Transition and Reform: Juvenile Justice in the Republic of Ireland

Punishment, Youth Justice and Cultural Contingency: Towards a Balanced Approach

“…As is often the case with comparative criminal justice research, difficulties abound in obtaining accurate and comprehensive longitudinal data, especially data that are consistent over the time period in question (Goldson and Hughes, 2010). Particular difficulties were encountered in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland owing to the paucity of good quality data and inconsistent recording practices (Seymour, 2006;Youth Justice Review, 2011 The results for the three jurisdictions can be shown below. As expected, they have all experienced downward trends in their youth detention rates in recent years, yet they have arrived at this point via very different paths.…”

“…In the Republic, the Children Act 2001 has provided for an increase in the age of criminal responsibility, the abolition of imprisonment for children, restorative and family conferencing, a wide range of community sanctions and a statutory footing for the Garda Síochána (police) cautioning programme. Despite its slow implementation and subsequent government retrenchment on some of the provisions, it has been praised as a framework for reform (Seymour, 2006; Stern, 2006). In Northern Ireland, praise has also been heaped upon the Justice Act 2002 which sets up restorative conferencing as the primary response to children in conflict with the law.…”

“…As is often the case with comparative criminal justice research, difficulties abound in obtaining accurate and comprehensive longitudinal data, especially data that are consistent over the time period in question (Goldson and Hughes, 2010). Particular difficulties were encountered in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland owing to the paucity of good quality data and inconsistent recording practices (Seymour, 2006;Department of Justice Northern Ireland, 2011). In the Republic, the detained juvenile population was also split between two institutions: St. Patrick’s Institution (run by the Prison Service) which traditionally held young male offenders aged 16–21 years and Children Detention Schools which traditionally housed children under 16 years.…”

Young People’s Early Offending

“…More recently, the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010(Irish Youth Justice Service, 2008 set out a holistic response to youth offending on the one hand -including universal aims to promote child well-being -yet the individualisation of the social problem continued with a commitment in the same document to deliver programmes and services targeted at 'at risk' individuals and families, considered readily identifiable through a process of risk assessment, and the requirement for young people to be held accountable for offending and to develop 'socially responsible behaviour'. Although some developments in Irish youth justice policy have been welcomed, these have occurred against a backdrop of a dearth of 9 empirical research on youth crime and justice in Ireland (Seymour, 2006). This study thus aimed to go some way in addressing these gaps in knowledge.…”

Young People’s Offending Careers and Criminal Justice Contact: A Case for Social Justice

“…On the one hand, the strategy put forth a holistic response to youth offending -including universal aims to promote child wellbeing -yet the individualization of the social problem continued with a commitment to deliver programmes and services targeted at 'at risk' individuals and families, considered identifiable through a process of risk assessment, and the requirement for young people to be held accountable and to develop 'socially responsible behaviour'. Whilst reflective of shifts in youth justice elsewhere (see Muncie, 2009), such developments, however, have occurred against a backdrop of a dearth of empirical research on youth crime in Ireland (Seymour, 2006). The study on which this article is based aimed to go some way towards addressing these gaps in knowledge.…”