Psy-knowledge, history and the sociology of law

This article examines the application of the psy-sciences to the conduct of juvenile justice in Victoria in the period 1940-80, in order to reassess assumptions in contemporary sociology of law concerning psy-knowledge and judicial administration, welfare and justice, and their relations to liberal or conservative political mandates. It seeks to understand the implications of shifts in the production of knowledge of the child in the justice system, by reporting on analysis of both clinical and administrative files of the Children's Court Clinic in this period. The article documents how particular kinds of offenders became known in order to be properly managed, and questions the extent of separation between science and juvenile justice administration.