Course overview
This course is designed to assist criminal justice students to understand the field of youth justice. This course will provide students with an understanding of the socio-historical and criminological concepts of youth justice as well as providing them with a broad understanding of the skills and competencies needed to work with young people.
The theories, processes and practices of youth justice present special challenges for practitioners and policy-makers unique to working with young people. The course will explore the tension of youth justice as both a social welfare and criminal justice issue. This course explores the concept of justice as it applies to young people, through a historical, sociological and criminological lens. Consideration will be given to different international approaches to youth justice. Criminal justice and social justice concepts will be explored, including a consideration of the social welfare system as it applies to children and young people.
Particular attention is given to the skills, knowledge and interpersonal strategies required to work with and support young people in the criminal justice field.
Course learning outcomes
- Explain the historical and sociological origins of the concepts of childhood, youth, and youth justice and the ways such views change over time
- Identify and apply the criminal justice legislation and human rights conventions that address the welfare of children and young people
- Discuss and apply criminological theories that relate specifically to youth crime and examine the nature and type of youth offending
- Identify professional skills and apply good practices to working with young people within a criminal justice context
- Evaluate the experiences of young people engaged in criminal justice system processes