Traditionally studies on juvenile crime have remained largely silent on the lived experiences
of family members. Amid all the public condemnation of «neglectful» parents and «irresponsible»
offenders little or no space has been given to the voices of those actually caught up in the
workings of the criminal justice system. Families Crime and Juvenile Justice by Richard Hil
and Anthony McMahon addresses this omission. By focusing on the families of a small group of
juvenile offenders in a northern Australian city this book highlights the many and varied
attempts by parents and others to grapple with their son or daughter's offending. It also
demonstrates the effects of such offending on the family as a whole and the often
less-than-positive outcomes of state intervention. The accounts of parents and others are set
in the context of recent family-oriented developments in juvenile justice.
