Violence Against Children in the Criminal Justice System: Global Perspectives on Prevention (Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice)

Children who come into conflict with the law are more likely to have experienced violence or adversity than their non-offending peers. Exacerbating the deleterious effects of this childhood trauma, children’s contact with the criminal justice system poses undue risks of physical, sexual, and psychological violence. This book examines the specific forms of violence that children experience through their contact with the criminal justice system.

Comprising contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in children’s rights and youth justice, this book profiles evidence-based prevention strategies and case studies from around the world. It illustrates the diversity of contexts in which various forms of violence against children unfold and advances knowledge about both the nature and extent of violence against children in criminal justice settings, and the specific situational factors that contribute to, or inhibit, the successful implementation of violence prevention strategies. It demonstrates that specialised child justice systems, in which children’s rights are upheld, are crucial in preventing the violence inherent to conventional criminal justice regimes.

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be of interest to students and researchers engaged in studies of criminology and criminal justice, youth justice, victimology, crime prevention, and children’s rights.

Wendy O’Brien is Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University, and Legal Officer with the Global Programme on Violence Against Children at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in Vienna. Wendy publishes on child justice, violence against children, and children’s rights in the digital age. Wendy’s academic research is conducted in a personal capacity, and is not a reflection of the views of the institutions with which she is affiliated.

Cédric Foussard is an expert on justice for children, working at the international level. Foussard currently works for Terre des hommes Foundation as Advocacy and Global Learning Senior Advisor. For more than a decade he was Director of The International Juvenile Justice Observatory, an international not-for-profit organisation that promotes a global approach to child rights, especially for children in conflict with the law. Foussard is the lead organiser of the World Congresses on Justice for Children. He has contributed to several international and European publications on access to justice for children.