Youth Justice in the UK - Essay Example

Youth Justice in the UK Introduction 'The commitment to effective practice, in itself highly desirable, has frequently been accompanied by an unwarranted certainty about 'what works' allowing little space for debate' (Bateman and Pitts, 2004, p.252). There are various factors that contribute towards explaining this statement which is enumerated as follows- Youth – Victims of Crime Youth is the most vulnerable section of society and hence are more prone to becoming victims of crime. There are many reasons leading to such a situation, that force youth to fall a prey to the abuse of alcohol and drugs that is the key factor that paves the way of committing various crimes. One of the chief reasons for this is the absence of a harmonious, healthy and close knit family life. Poor communication (both verbal and non-verbal) leads to a lot of misunderstanding among the family members. When faced with such a situation, to become apprehensive, withdrawn, bored, disgusted and nurture feelings of fear and guilt. Every individual is unique and forms their own assumptions based on their perceptions. Many of the youth are not very clear about life and its consequences, for the main reason of being young, and their perception of life is quite different from a matured adult. Wrong perceptions snowball into various conflicts and contradictions which easily leads them towards crime. According to Laurie Mullins, “Perception is the root of all organizational behavior; any situation can be analyzed in terms of its perceptual connotations”. (Laurie Mullins, Organizational Behavior, Chap. 7, 6th Edition. 2002) Another major cause for leading the youth astray is alcohol and drug abuse. The youth are not in a position to understand the dangers behind this and are slowly sucked into a kind of trap that the find very difficult to come out of. As they go deeper, they stop at nothing to satisfy this need. They engage in robbery, petty thefts in the beginning but later on move into much bigger crimes such as extortion and murder. The modern day ‘binge drinking culture’ has spawned an acceleration of crime. While most people in the UK, drink within safety limits, but unfortunately the youth are not so serious about this. Though alcohol is a “disinhibitor”, yet it is undoubtedly linked to crime. Alcohol serves to relieve people from depression, vulnerability and low- self esteem and gives them courage to do many things of which crime is a major factor. In social circles, alcohol intake helps people who are shy and withdrawn, to open up and give expression to their thoughts and ideas, but if not kept within limits it can impair judgment and lead to poor or destructive behavior. According to the statistics given for drunken driving, in 2005, approximately 1.4 million drivers were arrested for being under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. (Department of Justice, 2005) In 2005, about 48 children under the age of 14 and younger were killed as pedestrians or pedal cyclists were struck by impaired drivers (NHTSA 2006). More than half of the 414 child passengers ages 14 years and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 were riding with the drinking driver (NHTSA 2006). UK being the sixth largest economic country contains an immense amount of wealth and this indirectly reflects on the ethical behavior of its citizens. Youth, who are considered neither children nor as adults fall into the most sensitive part of the society, that is more easily susceptible to crimes. The cause for youth crime is not definable and cannot be narrowed down to one. Among the main important reasons that contribute to the cause of youth crime like, poverty (which is unacceptable here), peer pressure, inefficient law enforcement and the family, account for being the most pivotal. Since the youth grow up with only the teaching and behavior of their parents and teachers in school, their influence is reflected quickly. When parents do not pay much attention to their children and they are busy with issues concerning themselves, their children take the upper hand and law into their own hands and commit crimes of their choice just to be noticed. Robbery sets an easy target and is achieved even more easily. When the parents fail to monitor their children closely on what they do, where they go and the circle of friends they keep on a daily basis, it becomes easier for them to go out of their way to get what they desire because of the freedom they possess. Murders and rapes have become common place which is saddening enough and what adds on to it is the increasing practice of gun culture. Parents should be able to keep their children under control yet not force them to abide by the rules of justice and avoid practicing anything at home which they wouldn’t prefer to see their children committing. Mere understanding between the members of the family can prove to be a valuable solution to this alarming increase in crime rates among the youth of UK. Blaming the family alone will be unfair as the laws against such crimes earlier were not strong enough to scare the youth or create any kind of fear. The inefficiency was clearly stated, “it does not make enough efforts to lead youngsters from a life of crime towards more constructive activities” states Alfred Hakkert (1998) in the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. Peer pressure is another major cause for youth taking the path towards crime. When pressure is placed on any youth by all his peers he feels compelled to perform whatever is expected of him because otherwise he would not be accepted into their gang or group. This sort of pressure leads many of the youth to crimes of stealing, extortion, drug and alcohol abuse, murder and rape. At this age the sense of belonging to a group and hanging out with them at all times is a vital part of their lives and that is why gullible youth are easy targets that get forced into crimes such as these. Peer pressure does not only mean being forced to do something which at regular times is not the norm, but it also means trying to ape some of the friends who do such things on a regular basis so as to show off to their other group members what they are capable