Youth Offending: Factors and Impact on Public Services

This essay analyzes the factors contributing to youth offending and the impact of the School to Prison Line issue on public services in England and Wales. It discusses strict school policies, governmental initiatives, and the need for equal treatment of all students. It also explores the consequences of youth offending on public services, particularly education.

Youth Offending

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Critical analysis of the statement which is School to Prison Line in England and Wales and the
factors which are contributing to youth offending and the impact of this on public services.....1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Youth offending is combination of such types of activities which are performed by a
person who is no more a child and not an adult yet. These individuals are known as youth
offenders which has been cautioned or convicted for a criminal offence. In England and Wales,
the School to Prison Line issue is increasing since last few years. Which is leading the young
people towards such activities Which are not legal according to law. These types of people
provide training to youngsters to divert their focus towards crime and lead their future towards
risk (Anderson, Hawes and Snow, 2016). Present essay is based upon analysis of the factors
which are increasing the problem of School to Prison Line in England and Wales. For this
purpose, different topics are discussed in this essay which are governmental policies and
initiatives, impact of school to prison line on public services etc. Apart from this, the factors that
are contributing in the youth offending long with critical analysis of the way in which it affects
public services are also covered in this essay.
MAIN BODY
Critical analysis of the statement which is School to Prison Line in England and Wales and the
factors which are contributing to youth offending and the impact of this on public services
Youth offending is one of the major issues which are faced by England and Wales and it is
creating the issue of School to Prison Line. This problem takes place because of strict
governance and policies of schools. IN other words, it could be defined as the process through
pout students are pushed out of schools towards prisons. Due to this, the adults from
disadvantage backgrounds become incarcerated because of the increment of harsh municipal and
school policies. In England and Wales all the students which are not having good background are
not accepted by the schools and they formulate strict policies for them. Due to this the
individuals get offended and they perform criminal activities. For all the educational institutes it
is very important to make sure that they treat each and every student equally so that the problem
of School to Prison line could be dealt properly. It is also known as school house to jail house
track. It takes place due to dis-appropriate tendency of young people who are not adult yet. All
the students who are from disadvantage background should be treated very politely as they need
more care as compared to the individuals who are from good family background (Bateman,
2017).
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The schools in England and Wales are having very strict policies for such students as
they think that individuals from disadvantage background are not good and they cannot get
education like other students who are from good families. This tendency of schools offending the
students and leading them towards the criminal activities. When all the students in schools will
be discriminated on the basis of their background then it will leave negative impacts upon mind
set of individuals and it will result in youth offending. The school board think that all the
youngsters from bad background can perform in-disciplinary activities so the disciplinary
policies that are formed by them are very strict. If they make a small mistake then tough
punishment is provided to them which leads towards youth offending. It also put students in to
contact with law enforcement.
There are various types of governmental policies and initiatives which are take by the
legal authorities for the purpose of reducing youth offending or crime. The government decided
to set upon secure colleges so that all the young person’s time in custody as education in
detention could be treated properly. Detention with education as an afterthought will not be
focused according to the rules of legal authority (Governmental initiatives for youth crime,
2020). Initiative regarding simplification of youth sentences is also taken so that the
effectiveness at rehabilitation could be enhanced. The use of restorative justice approaches will
be increased so that the victims can explain the implication of offence which is caused. The
government has also decided to reduce the use of remand in custody for youngsters and the local
councils will be responsible for the cost of remand. All these initiatives are taken by the legal
authorities so that the possibility of youth offending could be reduced for future.
One of the main policies which are imposed by the government was youth justice system.
It was introduced to prevent the offending by the children and individuals between the age of 10
to 17 year. Apart from this, their welfare is also safeguarded while formulation of the new
systems. It has resulted positively and the number of youngsters in custody have decreased.
According to legal authorities most of the young people attempt their first crime at very early
stage and if their lives will be improved before their criminal offences or behaviour then it can
help to reduce their offending and make a crime free community (Factors contributing in youth
offending, 2020).
School to prison line takes place because of strict rule and regulation of schools and
municipal, corporations against the students who are from a disadvantage background. In order
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to reduce the youth offending it is very important for all the schools to formulate such policies in
which all the individuals will be treated equally by the staff. School to prison line leaves impact
upon public services. The increasing rate of it results in higher focus on parents in selecting best
school for their children so that they can stay away from any type of legal offence. The public
services such as education gets highly impacted because of this issue as it leaves negative impact
upon mind sets of students and affect their studies. In order to protect students and assure safety
in schools it is essential for the board members to make sure that all the criminal incidents that
have negative impacts on students are ignored (Briggs, 2017).
There are various factors which are contributing to the experience of young people
regarding school to prison line. One of the key factors which is resulting in this issue for the
students is strict policies and rules of schools for the students having disadvantaged background.
