Claire McDiarmid, CHILDHOOD AND CRIME Dundee: University Press (www.dup.dundee.ac.uk), 2007. xv + 203 pp. ISBN 9781845860127 (pb). £50.
| Pages | 340-342 |
| Date | 01 May 2008 |
| DOI | 10.3366/E1364980908280480 |
| Author | Liz Campbell |
| Published date | 01 May 2008 |
Claire McDiarmid's book provided this reviewer (a new-comer to the Scottish criminal justice system) with a valuable and clearly written exploration of this jurisdiction's response to children who commit crime. While this work does not have an explicitly comparative approach, it draws on examples from other jurisdictions, and explores concepts that apply to scholars of any juvenile justice process. McDiarmid takes a descriptive and normative approach in assessing the present model of dealing with child criminals and arguing for what she conceives of as the appropriate reaction. As is highlighted, factors that relate to criminal justice as whole, such as the public interest in justice being done and the maintenance of confidence, may be rendered more problematic given the inherent tension in the concept of childhood, which incorporates vulnerability but also competence in other respects.
McDiarmid uses the abduction and murder of toddler James Bulger and the subsequent trial of two children (Robert Thompson and Jon Venables) as a lens through which to view and problematise various concepts related to the child criminal. The author immediately engages the reader by opening the book with the case, and, in addition to devoting a chapter to it, refers to it throughout the text. This enlivens the more abstract discussions throughout the book, and is warranted, given the remarkable media coverage of the case, and its use as a lobbying tool.
In her legal analysis, McDiarmid addresses the capacity of the child offender. Rather than arguing that a child's status as a minor necessarily implies that he lacks capacity to understand his criminal actions, it is posited that any agency which punishes children must determine he has requisite understanding. In evaluating the mental element of the criminal law as it relates to children, McDiarmid does not limit the text to typical legal matters only, but looks to developmental psychology to determine how to ascertain the degree of understanding and competence of a child. In addition, McDiarmid draws on the scholarship of Antony Duff, Victor Tadros and H L A Hart, whose works will perhaps be more familiar to lawyers than those of leading developmental psychologists. McDiarmid makes a valuable contribution to scholarship in this area, by delineating numerous “capacity points” for the court to consider in assessing the capacity of a child, including a volitional element, an ability to distinguish between right and wrong, an...
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