Responding to Youth Crime
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700416 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
285
security
measures.
However,
only
about
a
third
of
the
incidents
were
reported
to
the
police.
A
similar
proportion
of
victims
who
did
report
were
unhappy
with
the
police
response.
Since
this
research
took
place,
a
new
guidance
document
for
the
police
(and
for
victims)
has
been
issued,
and
could
lead
to
an
improvement
in
the
way
these
incidents
are
handled.
Finally,
the
study
highlights
the
overlap
between
stalking,
domestic
and
sexual
violence:
in
29%
of
cases
the
perpetrator
was
a
partner
or
former
partner
of
the
victim,
40%
of
all
incidents
involved
violence
or
the
threat
of
it
and
7%
involved
sexual
assault.
It
is
suggested
that
this
interrelationship
could
form
the
basis
of
useful
future
research.
The
Extent
and
Nature
of
Stalking:
Findings
from
the
1998
British
Crime
Survey,
2000,
by
Tracey
Budd
and
Joanna
Mattinson,
with
the
assistance
of
Andy
Myhill,
Home
Office
Research
Study
210.
Responding
to
Youth
Crime
This
Children’s
Society
report
draws
on
a
wide
range
of
research
and
literature
to
argue
that
the
’tough
justice’
approach
to
youth
crime
does
not
work.
Particular
criticism
is
directed
towards
the
fact that
more
children
are
imprisoned
in
England
and
Wales
than
virtually
any
other
European
country;
and
at
the
abolition
of
the
principle
of
doli
incapax,
which
has
resulted
in
a
lowering
of
the
age
of
criminal
responsibility
to
10
years
old.
This
compares
with
12
in
Turkey,
14
in
Romania,
16
in
Portugal
and
Spain
and
18
in
Belgium
and
Luxembourg:
&dquo;Section
3
of
the
Pet
Animals
Act
1951
provides
that
it
is
not
until
a
child
has
reached
the
age
of
12
that
they
may
be
regarded
as
being
sufficiently
responsible
...
to
buy
a
pet&dquo; ... &dquo;It
is
curiously
anomalous
and
legally
inconsistent
therefore,
to
regard
the
same
child,
albeit
two
years
younger,
to
be
sufficiently
responsible
to
face
the
full
rigour
of
the
criminal
law.&dquo;
(p.4)
As
well
as
being
engagingly
written,
one
of
the
report’s
strengths
lies
in
the
wealth
of
evidence
and/or
carefully
constructed
arguments
advanced
for
each
of
its
contentions.
These
include:
.
Custody
for
children
must
be
ended
if
youth
offending
teams
and
the
other
agencies
encouraged
to
develop
effective
responses
to
youth
crime
are
to
succeed.
The
resources
thereby
freed
up
should
be
directed
towards
community
responses.
The
few
young
people
who
pose
too
great
a
risk
to
be
in
the
community
should
be
held
in
properly
resourced
secure
children’s
homes.
Other
alternatives
to
custody
could
include
restorative
justice
projects
or
the
kind of
bail
support
schemes
run
by
the
Children’s
Society
in
Manchester
and
Dorset.
These
offer
programmes
designed
to
address
the
Court’s
concerns
that
young
people
might
offend
on
bail
or
fail
to
return
for
trial.
.
Disadvantage
and
offending
are
linked;
while
there
is
no
attempt
to
belittle
the
extent
of
the
youth
crime
problem,
the
report
points
out
that
children
from
poor
backgrounds
are
at
greatest
risk
of
becoming
embroiled
in
crime.
.
Imprisonment
greatly
damages
children;
there
is
considerable research
to
show
that
conditions
can
be
brutal
and
inhumane.
During
1998-1999,
there
were
944
recorded
incidents
of
self
harm
at
young
offender
institutions
in
England
and
Wales.
Between
1989
and
1999,
more
than
30
young
people
committed
suicide
in
such
establishments.
Reading
this
well
presented
and
argued
report
in
full
is
strongly
recommended
to
anyone
with
an
interest
in
this
field.
Tough
Justice:
Responding
to
Children
in
Trouble,
2000,
by
Barry
Goldson
and
Eleanor
Peters,
published
by
The
Children’s
Society,
Edward
Rudolf
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