Joyriding Among Young First Nations Australians : Assessing Police Trust and Confidence Through the Lens of Youth and Key Stakeholders

Young First Nations Australians typically distrust and are reluctant to cooperate with the police. This article discusses data from a pilot intervention programme regarding First Nations young people’s involvement in car theft and joyriding. We conducted seven in-depth interviews with young Australi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Youth Justice
Main Authors: Morgan, Matthew, Dodd, Shannon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Sage Publications, Inc. (US) 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/ad2584459d4bfe8e8081c27275a92150e5b7b1716ca8d3ad91e6bff78de9b264/169638/OA_Morgan_2024_Joyriding_among_young_first_nations_Australians.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254241260603
Description
Summary:Young First Nations Australians typically distrust and are reluctant to cooperate with the police. This article discusses data from a pilot intervention programme regarding First Nations young people’s involvement in car theft and joyriding. We conducted seven in-depth interviews with young Australians – most of whom identified as First Nations Australians – and six key community stakeholders who helped to deliver the programme. Our findings indicate that both sample groups held negative and distrusting perceptions of the police which, for the young people, were often precipitated by perceived discriminatory and procedurally unjust encounters with the police. We argue that heavy-handed and discriminatory policing of young First Nations Australians may perpetuate youth offending and joyriding behaviours among this group. The article argues that the police should adopt more community-oriented policing approaches to build trust with young First Nations Australians.