In the shadows: The silent and silenced family in juvenile justice research

Abstract

The construction of silence Concerns about juvenile crime and juvenile justice have attracted the most intense public interest in Australia over recent years. This has come about largely as a result of a deep sense of public concern over a ‘law and order crisis’ generated by ‘rising juvenile crime’, ‘crime waves’, ‘youth gangs’ and so forth, as well as from more general worries associated with the social problems of homelessness, teenage suicide and youth unemployment (Polk 1993, Presdee 1990, Cunneen & White 1995).