ABSTRACT
The confrontation between black children and young people and the apparatus of justice is the actual and symbolic moment at which the opaque institutionalised racist oppression which bears on all black people is made transparently in the official interventions and judicial disposals to which black young people are subjected. The contrast between the ethnic composition of the professional 'technicians' of the criminal justice system with that of its subjects illuminates any analysis of race, crime and justice. The institutions, structural arrangements and policies that influence the transitionary developments from childhood, through youth and into adulthood have been fundamentally reshaped and redefined. The experiences of black young people within the labour market—experiences underpinned by racism, and marginalisation—condemn disproportionate numbers of them to the miseries of claiming state benefits, where their difficulties are likely to be further compounded. There is no shortage of policy and practice initiatives that have been established to address the racialised injustices of the 'justice' process.
