ABSTRACT
Governments in Britain, Australia and the United States, have provided for the greater use of parental restitution by the courts as a means of punishing parents for the criminal actions of their children, thereby extending the boundaries of culpability to include the family as a whole. This chapter is based on research undertaken in North Queensland, Australia, in 1998. Just prior to this research, the Queensland State Government, like many other governments, sought to implement new measures to reduce juvenile crime and the causes of crime. The increased emphasis on penalizing the parents of juvenile offenders has received support from those seeking a tougher approach to law and order. Despite the rhetoric concerning parental responsibility, in Queensland at least, courts have been reluctant to order parents to pay restitution. The principle of parental responsibility is firmly established in juvenile justice systems. The introduction of penalties for parents has attracted considerable criticism.