Due to this, they feel left out of other students and it leads them to take part in criminal activities.
If the school authority will treat all the students equally then the percentage of youth offending in
England and Wales will be reduced. Another factor is exclusionary disciplinary policies. Most of
the schools are having very strict policies for small indiscipline for students and they have to
bear tough punishments for small mistakes such as coming late to the school. Due to this, the
students feel insecure and their mid is diverted towards the criminal activities at school (Case,
2018).
Some of the schools in England and Wales are having zero tolerance policies due to
which all the students are required to be in specific discipline. If they do not follow the school’s
policies then strict action against them is taken and the punishment could be in physical or
mental terms. Due to all these policies the students get removed from the school environment
and they get in touch with the incarceration system. Zero tolerance policy also results in
suspension of most of the students from school and such types of students are most likely to get
engaged in youth offending as they cannot tell their parents about the suspension.
Racial disparities is also a cause of school to prison line. In schools all the teachers do not
treat all the students equally as they discriminate on the basis of race, for example, if a student is
having brown or black skin then the teach will not give importance to that person equal to a
white student. It leaves negative impact of that student and lead them towards behavioural
offenses (Fitz-Gibbon and O’Brien, 2017).
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Poor conditions for learning is also a factor which contributes in the school to prison line
issue. When a student is not good in studies, peer support and have caring connection with
teacher then it will result in challenges in studies. Due to this, the scores in examination will get
affected and they will get punishment for tehri poor efforts in scoring higher marks in exams. If
they are not able to experience positive conditions in school then they are ore likely to get
engaged in criminal offences.
Family and school disconnection is one of the major factors which is resulting in youth
offending. If the family members are not able to get in touch with the school then it will be very
difficult to know about the progress of child. When they will not get details of the student’s
behaviour at school then they cannot interact with children and ask them to share their problems.
Due to this, youngsters get demotivated and it leads them towards criminal activities (Gray,
2016).
There are various factors which are resulting in criminal offences of youngsters. It is very
important for all the school staff to make sure that they are not taking part in any type of
activities which may result in criminal offences of students. If they will not be able to do the
same then it will lead all the students who are feeling left out towards youth offending. In order
to deal with the problem of school to prison line the school committee can analyse that the
policies that are used by them to maintain discipline in school are not very strict. If they think
that these are strict then changes in them should be made so that the students who are getting
education can reduce their focus from criminal activities and pay attention towards their study
(Hunter, 2019).
Youth offending creates disturbance for society which results in changing policies to deal
with the issue of youth crime. When different types of criminal activities are performed by
youngsters then it affects lifestyle of normal people and they cannot live their life freely because
of threat of getting affected by any type of crime. Apart from this, one of the main public service
is education which also gets affected because of youth crime. For example, if a student in a
school performs any type of illegal activities then it affects the education of all the other students
taking education from same school. Their parents become more focused with their safety and
future and then they change tehri school which leave negative impact upon studies as frequent
changes in school which result in year drop out (Ward, 2018). Youth offending mainly affects
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the life of students taking education in schools because if any of their school mate commits crime
then they will not be able to pay attention towards their studies as they will be in threat.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it has been concluded that youth offending is the crimes
that are performed by young people who are not yet adult and cannot be treated as children.
Students take part in criminal activities because of strict policies of school and municipal
corporation against such students who are having disadvantage background. The main causes of
it are policies such as zero tolerance, strict discipline etc. apart from this, racial disparities, port
conditions for learning, family school disconnection etc. School to prison line is resulting in
negative impacts upon the public services which are used by normal public. One of them is
education and because of criminal offences most of the students have to sacrifice their studies as
their parents do not think that sending their child to a school where individual performed
criminal activity is good.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Anderson, S. A., Hawes, D. J. and Snow, P. C., 2016. Language impairments among youth
offenders: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review. 65. pp.195-203.
Bateman, T., 2017. England and Wales. In International handbook of juvenile justice (pp. 287-
304). Springer, Cham.
Briggs, D. B., 2017. Youth justice and youth penality in England and Wales: A theoretical and
empirical exploration (Doctoral dissertation, University of Liverpool).
Case, S., 2018. Youth justice: A critical introduction. Routledge.
Fitz-Gibbon, K. and O’Brien, W., 2017. The naming of child homicide offenders in England and
Wales: The need for a change in law and practice. British journal of criminology. 57(5).
pp.1061-1079.
Gray, P., 2016. ‘Child friendly’international human rights standards and youth offending team
partnerships. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. 45. pp.59-74.
Hunter, K., 2019. Institutionalised criminalisation: Black and minority ethnic children and
looked after children in the youth justice system in England and Wales (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Liverpool).
Ward, J., 2018. Problem-solving criminal justice: developments in England and Wales. Utrecht
L. Rev. 14. p.7.
Online
Governmental initiatives for youth crime. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-
young-offenders/2010-to-2015-government-policy-young-offenders>
Factors contributing in youth offending. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.air.org/resource/keeping-young-people-out-prison-and-classroom>
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