This thesis uses a post-structuralist approach to critically examine the use of Parenting Orders as a court sanction on the parents of young people who are involved in offending. It ;s the current youth justice policy and practice of Parenting Orders and analyses the 'psy' discourses which uphold them. In contrast to previous research which has sought to gamine whether such measures 'work' within a positivist framework, this thesis explores the material and discursive contexts of parents' lives to understand the ways in which Parenting Orders shape parental subjectivities through practices of regulation and resistance.