Youth Offending Assignment

Youth Offending

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................1
Critical analysis of statement ......................................................................................................1
Risk factors contributing youth offending ..................................................................................3
Impact of youth offending on public services .............................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Youth crime or juvenile offending is defined as the involvement of youth or young
children in illegal activities or behaviours. The issue has been rising rapidly in England and
Wales and imposes serious implications on society and public services. Minors or youth are not
considered as completely mature or developed and their behaviour is influenced greatly by
several factors (Goldson and Muncie, 2015). Thus legal systems have specific procedures to deal
with juveniles such as rehabilitation centres and juvenile detention courts.
Apart from the convictions the financial consequences of involving in youth offending
are also serious. Thus parents, education system, society and public service providers also faces
challenges in securing the future of children. The participation in offences at young age can have
serious long lasting consequences for the children (Wadsworth and Hammond, 2019). The report
will discuss the various factors which are resulting in continuous increment in youth offending. It
will also provide a critical evaluation of the impact of increasing youth crime on various public
services.
DISCUSSION
Critical analysis of statement
“England and Wales is experiencing a 'school to prison line' for its young people”. The
statement demonstrate the increasing extent and severity of youth offences in major parts of UK.
In England and Wales 10 years of age is considered as minimum for criminal responsibility.
However there has been continuous growth in shift from minor or young remand detainees to
sentenced prisoners. The children or young people who are involved in crime activities are major
concern for the parents as well as probation officers. The detention from schools is also assumed
to be major cause for the increasing youth crime (Collins and Haudenhuyse, 2015). The
involvement of youth in criminal activities creates family tensions, financial burden in
convictions and adverse impact on their quality of life. In England increasing participation of
school going children and youth is observed in various crimes such as theft, vandalism, alcohol
and drug offences, assault, disorderly conduct, gun and knife based violence or killing and traffic
violations. Thus severity of youth crime is very broad and can taken even severe form if not
controlled or monitored.
According to youth justice statistics number of minors in remand has increased by 19%
between year 2017 and 2018. and around 40.9% of children were reoffended (Youth Justice
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Statistics 2017/18, England and Wales, 2019 ). The report also describes that in the same
duration there were around 14,400 minors who were first entrant to youth justice system while a
significant number of 26,700 young people and children were sentenced or cautioned. Hence
there is need of effective government policies and initiatives to manage this increasing youth
crime rate.
(Source: Youth Justice Statistics 2017/18, England and Wales, 2019 )
(Source: Youth Justice Statistics 2017/18, England and Wales, 2019 )
England and UK have youth justice system (YJS) which describes and have processes to
convict or prosecute the criminal offences committed by individuals under 18 years. The system
aims at preventing crime offences by young minors or children. The functioning and authority of
YJS is supported by crime and disorder act 1998 which describes YJS as non-departmental
public body (Goldson, 2018). England and Wales are actively working to minimise the
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Illustration 1: Knife and offensive weapon offences
committed by children in Wales and England
Illustration 2: Demographic characteristics of youth offenders