A report drew together findings from surveys of every juvenile prison establishment in England and Wales during 2008-09. Progress reported in the previous year's survey seemed to have slowed or reversed in some important areas, such as relationships with staff and the handling of complaints.
Source: Deborah Tye, Children and Young People in Custody 2008-2009: An analysis of the experiences of 15-18-year-olds in prison, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales and Youth Justice Board
Links: Report | YJB press release | Children & Young People Now report | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government published the second annual report on progress made in taking forward the recommendations of a House of Commons report (published in 2007) into the over-representation of young black people in the criminal justice system.
Source: Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry: Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System – Second Annual Report, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Dec
A cross-government strategy was published that was designed to break the link between poor health and youth crime. The strategy focused on early intervention to address health problems, in order to ensure that the underlying causes of poor behaviour were tackled before problems became serious or entrenched. It was also designed to ensure that young people already in the criminal justice system had their health problems dealt with more effectively.
Source: Healthy Children, Safer Communities: A strategy to promote the health and well-being of children and young people in contact with the youth justice system, Department of Health
Links: Strategy | Hansard | DH press release | YJB press release | SCMH press release | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Dec
The number of offenders aged 10-17 entering the criminal justice system in England for the first time fell from 94,481 in 2007-08 to 74,033 in 2008-09 – a 21.6 per cent decrease.
Source: Youth Crime: Young People Aged 10-17 Receiving Their First Reprimand, Warning or Conviction, in England, 2000-01 to 2008-09, Statistical Release 26 November 2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: Statistical release | DCSF press release | YJB press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A new book provided an introduction to the youth justice system. It included chapters on crime prevention, the youth court, sentencing, and the preventative and post-court roles of young offender panels and youth offending teams.
Source: Mike Watkins and Diane Johnson, Youth Justice and the Youth Court: An introduction, Waterside Press (01962 855567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that children with conduct problems went on in later life to commit four-fifths of all crime. Action to prevent conduct problems in young children could dramatically reduce their chances of offending later in life.
Source: The Chance of a Lifetime: Preventing early conduct problems and reducing crime, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
Researchers examined the impact of family intervention projects. 66 per cent of the first 699 families to complete the programme no longer displayed anti-social behaviour. In addition, poor parenting had been reduced by 57 per cent; housing enforcement actions, including evictions, by 68 per cent; truancies, exclusions, and bad behaviour at school by 55 per cent; and child protection concerns by 43 per cent.
Source: National Centre for Social Research, Anti-Social Behaviour Family Intervention Projects: Monitoring and Evaluation, Research Brief RBX-09-16, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report presented a longitudinal analysis of offending, drug use, and anti-social behaviour among young people (initially aged 10 to 25) from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, carried out annually between 2003 and 2006. It identified a small group of young people described as 'prolific offenders', who accounted for a disproportionate number of offences, including serious offences.
Source: Jon Hales, Camilla Nevill, Steve Pudney and Sarah Tipping, Longitudinal Analysis of the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey 2003-06, Research Report 19, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report | Summary | Drug Education Forum press release | ISER press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that vulnerable children in Wales would be better protected if responsibility for the youth justice system were transferred from Whitehall to the Welsh Assembly.
Source: Youth Justice in Wales: Thinking beyond the prison bars, Howard League for Penal Reform (020 7249 7373)
Links: Report | HLPR press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-Nov
A new textbook examined key theoretical concepts in youth justice.
Source: Wayne Taylor, Rod Earle and Richard Hester (eds.), Youth Justice Handbook: Theory, policy and practice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Oct
An article reported research on the outcomes of government-sponsored education, training, and employment programmes for young offenders in England and Wales. It examined the processes by which class interests were articulated in youth justice relations, through the twin processes of the 'individualization of risk' and the 'responsibilization' of young offenders.
Source: Patricia Gray, 'The political economy of risk and the new governance of youth crime', Punishment and Society, Volume 11 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Oct
A report examined international examples of policies and practices that were used in countries with relatively low numbers of children in custody, or that had been developed and implemented in countries to reduce child imprisonment. It looked at alternative sanctions that could potentially be transferred to England and Wales to reduce the number of children either remanded or sentenced to custody.
