ABSTRACT
The term ‘compliance’ may invoke philosophical notions of obedience and deference, but the literature on compliance in criminal justice, human rights and regulatory contexts suggests that its connotation in practice is far more wideranging and complex. In relation to state compliance with international human rights for example, Cardenas ( 2007 : 6) asks if ‘a compliant action represent[s] cooperation or an attempt to silence future pressure?’ She suggests that states ‘manage’ their human rights obligations and engage in strategic action that enables them to be seen to comply and thus reduce future international pressure. Applying a similar lens to offender compliance with community disposals, it raises questions as to what compliance means and what are the processes that underpin compliance among offenders under supervision in the community. Understanding how offenders navigate their way through supervision on community disposals, as well as the factors that infl uence their motivation to comply, provides the basis from which to consider how compliance might be promoted and non-compliance responded to in the community. This chapter examines the main theories and perspectives that are relevant to explaining offender compliance with community disposals, the relevance of legal socialization vis-à-vis adolescent offenders, as well as the infl uence of offenders’ interactions and experiences with the criminal justice system and its agents in shaping their perceptions of procedural justice and levels of engagement with the requirements of community supervision and the criminal law.
