Lawyering in a youth crime moral panic: Queensland, media and caring about First Nations children

Abstract

This article, drawing upon interviews with lawyers who work with children-clients in the State of Queensland, Australia's youth justice system, identifies how the contemporary media-driven moral panic about youth crime affects their practice. The lawyers reported frustration at the media misinforming about the realities of youth crime and the impact that it had on their First Nations children-clients. They had strong understandings of how moral panics function as political discourse, how ‘folk devilling’ stigmatises and alienates their children-clients and how it expedites penal populist responses. The lawyers identified that the moral panic made it more difficult to work and represent their children-clients. Through their words and reflections, they disclosed a practice of care, of advocating for the humanisation of their children-clients, arguing for law reform and reflecting on how to best understand and represent their children-clients.