ABSTRACT
In the first part of this book we encountered the history of the juvenile justice system from its origins and formation through to the election of a New Labour government in 1997. This third part considers the contemporary youth justice system established in the aftermath of that electoral success. It is, moreover, a significant change in terminology because the new government sought to signify a clear break with what was perceived as the failings of the previous system and had decided to start again from ‘year zero’ (Warner 1999). This chapter considers the origins of the new system and commences with the emergence of New Labour as an electoral force during the mid-1990s and its commitment to the philosophy of communitarianism.
