The widely-publicised Dylan Voller case illustrates how a problem develops into revolving-door justice and counterproductive prisons that are absurd, traumatising, vicariously traumatising, and absurdly expensive.
The Zak Grieve case illustrates how the combination of mandatory sentencing and the laws of complicity put young and vulnerable offenders and the public at risk.
The still-unfolding Zak Rolfe case, and the Dylan Voller case, illustrate how trauma in offenders, victims, and law enforcement causes volatile situations that put the whole
community at risk. The Dylan Voller case and the case of Mick (see Literature Review) show that most prisoners want “a normal life” and would, therefore, benefit from the normality principle.
The problems that we must overcome
The literature review revealed thirty-one problems that must be addressed to begin solving the problem of youth crime in Alice Springs. The problems can be divided into three broad groups:
- How we think about crime;
- Problems within the law; and
- Trauma-related problems.
How we think about crime
1. Opinions that are not based on science: emotions,
feelings, and folklore
2. Perceptions of ‘them’; the sense that the problem is
someone else’s but our own
3. The hunger for revenge and punishment
4. Strong beliefs in a “solid self ” with free will, despite
the scientific evidence against it
5. A belief in quick fixes implemented by people who do
not understand the problem
6. Signalling: Naming & shaming on social media –
prison architecture
Problems within the law
7. Awe of the concept of mens rea in criminal law
8. The division between criminal law and civil law
9. The age of criminal responsibility
10. The laws of complicity
11. Silence and gratuitous concurrence in legal proceedings
12. Mandatory sentencing
13. The impact of irrelevant factors on judicial decisions
14. Revolving-door justice
15. All-white juries
16. The closure of Bush Courts
17. The steady defunding of community-based mediation
services
18. The lack of diversion out bush
Trauma-related problems
19. Offenders’ intergenerational trauma
20. The adverse childhood experiences of offenders
21. The current life traumas of offenders
22. Trauma and vicarious trauma in the Alice Springs
community
23. Traumas that the law and law enforcement cause to
offenders and workers
24. Victim trauma
25. Organisations that do not sufficiently reach youth on
the street
26. Siloing of NGOs and other agencies
27. (Vicarious) trauma in lawyers, judges, police officers
and prison workers
28. Offenders’ disabilities
29. The waxing and waning of political approaches to the
problem
30. Tokenism, identity politics and the infantilisation of
Aboriginal people
31. Housing and homelessness
Image Suzanne Visser with DALL E
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