Youth justice conferencing for youth misuse of fire: A child-centred disaster risk reduction mechanism

摘要

Youth misuse of fire is a multifaceted, complex, and dangerous phenomenon. In response to this problem, Fire and Rescue NSW and Juvenile Justice NSW established a memorandum of understanding to facilitate firefighter involvement in the provision of fire safety education during Youth Justice Conferencing for young people who commit fire-related offences. Despite being used for over a decade, conferencing for youth misuse of fire is yet to attract theoretical analysis or empirical investigation. To partially fill this void, a theoretical analysis of Youth Justice Conferencing for youth misuse of fire was conducted. Comparative analysis revealed that child-centred disaster risk reduction offers a scaffold to explain and justify the mechanisms operating in Youth Justice Conferencing for youth misuse of fire. This theoretical alignment has implications for both Youth Justice Conferencing and child-centred disaster risk reduction.