The Experiences and Perspectives of African-Australian Community Service Providers Who Work with At-Risk and Justice-Involved Youth

• Author: Stephane Shepherd,Aisling Bailey,Godwin Masuka
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211022652
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211022652

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(13-14) 1432 –1453

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211022652

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Article

The Experiences and

Perspectives of African-

Australian Community

Service Providers Who

Work with At-Risk and

Justice-Involved Youth

Stephane Shepherd1, Aisling Bailey2,

and Godwin Masuka3

Abstract

African-Australian young people are over-represented in custody in the state of

Victoria. It has been recognized in recent government and stakeholder strategic

plans that African-Australian community service providers are well placed to help

address the increasing complex needs of at-risk African-Australian youth. However

little is known about the capacities of such providers to effectively contend with this

growing social concern. In response, this study aimed to explore the perspectives

and operational (service delivery and governance) experiences of African-Australian

community organizations which provide services to at-risk young people in Victoria.

Through a series of in-depth interviews with the leadership of eight key African-

Australian service providers, we aimed to identify their perceived strengths,

obstacles faced and proposed strategies to realize key objectives. Perspectives

on key risk factors for young African-Australian justice system contact were also

gathered. Several themes were extracted from the interviews, specifically (i) Risk

factors for African-Australian youth justice-involvement (school disengagement,

peer delinquency, family breakdown, intergenerational discord, perceived social

1Swinburne University of Technology & Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Alphington, VIC,

Australia

2Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia

3Victorian Public Service Officer & Community Advocate, Williams Landing, VIC, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Stephane Shepherd, Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology

& Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, 1/582 Heidelberg Road, Alphington, VIC, 3078,

Australia.

Email: sshepherd@swin.edu.au

1022652IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211022652International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyShepherd et al.

research-article2021

Shepherd et al. 1433

rejection), (ii) The limitations of mainstream institutions to reduce African-

Australian youth justice-involvement (too compliance focused, inflexible, business

rather than human-centered, disconnected from communities and families), (iii) The

advantages of African-Australian community service providers when working with

African-Australian youth (community credibility, client trust, flexibility, culturally

responsive), (iv) The challenges faced by African-Australian service providers

(lack of funding/resources, professional staff shortages, infrastructural/governance

limitations), and (v) “What works” in service provision for at-risk African-

Australians (client involvement in program design, African staff representation,

extensive structured programming matched with client aspirations, prioritizing

relationship building, persistent outreach, mental health and legal literacy for clients

and families). Implications for service delivery and social policy are discussed within.

Keywords

African-Australians, youth offending, CALD offending, Sudanese Australians

Over the past 30 years, Australia has received thousands of displaced African-born

individuals and families through humanitarian programs (Commonwealth of Australia,

2019; Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, 2011).

Arriving from a number of countries including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, South

Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, many re-settled in the

South-Eastern State of Victoria and are now part of the region’s sprawling multi-cul-

tural fabric (State of Victoria, 2011). The pre and post-migration challenges experi-

enced by re-settled African-Australian populations are well documented. Fleeing civil

unrest, many endured significant life disruption, exposure to violence, loss of, or sepa-

ration from family, and trauma (Copping & Shakespeare-Finch, 2013; Khawaja et al.,

2008; Schweitzer et al., 2006). Several social and economic challenges were also

faced post-arrival including acculturation stress, language barriers, financial hardship,

family breakdown, unstable housing, unemployment, educational disengagement, dis-

crimination and intergenerational tension (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012; Baak, 2018;

Coventry et al., 2015; Deng, 2017; Forson, 2019; Hebbani et al., 2012; Morris &

O’Shea, 2015; Poppitt & Frey, 2007; Shepherd et al., 2018).

While the vast majority of re-settled African-Australians have become valued and

contributing members of their communities, a small minority are over-involved in the

criminal justice system. In 2018, young people with African ancestry comprised

almost 20% of the youth custodial population in Victoria (State of Victoria, 2018a).

Moreover, individuals born in South Sudan have the highest rates of imprisonment in

Australia, outside of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Australian Bureau of

Statistics [ABS], 2014). Evidence indicates that rates of African-Australian imprison-

ment at both the adult and youth level have increased (ABS, 2017; see Centre for

Multicultural Youth [CMY], 2014; State of Victoria, 2018a). Over-representation has

been attributed to the pre and post-migration social and economic challenges articu-

lated above (Armytage & Ogloff, 2017; Coventry et al., 2015; Forson, 2019; Shepherd