Race, Recognition and Retribution in Contemporary Youth Justice

‘Always historicise!’ is the admonishment offered by the literary critic Frederic Jameson. It is advice well taken in this powerful and necessary account of the durable but underexamined black presence in youth justice. Miller takes England and Canada as illuminating case studies to restore both history and race to the analytical lens of youth justice reform. You will be astonished by what you might have missed if you thought race played only a peripheral role in the historical shaping of youth justice institutions, practice and policy. The familiar oscillating priorities of coercion and care, punishment and welfare might characterise the predicaments of white working class youth, but for non-White youth the assumptions about the intrinsic ‘malleability of youth’ are replaced with the ‘intractability of race’. Miller uses history to show how this binary placed Black young people beyond the dubious animating ambitions of penal reform and rehabilitation. With meticulous and erudite scholarship, she shows how the now discredited justifications of eugenics are replaced by new racialisations. The all to recognisable contemporary effects of excessive punishments and exclusions derive from this, often unspoken, assumption of racial intractability. Racialised punishments, suspicions and retributions are warnings from history we ignore at our peril. Take some advice and get yourself this book.

Dr. Rod Earle, Open University

“This is a beautifully written book that is as insightful as it is enjoyable to read. The argument that Black, racialized youth have the status of an intractably deviant outsider in contrast to the more malleable status of White, working class youth is compelling. A thought provoking book and an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the role of race in contemporary youth justice.”

Prof. Andrew Whittaker, London South Bank University

Using the concepts of intractability and malleability, this indispensable book demonstrates how Black, racialized young people have been excluded from receiving justice in the UK and Canada. Whereas white young people have historically been seen as susceptible to reform, Black young people have been rendered punishable. Miller breaks new ground in demonstrating the continuity of racism and punitiveness in youth justice in the UK and Canada, not as a bug in the system but as part of its design. Her work blends empirical evidence with deep theoretical reflection.

Dr Lizzie Seal, Sussex University

Miller introduces the intractability/malleability thesis, based on Critical Race Theory and Recognition Theory, to examine the disproportionate classification of Black youth as deviant and thus their over-representation in incarceration records and facilities. This very timely and informative analysis of the historical and socio-political depiction of youth violence brings attention to systemic racism prevalent in youth justice systems in the UK and Canada. Miller merges diverse literatures as she provides a critical assessment of youth justice systems while providing an important contribution to the understanding of the role of race and racism in youth violence and youth justice.

Prof. Finn-Aage Esbensen, University of Missouri-St. Louis