"Actualizing risk through discourse" : towards an understanding of the dynamics of case management

Abstract

Youth justice discourses, specifically discussions of risk, or ‘risk talk’ has begun to impact current justice initiatives and projects (Bessant, Hill & Watts, 2003). The normalization of ‘risk’ has contributed to recent neo-liberal governance and policy decisions regarding youth justice in Canada and other western countries (Ballucci, 2008), yet the ideology behind ‘risk’ and risk management is nothing new (Bessant et al., 2003). While examples of quantitative risk management have been comprehensively critiqued in the Criminology literature, qualitative examples of risk discourse and the case management of youth are largely under researched. Through a critical discourse analysis of social service professional case file entries, this thesis explores dynamics of the case management of youth involved with both the Department of Justice and Department of Community Services.