Christine Piper

No Author Supplied

'...beautifully structured. The author skilfully weaves a number of story lines, managing suspense beautifully, and drawing all the threads together in a really satisfying conclusion... A really impressive piece of work.' - Danielle Wood, Vogel's judge..'This was a standout novel for me... The author has crafted great characters... Very readable.' - Fiona Stager, Vogel's judge..

After Darkness

Winner of The 2014 Australian/Vogel's Literary Award.

This book brings together insights from a range of disciplines, including law, sociology, criminology and history, to identify and explain the complex and inter-related factors which help or hinder the state to 'invest' in children and young people. The first part of the book examines the 'intangibles' - the ideologies, social constructions and moral precepts - which obstruct or encourage the passage and full implementation of legislation, policy and practice which hopes to improve the lives and prospects of children and young people. Notions of family and parental responsibility, assumptions about what children and young people 'are' and the extent to which they should be held accountable, and ideas around state investment against future risks are the key factors considered. The second part of the book focuses on the difficulties in practice of implementing policies aimed at investing in children's lives and futures. It reviews the role of science in the identification of risk factors related to poor outcomes for children and in the selection of target groups or areas for risk-based intervention to provide (early) support and preventative programmes for children and their families. It also assesses whether and how law does or could help to 'deliver' an appropriate investment of time and money in children, with a focus on the existence and effectiveness of a rights-based approach. The final chapters examine the results of research so far undertaken done on selected programmes in the Every Child Matters, social inclusion and Youth Justice Board policy agendas and they indentify promising developments. However, they also draw attention to the alternative agendas around children and young people which are competing for government money and the public's support and warn that there are dangers in a child-focused policy whose justification relies so heavily on future cost savings stemming from the production of healthier, more employable and law-abiding adults.

Policy, Law and Practice in Practice

Investing in Children

Shelley Day Sclater

Published in 1999. Despite considerable comment about divorce reform and the post-divorce family, in the press and in academia, by professionals and politicians, much has been left unsaid. There are 'undercurrents' of divorce which are not visible and are not discussed because they do not fit into the dominant discursive framework for talk about divorce. This book brings these undercurrents to the surface and does two things. It explains how and why aspects of divorce and the lives of those divorcing, have become marginalized in professional and political discussion and it makes visible the practical and legal effects of such exclusion. It argues that there are good policy reasons for this particular socio-legal critique at this time, as the implementation of the Family Law Act 1996 gets underway.

Undercurrents of Divorce

Susan Easton

This textbook presents an overview of the theory, law and practice of sentencing and punishment from penological, policy and legal perspectives. It provides an accessible account of changing attitudes as to what constitutes 'just' punishment and the methods of punishment in custody and in the community.

Christine Piper

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