The Comparative Youth Penality Project

Since the 1980s, prison expansionism has defined criminal justice policy in many western jurisdictions, particularly Australia and England and Wales. Research into this phenomenon has primarily been directed at adults rather than juveniles, with limited attention paid to comparative analysis.

The Comparative Youth Penality Project (CYPP) aims to fill a substantial gap in our knowledge about youth penal culture and practice. The CYPP will produce a comprehensive documentation and overview of changes in penal policy and practice across selected Australian states and England and Wales over the past 30 years.

The project will provide the first in-depth analysis of Australian youth penality, and the first comparative study of youth punishment between Australia, England and Wales.

The Comparative Youth Penality Project is funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council for 2013-2017.

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The Australian Prisons Project

The Australian Prisons Project is national research investigating the re-emergence of the prison as the primary criminal justice strategy in Australia since the 1970s.  

The project draws together senior researchers across the disciplines of law, criminology and social science to explore a number of themes relating to the prison, including trends in sentencing and bail, the experience of vulnerable populations in the prison system, terrorism, ‘risk' paradigms and post-release initiatives.

The Australian Prisons Project was funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council from 2008 - 2010.

A book based on the APP entitled Penal Culture and Hyperincarceration: The Revival of the Prison was released in October 2013 and is available for purchase here.