Practice cultures and the 'new' youth justice in (England and) Wales

This paper considers the extent to which the Government's declared intentions to unite youth justice practice cultures around a common emphasis on preventing offending through early criminal justice intervention have been realized in practice. Based on interviews with a range of practitioners in Wales in 2003/04, it examines their priorities and underlying objectives. It outlines a complex pattern of change in which concern for the welfare of young offenders has been not so much marginalized as reconstituted in more conditional terms. The article questions whether this complexity can be adequately captured by suggestions of a 'punitive turn' in youth justice