Problematising the potentials of music programs to address Australia’s youth justice policy problems
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Reflecting an international shift from punitive to more rehabilitative responses to youth offending, many Australian youth justice systems are undergoing significant revision and reform. The urgency of these changes are intensified by longstanding inequities pertaining to the gross overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and documented violations of human rights within Australian youth detention centres. As state and territory jurisdictions strive towards more child-centred practices, music programmes have been seen to provide transformative experiences for incarcerated young people through opportunities to express themselves and form positive relationships with others. In considering the potentials of music programmes to contribute towards such a child-centred youth justice ‘solution’, this article reports a poststructural policy analysis of Australian youth justice policy texts that produce child-centredness in particular ways. Music programmes are thus positioned as inherently political endeavours that hold potential to reinforce or disrupt policy problems, with implications for equity and justice.
Source: Music Education Research
Author: Alexis Anja Kallio
Institution: Griffith University
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Griffith University
OpenAlex ID: W4385738419