Political Ecology of Youth and Crime

DOROTHY BOTTRELL is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, Australia. She worked in secondary teaching, juvenile justice, youth and community work before taking up an academic post in 2007. Dorothy is Convenor of the University of Sydney Network on Childhood and Youth Research and co-editor of Schools, Communities and Social Inclusion (Palgrave, 2011) and Communities and Change (2008).DERRICK ARMSTRONG is Professor of Education and is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Sydney, Australia. His research has focussed on issues of social inclusion and exclusion in education and the ways in which disadvantage and 'deviance' are identified and managed by professionals, social agencies and institutions working with children and young people. He is author, co-author and editor of eight books and monographs. His most recent publication is Inclusive Education: International Policy and Practice (2010) with A.C. Armstrong and I. Spandagou. ALAN FRANCE is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He has, over the past 20 years, been researching and writing on youth related issues. He set up and established the International Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth (CSCY) at the University of Sheffield in 2002 and was Director of the Centre for Social Policy Research (CRSP) at Loughborough University (2006 – 2010). He haswritten extensively on youth policy, risk, citizenship, and youth crime and has a number of publications including Understanding Youth in Late Modernity (2007) and Pathways and Crime Prevention (2007).

"This is an imaginative, well-researched book that sets a new agenda for criminology. Building on a solid empirical foundation of research focused on pathways into and out of crime, the authors develop a theory of political ecology to provide an enhanced understanding of young peoples involvement in crime. This approach successfully moves beyond accounts focused on individual level factors, providing a more holistic picture of young people in difficult circumstances. This is a book that deserves to be read by anyone who has an interest in youth and crime." - Professor Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow, UK "This book makes a much-needed departure from developmental criminologies to provide an understanding of young people's relationships with crime at a time when developmental ways of thinking about young offending heavily permeate the structure and function of youth justice systems [...] a must-read for youth justice practitioners and policymakers who want to know more about the material outcomes that youth justice and school supervision processes can create for young people. I would also recommend this text to academics teaching youth justice and setting readings for their courses." - Youth Studies Australia "The book is engagingly written and appropriately sympathetic to the subjects whose voices it records and attempts to understand [...] It is successful too in developing a 'nested political ecology' that illuminates understanding of youth and crime." - British Journal of Criminology "This book is a far cry from many of the 'how to do youth justice' books that crowd the shelves and reading lists of youth offending team trainers [...] For all that it should be required reading I suspect the authors will be satisfied that it is simply rewarding." - Children and Society

• Acknowledgements Introduction Beyond Developmental Criminology Resilience and Social Ecology Research Background Outline of the Book PART I: A THEORY OF THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF YOUTH AND CRIME Introduction A Political Ecology of Human Development Power and Political Ecology Human Development and Social Identity Conclusion PART II: THE ECOLOGY OF PLACE AND SPACE Introduction Social Disorganisation in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods The Normalisation of Crime, Risk and Danger in Place and Spaces The Ecology of 'Protection' in High Crime Areas Social Control and Regulation in High Crime Areas 'Feeling Safe' in Risky and Dangerous Places Place, Space and 'Disrupted' Lives Conclusion PART III: BEING CRIMINAL Introduction Pro-social and Anti-social Childhood 'Ordinary Lives' Being Criminal: 'Things' Happen The 'Situating' and Management of Boredom 'Being a kid' and Social Ecology 'In the system' Assessment in Youth Justice Early Interventions for those 'at risk' Conclusion PART IV: THE ECOLOGY AND CULTURE OF PEER GROUPS Introduction Peer Groups as 'Delinquency Training' Peer Groups and Friendships Friends, 'Others' and the Contexts of Peer Relations Hanging Out, Going Out and 'Chilling Out' Peer Back-up on the Streets Peers, Conflict and Empowerment in School Changing Peer Groups Conclusion PART V: EDUCATION AND CRIME Introduction Accounts of Low Achievement and Low Commitment Permanent Exclusion from Mainstream Schools Acquiring Special Educational Needs Young People's Views on PRU's and Special Schools Alternative Provision and Pathways Conclusion PART VI: THE ECOLOGY OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Introduction Family Risk Factors in Developmental Criminology Young People and Families: Routines and Relationships Home Rules Family Roles and Young People's Offending The Impact of Offending and Interventions on Families Family Adversities Young People, Families, Risk and Resilience Conclusion PART VII: THE ECOLOGY OF BEING 'IN CARE' Introduction Being in Care as a 'risk factor' Inand Out of Care The Nature of 'being in Care' The Social Ecology of Care: Diversity and Trajectories Managing Identities in Care The Importance of Peers and Friends The Social Care System and Risk Professional Intervention Conclusion CONCLUSION: YOUTH, CRIME AND 'ORDINARY LIFE' THROUGH AN ECOLOGICAL LENS Ecological Impacts and the Bounding of 'Choice' The 'Nested' Qualities of Social Action Resilience as a Social Resource Power and Injustice in Political Ecology Conclusion References Endnotes