Making the Comparative Case: Family in Relation to Youth Justice in New Zealand and Maryland

Abstract

Where do families belong in the youth justice system? This thesis compares how New Zealand and Maryland treat family engagement within their respective institutions. I define family engagement as the meaningful inclusion of a young person’s family as informants, participants, or decision makers across youth justice processes. Drawing on 18 semi-structured interviews with professionals working in or adjacent to New Zealand’s and Maryland’s youth justice systems, I ask: (1) how is youth justice conceptualized in theory? (2) where does family fit into this framework? and (3) how do institutional practices align with and deviate from the stated goals? Interviewees across both cases articulate a strikingly similar vision of an ideal youth justice system, yet the two institutions’ practices differ significantly. Maryland’s system maintains a rhetorical commitment to family that is not translated into practice, while New Zealand’s system structurally embeds families in decision-making processes.