Diverting children away from the criminal justice system gives them a chance to ‘grow out’ of crime

Fri, 9 Dec 2022 04:17:53 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/diverting-children-away-from-the-criminal-justice-system-gives-them-a-chance-to-grow-out-of-crime-194645>

"Prison is no place for a child. Putting children in youth justice facilities
can have long-lasting consequences for their physical, psychological and
emotional health, wellbeing and development.

Prison can aggravate existing health conditions and result in new ones, such as
depression, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

We heard this firsthand from children interviewed by ABC’s Four Corners this
week.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia
became a signatory in 1990, states detention should only be used as a “last
resort” and, if required, should only be for the least possible time (Article
37). Yet this is not what we see in Australia.

Rather than imprisoning children who come into conflict with the law, the
evidence suggests diverting them away from the criminal justice system and
providing appropriate supports gives children the best chance to “grow out” of
the behaviours that are being criminalised."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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