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Justice Solutions
Justice Solutions New Zealand Tour
In 2019, senior leaders from Jesuit Social Services embarked on a study trip to New Zealand to learn more about innovative approaches to dealing with adults and young people who have contact with the criminal justice system. The New Zealand justice system faces similar challenges to Australia’s justice system – a high incarceration rate despite a drop in the rate of offending and a significant over-representation of indigenous people in the justice system. There are, however, pockets of success and innovation that could help inform us here in Australia. These include: political will and leadership; an appetite for innovation; the strong connection to culture; a commitment to a restorative justice approach to offending; and the acknowledgement of the importance of relationship and connection for all people.
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Support after suicide
Tell Me What Happened
Many people feel daunted by the idea of telling a child about the suicide death of a loved one. This book features professional tips and advice on talking with children and young people about suicide, as well as first-person stories by program participants.
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Gender Justice
The Man Box: A study on being a young man in Australia
The Man Box: A study on being a young man in Australia is the first comprehensive study that focuses on the attitudes to manhood and the behaviours of young Australian men aged 18 to 30. It involved an online survey of a representative sample of 1,000 young men from across the country, as well as focus group discussions with two groups of young men. The findings shed a new light on the social pressures that young Australian men experience to be a ‘real man’ and the impact this can have on their wellbeing, behaviours and the safety of our wider community.
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Justice Solutions
Justice Solutions: Expanding the conversation
In 2017, senior leaders from Jesuit Social Services undertook an international #JusticeSolutions study tour, visiting Norway, Germany, Spain, the US and the UK, to analyse evidence of effective justice approaches and how these ideas might be incorporated in Australian justice systems. During the #JusticeSolutions tour, Jesuit Social Services visited detention facilities and diversion programs and talked with their managers and staff. We also met with senior justice personnel, nonprofit service providers, academics and youth justice advocates. In this document, we outline our vision for youth justice in Australia, and the steps we must take to realise it.
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Youth issues
A Just System? How Punitive Youth Justice Systems Increase the Risk of Crime
For children and young people who offend, contact with the justice system can lead to life-long offending, with evidence showing that the younger a child enters the justice system the more likely he/she is to have sustained contact and go on to reoffend (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2017). Local and international youth justice approaches that aim to rehabilitate or resocialise the child or young person often have more success in preventing reoffending (Elwick, Davis, Crehan, & Clay, 2013). So, what is it that makes an effective youth justice system, and how can we ensure that children and young people are diverted from the criminal justice system effectively and that those who offend do not continue into a life of crime?
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Communal disadvantage
Dropping off the Edge 2015
Dropping Off the Edge 2015 shows that complex and entrenched disadvantage is experienced by a small but persistent number of locations in each Australian state and territory.
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Support after suicide
The Cost of Silence
Written by men who have lost someone to suicide, this publication includes their stories and poetry.
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Youth issues
Thinking Outside: Alternatives to remand for children
Thinking Outside reveals how vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorian children are being unnecessarily remanded. The research calls for reforms to halt this alarming practice including raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12.
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Support after suicide
Thank You for Listening
A compassionate yet sobering light on the torment, bewilderment and, ultimately, the inspiring resilience of those left behind.
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Communal disadvantage
Life Satisfaction and Happiness
Life Satisfaction and Happiness shows that health, individual choice, local community and family relationships are better predictors of happiness and satisfaction than income.