Source: Enver Solomon and Rob Allen, Reducing Child Imprisonment in England and Wales: Lessons from abroad, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release
Date: 2009-Sep
The government announced a review of the governance and operating arrangements of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 16 September 2009, column 156WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Terms of reference | YJB press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Sep
A new book examined policy and practice debates in youth justice, tackling issues such as the criminalization and penalization of youth, sentencer decision-making, the incarceration of young people, and the role of public opinion.
Source: Monica Barry and Fergus McNeill (eds.), Youth Offending and Youth Justice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs examined draft sentencing guidelines produced by the Sentencing Guidelines Council on the overarching principles to be applied in the sentencing of young offenders.
Source: Draft Sentencing Guideline: Overarching Principles – Sentencing Youths, Tenth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 497, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Prison Reform Trust press release
Date: 2009-Aug
A study of children aged 12-14 who had served a custodial sentence found that more than one-third of them should not have been detained, when judged against the government's own criteria.
Source: Locking Up or Giving Up? Why custody thresholds for teenagers aged 12, 13 and 14 need to be raised, Barnardo's (01268 520224)
Links: Barnardo's press release | Catch 22 press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
A report examined the findings of inspections of 15 jails holding children. It said that young offenders were often detained in 'modern-day dungeons' where they suffered injuries from forced physical restraint, were strip-searched, and were denied access to showers and toilets.
Source: Analysis of the Inspectorate of Prisons Reports on Young Offender Institutions Holding Children in Custody, Howard League for Penal Reform (020 7249 7373)
Links: Report | HLPR press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
A report said that 'serious, widespread and fundamental' failings in the youth justice system in England and Wales meant that up to three-quarters of children locked up on remand were wrongly or unnecessarily jailed.
Source: Penelope Gibbs and Simon Hickson, Children: Innocent Until Proven Guilty, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Date: 2009-Aug
An article examined the escalation in the number of young men involved in lethal gun-related violence. It said that the problem could not be reduced to one of 'gangs', and needed to be examined within the context of the 'life world' of gun users.
Source: Simon Hallsworth and Daniel Silverstone, '"That's life innit': a British perspective on guns, crime and social order', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 9 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
The government published a progress report on the youth crime action plan, one year after its launch. It proposed more support to address causes of bad behaviour, including 'non-negotiable' support for families whose children were getting into trouble.
Source: Youth Crime Action Plan: One Year On, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Summary | Home Office press release | DCSF press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Community Care report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report called for an innovative residential centre for young offenders to be set up on a pilot basis in order to reduce reoffending. The young offenders' academy would combine secure accommodation for convicted offenders, supported accommodation for young people subject to court supervision, and services for young offenders living in the community.
Source: Young Offenders: A Secure Foundation, Foyer Federation (020 7430 2212)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by the children's watchdog for England examined gun and knife crime. It considered issues such as risk factors, parenting support, education, support for victims and their relatives and friends, interventions, and sentencing. It said that there was a need to understand better the causes of offending, particularly by undertaking qualitative research with young offenders.
Source: Standing Together: Principles to reduce children and young people's involvement in gun and knife crime, Office of the Children's Commissioner (0844 8009113)
Links: Report | OCC press release | ACPO press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A report examined the existing arrangements for the funding of custody for children in England and Wales – particularly in the context of the way those arrangements failed to incentivize local authorities to seek to minimize the use of custody for children – and analysed options for reform.
Source: The Funding of Custody for Children: Devolving the Budget, Standing Committee for Youth Justice c/o JUSTICE (020 7329 5100)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A think-tank report said that local councils should be made directly responsible for funding custody places for youth offenders. This would give them an incentive to put more effort into early intervention, and end the 'postcode lottery' around child imprisonment.
