Introduction

Youth violence: De-escalation strategies and socio-legal responses

Authors

  • Asher Flynn Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
  • Murray Lee University of Sydney
  • Mark Halsey Centre for Crime Policy & Research, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1211

Keywords:

young people, de-escalation, youth violence, desistence

Abstract

Despite media suggestions that youth violence is the result of an epidemic of young thugs “out of control”, this paper argues that youth violence is emblematic of complex political, economic and socio-cultural conditions. This introductory paper discusses some of the key themes and articles from our special issue on Youth Violence: De-Escalation Strategies and Socio-Legal Responses, which is the result of a workshop held at the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law in July 2019. It seeks to reflect the rich tapestry of factors, contexts and processes that can place young people at risk of offending, or, perhaps even more importantly, at risk of criminalisation, as presented in the special issue collection. We reflect on the range of perspectives presented across the special issue on youth violence and the de-escalation of such violence, which seek to advance knowledge, and identify strategies for regulating and preventing this behaviour.

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Author Biographies

Asher Flynn, Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University

Asher Flynn, Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University. Email address: asher.flynn@monash.edu

Murray Lee, University of Sydney

Murray Lee, University of Sydney, Sydney Law School. Email address: murray.lee@sydney.edu.au

Mark Halsey, Centre for Crime Policy & Research, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University

Mark Halsey, Centre for Crime Policy & Research, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University. Email address: mark.halsey@flinders.edu.au

References

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Published

01-10-2021

How to Cite

Flynn, A., Lee, M. and Halsey, M. (2021) “Introduction: Youth violence: De-escalation strategies and socio-legal responses”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 11(5), pp. 1088–1094. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1211.