The Shock of the New: Power, knowledge and children's rights in the youth justice system of England and Wales ten years on

Hester, Richard and Yates, Joe (2009). The Shock of the New: Power, knowledge and children's rights in the youth justice system of England and Wales ten years on. In: Maglajlic, Dada ed. Social Work Theory and Practice: An International Perspective: 20th anniversary conference Dubrovnik, June 28 - July 4, 2009. Dubrovnik, Croatia: Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik, pp. 202–220.

Abstract

The 'truth' about youth justice, or put another way, knowledge about youth justice in England and Wales, remains highly contested between a number of competing perspectives: Those who would advocate a non-critical acceptance of the highly contentious 'evidence base' underpinning the 'what works philosophy' in order to attain more effectiveness, and those who adopt a more critical perspective on how power has impacted on the process by which knowledge has been mobilised to legitimate policy and practice in the 'new' youth justice. However, this contest between these 'positions' is no mere 'academic' debate between nostalgic 'idealist' academics on the one hand, and pragmatic politicians, on the other.