Source: Max Chambers, Arrested Development: Reducing the number of young people in custody while reducing crime, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Local Government Chronicle report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Youth Justice Board published its annual report and accounts for 2008-09, and its corporate and business plan for 2009-10.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2008/09, HC 897, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales/Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Corporate and Business Plan 2009/10, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales/Home Office (020 7271 3033)
Links: Annual Report | Plan
Date: 2009-Jul
A report called for a wholesale shift in the way the government worked with young adults in, and at risk of becoming involved with, the criminal justice system. It made a series of recommendations in the areas of: policing and community involvement; sentencing and courts; custody and community; work and education; health, housing, and social care; and drugs/alcohol.
Source: A New Start: Young adults in the criminal justice system, T2A Alliance c/o Barrow Cadbury Trust (020 7391 9220)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
A think-tank report said that reforms to the youth justice system had yet to deliver a system that put crime reduction at its heart. A punitive approach to offending had not worked. The report proposed early intervention for preventative purposes, as well as its extension to some of those in the 18-21 age group.
Source: Joe Farrington-Douglas with Lucia Durante, Towards a Popular Preventative Justice System, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that voluntary and community organizations working with black young people affected by crime were struggling with financial uncertainty and 'conflicting' government agendas.
Source: Helen Mills, Policy, Purpose and Pragmatism: Dilemmas for voluntary and community organisations working with black young people affected by crime, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that because of 'serious, widespread and fundamental failings' in the youth justice system up to three-quarters of children locked up on remand were wrongly or unnecessarily jailed.
Source: Penelope Gibbs and Simon Hickson, Children: Innocent Until Proven Guilty, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government published a summary of the responses to a consultation on its youth crime action plan (issued in July 2008).
Source: Youth Crime Action Plan Consultation: Summary of Responses, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation responses | Hansard
Date: 2009-Jun
The government began consultation on its legislative programme for 2009-10, including a Bill on policing, crime, and private security. Proposals included measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, under which a parenting assessment would be carried out on parents of children aged 10-15 who were considered for an anti-social behaviour order.
Source: Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, Prime Minister's Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | Cabinet Office press release | Guardian report | Local Government Chronicle report | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A new book examined youth offending and the policy and practice responses to it, particularly risk-focused approaches.
Source: Stephen Case and Kevin Haines, Understanding Youth Offending: Risk factor research, policy and practice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jun
An official advisory body began consultation on the principles that should apply when courts sentenced young offenders. It said that young people under 18 could differ significantly in maturity, and that the individual circumstances of each offender would need to be considered carefully: but the closer an offender was to age 18 when the offence was committed, and the greater the maturity of the offender or the sophistication of the offence, the closer the sentence was likely to be to that which would be imposed on an adult.
Source: Overarching Principles: Sentencing Youths, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Consultation document | Advice | SGC press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that although it was difficult to estimate how many young people carried knives there were fears it was becoming 'normal' in some areas. It was necessary to target knife-carriers and violent offenders separately. For the former, the report advocated education in schools about the realities of knife-carrying, and measures to help young people feel safer (such as improving confidence in the police and better victim support). Evidence suggested that the prospect of being caught could deter young people from breaking the law: a 'stop-and-search' approach should therefore be used, provided it was carried out in an appropriate manner.
Source: Knife Crime, Seventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 112, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Police Federation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government published a progress report on the action plan of its Youth Taskforce (which replaced the Respect Taskforce on youth crime and anti-social behaviour). The action plan included a programme of reforms designed to ensure every area had a joined-up and systematic approach to early identification, prevention, and support for teenagers at risk. The report said that more than 30,000 of the most difficult and vulnerable young people had benefited directly from the programme over the previous year.
Source: Youth Taskforce: Progress Report – Summer 2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jun
A study examined the kind of literacy and numeracy provision on offer to young people in the youth justice system, and how students responded to it. Fewer than half the participants had completed compulsory schooling, even fewer had gained any qualifications at school, and over one-third rated their enjoyment of school as 'very bad' or 'awful'. Almost invariably young people reported wanting to do vocational courses in the future, rather than literacy and numeracy courses.
Source: Jane Hurry, Laura Brazier and Anita Wilson, with Rachel Emslie-Henry and Kate Snapes, Improving the Literacy and Numeracy of Young People in Custody and in the Community, National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (020 7612 6476)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report said that one-quarter of young men and one-fifth of young women in custody had been physically restrained over the previous two years. Fewer young men had been contacted by a support worker after their arrival in prison.
