Antisocial and criminal behaviour involving children and young people have been a cause of heightened public concern in England and Wales for more than a quarter of a century. It has been the subject of numerous policy papers, research studies and academic assessments as well as extensive newspaper, radio and television coverage. This has set the context for an ever expanding volume of legislation seeking to amend and improve society's official response. Yet despite a massive injection of resources into the youth justice system the results achieved have been unimpressive, reoffending remains a persistent problem and the general public appears to have little confidence in the youth justice system. The time is ripe therefore for a new look at the problem of youth offending and government and society's response to this. This book accompanies the Report of the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour, published 2010. In it leading authorities in the field, from a variety of different disciplines, review youth crime and different responses to it, focussing particularly on England and Wales but also analysing for comparative purposes the nature of responses in other parts of the world, especially Canada. It will be essential reading for practitioners, policy makers, students and others with an interest in addressing one of today's most intractable social problems.

This topical, accessibly written book moves beyond established critiques to outline a model of positive youth justice: Children First, Offenders Second. Already in use in Wales, the proposed model promotes child-friendly, diversionary, inclusive, engaging, promotional practice and legitimate partnership between children and adults which can serve as a blueprint for other local authorities and countries. Setting out a progressive, positive and principled model of youth justice, the book will appeal to academics, students, practitioners and policy makers seeking to improve working practices and outcomes and will make an important contribution to the debate on youth justice policy.

The authors describe what is known about Canadian youth crime, and the operation of the youth justice system in the context of the changes in the law that are taking place. The authors posit that the youth justice system has a relatively modest impact on youth crime. In order to respond intelligently to it and to evaluate the response of the state, two sets of information must be understood. First, society must try to understand what 'youth crime' looks like in Canada. Second, in order to understand 1 and evaluate 1 the changes that are being made in youth justice legislation in Canada, a clear understanding of the manner in which the youth justice system currently operates is necessary.

This book provides a comprehensive, student-friendly and critical introduction to youth justice in England and Wales, offering a balanced evaluation of its development, rationale, nature and evidence base. It explores the evolution of definitions and explanations of youth offending and examines the responses to it that constitute youth justice. Bringing together theory, policy and practice, this book provides a balanced exposition of contemporary youth justice debates, including detailed discussions of governmental rationales, policy developments, practical issues and an extensive evaluation of critical academic positions. It includes a range of features designed to engage and inspire students: ‘Stop and think’: Activities challenging students to reflect on important issues. ‘Conversations’: Discussions of key themes and issues from the perspectives and experiences of relevant stakeholders, including policy makers and activists. ‘Telling it like it is’: Testimonies giving voice to the personalised, subjective and contentious viewpoints of youth justice influencers. ‘Controversies and debates’: Prompts to stimulate students to question and critique established knowledge and understanding by considering alternative angles. ‘Recurring theme alerts’: Boxes flagging recurring themes in the developing construction of youth offending and youth justice. The new edition has been fully revised and updated and includes discussion of revised National Standards in Youth Justice, the new ‘Child First’ strategic objective for youth justice, the ‘trauma informed practice’ movement, the impact of coronavirus on children in the Youth Justice System and the continued impact of austerity on policy and practice. This book is essential reading for students taking courses in youth justice, youth offending, youth crime, youth work and social policy.

In the minds of the general public, young people and crime are intrinsically linked; wide-spread belief persists that such activities are a result of the ‘permissive 1960s’ and the changing face of the traditional nuclear family. Roger Hopkins Burke challenges these preconceptions and offers a detailed and comprehensive introduction to youth crime and the subsequent response from the criminal justice system. This extended and fully updated new edition explores: The development of young people and attempts to educate, discipline, control and construct them, Criminological explanations and empirical evidence of why young people become involved in criminality, The system established by the Youth Justice Board, its theoretical foundations, and the extent of its success, Alternative approaches to youth justice around the globe and the apparent homogenisation throughout the neoliberal world. The second edition also includes new chapters looking at youth justice in the wider context of social policy and comparative youth justice. Young People, Crime and Justice is the perfect undergraduate critical introduction to the youth justice system, following a unique left-realist perspective while providing a balanced account of the critical criminology agenda, locating the practical working of the system in the critical socio-economic context. It is essential reading for students taking modules on youth crime, youth justice and contemporary social and criminal justice policy. Text features include key points, chapter summaries and review questions.

Adolescence is a distinct, yet transient, period of development between childhood and adulthood characterized by increased experimentation and risk-taking, a tendency to discount long-term consequences, and heightened sensitivity to peers and other social influences. A key function of adolescence is developing an integrated sense of self, including individualization, separation from parents, and personal identity. Experimentation and novelty-seeking behavior, such as alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex, and reckless driving, are thought to serve a number of adaptive functions despite their risks. Research indicates that for most youth, the period of risky experimentation does not extend beyond adolescence, ceasing as identity becomes settled with maturity. Much adolescent involvement in criminal activity is part of the normal developmental process of identity formation and most adolescents will mature out of these tendencies. Evidence of significant changes in brain structure and function during adolescence strongly suggests that these cognitive tendencies characteristic of adolescents are associated with biological immaturity of the brain and with an imbalance among developing brain systems. This imbalance model implies dual systems: one involved in cognitive and behavioral control and one involved in socio-emotional processes. Accordingly adolescents lack mature capacity for self-regulations because the brain system that influences pleasure-seeking and emotional reactivity develops more rapidly than the brain system that supports self-control. This knowledge of adolescent development has underscored important differences between adults and adolescents with direct bearing on the design and operation of the justice system, raising doubts about the core assumptions driving the criminalization of juvenile justice policy in the late decades of the 20th century. It was in this context that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) asked the National Research Council to convene a committee to conduct a study of juvenile justice reform. The goal of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach was to review recent advances in behavioral and neuroscience research and draw out the implications of this knowledge for juvenile justice reform, to assess the new generation of reform activities occurring in the United States, and to assess the performance of OJJDP in carrying out its statutory mission as well as its potential role in supporting scientifically based reform efforts.