, ethnicity, gender or any other factor is considered
to be an act of crime in Australia since 1976 yet the indigenous communities are often seen as
discriminated on basis of their nativeness. Most of them are observed to live a life of poverty
in a justice system that is unfair to them (Blagg, 2016). With limited connection with the
world while growing up the indigenous youths inherit the trauma, anger and sadness that their
relatives possessed for losing their cultures, lands and their families.
Conclusion
Thus, in supposition, it can be understood that a significant increase in the prison
population can be observed amongst individuals in the indigenous communities. In this paper

a thorough discussion has been made towards the overrepresentation of the individuals in the
indigenous communities in the Australian prison system with a distinctive emphasis on the
youths of these populations. In the present paper a thorough analysis has been done for the
numerical statistics existing for the proportion of of imprisonment of the individuals in the
indigenous communities. The paper also focusses on the purpose for the upsurge in the
offense rate among aboriginal youth. An undeviating connection can be observed to exist
between the offending levels of the juveniles and the data found by help of the statistics. The
juveniles in the indigenous communities are often observed to get involved with crimes
related to properties, offenses against civic orders, offences that can be considered as
ferocious and hostile. The overrepresentation of the degree of custody among the juveniles in
the indigenous communities for their delinquency has been explicated by applying of
different crime theories such as the anomie theory, cultural theory, and the lifestyle theory.
The anomie theory proposes that the individuals in the indigenous communities are
deliberated by several researchers to exist in a state of anomie for the reason of the quick
variations happening in the society. As per the cultural strain theory the individuals in the
indigenous communities are deliberated to be violent towards even the slight defiance to any
social protocol or norm placed since long. The lifestyle theory proposes that the key reason
for the progression in the proportion of delinquency among youths in the indigenous
communities is the choice of lifestyle they follow. Apart from these theories several other
issues can be seen as being the major reasons for the overrepresentation of the aboriginals in
the Australian prisons and the deviance of the youths in the indigenous communities towards
crime. The major reason for such deviance behaviour is the racial discrimination they have to
face each day in terms of the social indicators such as health, education, wealth and
unemployment.

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