A New Response to Youth Crime

This informative, readable book provides an in-depth analysis of the causes of and reactions to youth crime, in the context of historical and political change.

The book considers how young people and their place in society has changed over the years, with particular reference to the most disadvantaged people in troubled communities, and how social exclusion and inequality can lead to problems with youth offending. It charts our responses to young people who offend, from the diversionary practices of the early 1990s, to the establishment of the Youth Justice Board and youth offending teams in the late 1990s.

The authors also assess whether this reform of the youth justice system has achieved its objective of preventing offending and reoffending. Arguably, the system has failed to reverse the steep rise in the number of young people sentenced to custody. Despite being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, England and Wales do not use custody as a last resort for young offenders, and have the lowest age of criminal responsibility in Western Europe.

This is an interesting analysis that seeks to explain why, despite the evidence of failure to prevent crime or make society safer, both politicians and the media have consistently clamoured for more punitive policies towards young people. The final chapter paints a rather depressing picture of whether such responses can be altered, but the book does offer a glimmer of hope that real opportunities to do so may be possible with electoral and political change.

Lorraine Atkinson, senior policy officer, the Howard League for Penal Reform

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