Socio-economic inequalities ‘not to blame’ for disproportionality in youth justice system

In his State of Youth Justice 2020 report, Tim Bateman, deputy chair of the National Association of Youth Justice (NAYJ), raises concerns over increasing disproportionality across the youth custody estate despite an overall drop in first-time entrants.

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“As the system has contracted over the last decade, the overrepresentation of minority ethnic children, particularly black and mixed heritage children, has become more pronounced,” Bateman says.

Ministry of Justice figures show that while 18 per cent of the children aged 10-17 in the general population come from a minority ethnic background, 27 per cent of children cautioned or convicted in 2019 were of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) origin – a rise from 14 per cent in 2010.

Bateman also highlights the link between exclusion and offending, stating that in 2017/18, 89 per cent of boys in young offender institutions (YOIs) reported that they had been excluded from school.

Black children are also twice as likely, and mixed heritage children 50 per cent more likely, to be excluded from school than their white peers, the report shows, while almost one in four children in local authority care are from a BAME background.

Department for Education figures show that in 2018, looked-after children were five times more likely than the general population to have been subject to at least one fixed-term exclusion.

These wider inequalities “provide an important context for explaining disproportionality in the youth justice system”, Bateman says, however, he adds “that enduring socio-economic inequalities cannot account for the scale of increased disproportionality over the last decade”.

“The NAYJ considers that addressing the over-representation of children from minority ethnic backgrounds is one of the most pressing issues faced by the youth justice system,” the report states.

It calls for reforms “that would facilitate increased decriminalisation of BAME children, such as removing an admission of guilt as a requirement of diversion” as well as investment in disadvantaged communities and an overhaul of staffing in the youth custody estate to ensure it is “representative of the communities it serves”.

It also calls for a reform of practices contributing to inequality across the youth justice system including adopting a child-centred approach.

“Adopting a child-first practice that focuses on the long-term wellbeing of all children in conflict with the law, rather than seeing them in terms of the risks they embody, will also enhance the prospects that youth justice interventions do not exacerbate racial inequalities,” Bateman states.

He said: “The growing over-representation of minority ethnic children, particularly at the higher end of the system, is nothing short of a disgrace and the treatment of children in custody is totally unacceptable. The State of Youth Justice 2020 attempts to present a balanced view of where we are now, clarifying where there have been improvements and highlighting where, from the perspective of the National Association for Youth Justice, further change is urgently required.”

Keith Fraser, chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), added: “As ever, this report from the NAYJ offers a wealth of analysis and challenge. Recognition of the significance of the YJB’s adoption of the child-first principle is welcomed as is the encouragement for the YJB and others to do more to fulfil the child-first aspiration.”