of doing. Peer pressure also means changing ones lifestyle in order to ‘fit in’ with the group- such as bunking school, smoking, taking alcohol or drugs, engaging in sex or having a boy or girlfriend. If one does not succumb to peer pressure he would be called a ‘sissy’ or ‘mama’s boy’ or plain ‘dull’. Therefore, a lot of innocent youth fall easy prey to pressure from their peers because they don’t want to be named by such terms but instead they want to look and behave cool among their friends. The Criminal Justice System – Code of Practice With regard to places like England and Wales, the Code of Practice was initiated in April 2006 and lends its support to victims of crime. Some of these organizations are- a) YOTs (Youth Offending Teams) b) Prison Services c) Crown Prosecution Services d) Her Majesty’s Court’s Services e) Probation Services f) IPCC (Independent Police Complaint Commission. These groups work towards the good of the victim offering support like guidance and advice, conducting various programs for intimidated and vulnerable youth who have been misguided into crime and guiding them through the complaints and information procedures and release of criminal offenders. The Youth Justice System in the UK plays a comprehensive and significant role in the life of the youth today. The YOT (Youth Offending Teams) as it is called is made up of a comprehensive network that works in coordination with the U.S. justice systems, in the most responsible manner targeting young offenders with the primary intention of crime prevention. The YOT is made up of teams that are located in areas such as England and Wales and work in close connection with the local police authorities. Every YOT team has a team manager who engages his team in connecting with authorities from social services, officers from alcohol and drug abuse, probation services and other health, education, police and social services. The YOT has the responsibility of finding out the reasons behind the younger offender, assess his needs, identify the various problems and find solutions that would cater to the needs of the offender end there by put an end to further crime or offence. In addition to this, the YOT also analyzes the risks posed to the other members of society, and draws up various programs to wean the youth away from crime. Conclusions The British government is going all out to help the youth of today, by framing many constructive programs engaging youth in more responsible activities. It is making use of a broad brush approach in relation to drug and alcohol abuse in the society, with the hope that there would be a fall in matters related to crime. For example, in 2006, the department of health’s national alcohol strategy came up with a campaign that encouraged the youth to drink sensibly. The campaign titled “Know your Limits” made use of disturbing TV commercials, involving drunken people who got hurt and killed. The British government also called upon the media to use shock tactics for the intake of alcohol. It is also contemplating making use of cigarettes style labels on Alcohol bottles warning people that it is dangerous. In the broader picture, The Government is also using the educational front to teach children about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse from a young age. Each and every human being dreams of having a loving and close knit family. In order to fulfill this dream every member within the family should be at peace with each and never in fear so that they not feel supported but also enjoy better rapport and communication with each other thereby paving a way for harmonious and peaceful relationships. In this respect too, the British Government is taking steps to bridge the gap between parents and the offenders by engaging them in various family building program services. In trying to deal with peer pressure, the Government advises parents to take the help of their own local community organization who render youth services such as timely mentoring, get-togethers of the youth in that vicinity, meditation or give them some responsibility to take their mind off crime or Peer pressure. The local police or community officers could also help the family by assigning much safer schools for their youth. The unemployment factor among the youth is also a sore thumb in pushing youth towards crime. Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary told the BBC that, "We have both a moral obligation and an economic need to make sure that young people involuntarily without jobs aren't lost to work," (BBC World News, 2009) In lieu of the situation, ‘The Backing Young Britain’ campaign will see £1bn spent to create 100,000 new jobs for young people and a further 50,000 jobs in what it calls "unemployment hotspots". (BBC World News, 2009) In addition to this, the British Government is also working in tandem with the Department for International Development through various volunteering schemes for the youth of UK with a special focus on young people coming from the disadvantaged sectors of society. (UK Youth News, 2009) References Alcohol and Crime – Alcohol Issues (UK) www.alcoholissues.co.uk/alcohol-crime.html BBC News/ Business/ Brown expands youth Job scheme. www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8232789.stm Commentary: Causes of Youth Crime Culture in UK http://www.helium.com/knowledge/98131-commentary-causes-of-youth-crime-culture-in-uk Drunken Driving Statistics www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html Impaired Driving Facts – NCIPC/ Journal www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drving.htm L. Mullins, (2002) Management and Organizational Behavior, Chapter 11, 6th Edition. Peer pressure www.childline.org.uk/Info/Life/Pages/PeerPressure.aspx Preventing and dealing with involvement in gangs www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/.../DG_171320 UK Youth News/ UK Youth Welcomes Government Backed- Global Volunteering Schemes. www.ukyouth.org/.../UK+Youth+welcomes+Government-backed+Global+Volunteering+Scheme.htm Youth Justice Board - YJB www.yjb.gov.uk/ Commentary: Causes of Youth Crime Culture in UK http://www.helium.com/knowledge/98131-commentary-causes-of-youth-crime-culture-in-uk Read More