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elliemunro - My Blog
elliemunro - My Blog


"Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime"
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Thirty children have died in custody in the UK since 1990. There has never been an enquiry into any of them.

This struck me as particularly poignant in light of the recent focus on youth crime, in particular knife crime. Hardly a day seems to pass without a story about some teenage “yob” having stabbed another young person, of gangs roaming the streets, threatening violence. The government seem desperate, and the public afraid.

But does this really reflect the reality of Britain today?

In 2005/06 301, 860 offences were committed by under-18s. The most common crime was theft and handling. This represented a fall from previous years in crimes committed. And yet convictions rose by 26%. 2,900 young people have been locked up in the past year alone. Children as young as 10 are deemed criminally responsible, an age declared unacceptable internationally.

As Y Care International's Youth Justice in Action report puts it, efforts at rehabilitation or keeping young people out of the criminal justice system are often represented as being “soft on crime”. The results of taking the “hard” approach are appalling. 792 child protection referrals involving children in custody in the past two years. 677 recorded instances of self-harm in 11 months. 8 major injuries in 6 months caused by the use of restraint methods. A young boy choking to death on his own vomit as a result of being restrained, after refusing to clean a sandwich toaster. Why are these stories not in the papers?

http://www.youthjusticeinaction.org/youthjustice

August 26, 2008 | 6:21 AM Comments  0 comments

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