Source: Children and Young People in Custody (2006-2008), HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103) and Youth Justice Board
Links: Report | YJB press release | PRT press release | Community Care
Date: 2009-Apr
A report reviewed the inspection of youth offending teams in England and Wales over the period 2003-2008.
Source: Joint Inspection of Youth Offending Teams: End of programme report 2003-2008, HM Chief Inspector of Probation (020 7035 2203)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
The prisons inspectorate for Scotland examined conditions for young offenders held in adult establishments. Those for young men were good: but young women were held alongside adult female offenders, with facilities and food that were poor.
Source: Report on Young Offenders in Adult Establishments, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland/Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
A literature review examined the evidence around the effectiveness of interventions to tackle the involvement of children and young people in gun and knife crime.
Source: Mark Oldfield, Arianna Silvestri, Peter Squires and Roger Grimshaw, Young People, and Gun and Knife Crime: A review of the evidence, Office of the Children's Commissioner (0844 8009113)
Links: Report | OCC press release
Date: 2009-Mar
The Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities published a joint framework for tackling antisocial behaviour. It said that prevention and early and effective intervention should be at the heart of approaches to tackle antisocial behaviour. The causes of antisocial behaviour – such as drink, drugs, and deprivation – needed to be addressed, and not just the symptoms.
Source: Promoting Positive Outcomes: Working together to prevent antisocial behaviour in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Framework (part 1) | Framework (part 2) | Summary | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank report said that police officers should be instructed to 'reclaim the streets for the law-abiding majority' by waging a concerted campaign against anti-social behaviour. It endorsed a 'crackdown and consolidation' approach to law enforcement in high-crime areas: in areas characterized by social breakdown, short-term police crackdowns could create space for other agencies to move in and address the problems underlying crime.
Source: A Force to be Reckoned With, Centre for Social Justice (020 7620 1120)
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank report said that a co-ordinated campaign was needed to stem the surge in gang culture, combining targeted enforcement with intervention and prevention. It said that local and national government had shown a lack of leadership and urgency in tackling the problem.
Source: Dying to Belong: An in-depth review of street gangs in Britain, Centre for Social Justice (020 7620 1120)
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
A joint inspectorate report examined healthcare services delivered by local youth offending teams (YOTs) in the community and when young people moved into and out of custody. It said YOTs did not always properly assess the healthcare needs of young people, and so the latter did not always get the support and treatment they required. This was despite the fact that young offenders had disproportionately high physical, emotional, and mental health needs compared to the general population.
Source: Actions Speak Louder: A second review of healthcare in the community for young people who offend, Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (020 7448 9200) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation
Links: Report | CHAI press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
A literature review examined whether the public's perception of youth crime corresponded with actual levels of offending among young people. There was a tendency for the public to overestimate the scale of youth crime, the numbers of young offenders, the proportion of overall crimes committed by young people, and the seriousness (especially in terms of violence) of youth crime.
Source: Karen Halsey and Richard White, Young People, Crime and Public Perceptions: A review of the literature, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Date: 2009-Feb
A new book examined the operation of multi-agency public protection arrangements in relation to young people.
Source: Kerry Baker and Alex Sutherland (eds.), Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and Youth Justice, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Feb
A report examined young people's involvement in, and perceptions of, crime (in London). Negative media coverage had caused young people to have inflated perceptions of crime levels. Young people had a lack of trust in police officers, as a result of having been dealt with disrespectfully and/or the fact that the police could not guarantee their safety if they reported crimes.
Source: Seen and Heard: Young people, policing and crime, Metropolitan Police (020 7230 1212)
Date: 2009-Jan
An audit report said that sport and leisure projects designed to help keep young people away from criminal and anti-social activity struggled with a funding system that was 'wasteful, inefficient and bureaucratic'.
Source: Tired of Hanging Around: Using sport and leisure activities to prevent anti-social behaviour by young people, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Summary | Audit Commission press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Jan