Youth justice: Call for more youth work in offender projects

Responding to the latest findings from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Bishop Roger Sainsbury said: I feel quite passionately that we havent taken seriously enough the contribution of youth work to the whole youth justice debate.He said more research should be carried out into the impact youth services and social education can have on crime.

The Edinburgh Study is an ongoing project. Since 1998 the researchers have been tracking the progress of 4,300 young people who started secondary school and turned 12 in that year.The latest findings, which were announced last week, show any contact with youth justice agencies increases the likelihood of young people continuing to be involved in crime (YPN, 3-9 May, p3).Susan McVie, co-director of the study, said that young people who had committed a serious offence showed an eight per cent reduction in offending if they had been in contact with the youth justice system, and an 11 per cent reduction if they had not.