Comparative Youth Justice - Essay Example

Comparative Youth Justice - Custody is an Expensive Way of Making Bad People Worse Ayesha Khalid Research-Academia Comparative Youth Justice - Custody is an Expensive Way of Making Bad People Worse Why do we call it Youth Justice System why not criminal justice system or something else? Why have we singled out youth only? A major justification stands out to be that the standard justice system is for people who are mature, sound and are not incapacitated emotionally or physically while youth is a term used for people under the age of 17 who are juvenile, lack the sense of maturity and responsibility for their actions. Despite their naivety, initially children were treated and punished in the same way as their adult counterparts irrespective of their crime but gradually the criminal justice system was introduced to reforms that ensured an alternate protocol to deal with child crime. Tracing the history of youth justice system, In 1933, The Children and Young Persons Act (1933, Sec. 44(1)) was introduced which said, ‘Every court in dealing with a child or young person who is brought before it, either as an offender or otherwise, shall have regard to the welfare of the child or young person and shall in a proper case take steps for removing him from undesirable surroundings, and for securing that proper provision is made for his education and training’. Since then there have been amendments and changes to this act. Later acts, for example, The Children and Young Persons Act of 1969 (1969, Sec. 43 (1)) gave a more of a welfare spin to youth justice but the question arises that should the young ones be punished for their crimes (which they might have committed in adolescence and immaturity)? People have different perspectives over this, some say that they should be forgiven and sent to rehabilitation centres while others are of a view that they should be punished so they learn their lesson and never repeat the mistake again. Surprisingly, it has been observed that first timers who have been punished for their crime tend to become second time offenders. This might be associated to the severity of the punishment that consequently makes the young so revengeful of the society. The next logical inquisitions that pop up include, is custody/punishment an expensive way of making bad people worse? Does the locking up of children work? Statistics show that around 2203 children are in custody in England and Wales and most of them are imprisoned for non-violent offences so does it add up to be logical to imprison a child for a non-violent crime when they can be rehabilitated in the community? Locking someone in prison is usually for individuals who are harm to community. The premise of taking a child into custody is a thought that suggests that they are a hazard to society. Children tend to wallow, all their lives in a complex that they were not worthy enough to be forgiven and given another chance. These disturbing thoughts make them so hateful of the society that they begin to think that no matter what they do, they will land up in a prison anyway. According to Morse (2010, Sec. 6), in his report to the ministry of justice, such thoughts make it easier for these children to go back to crime thus they end up being second time offenders. Although all of them do have a potential to have a good life again but once they get into a prison such is the urge of reoffending that they are likely to be engaged the cycle of getting in and out of prison for life. According to Wark (2010), some young offenders were interviewed during a research and it came out that those children have now become worst than before. A child who was given a custodial sentence at the age of 12 for robbing off people to buy drugs, is now a maniac to society, he was expelled thrice from school after that then became a rebel. He began fighting on streets, spitting at teachers, threw chairs at fellow students and started smoking, he has become an angry rebellious child who is not acceptable anywhere and the already highlighted non-acceptance has affected the child’s life negatively. In an alternative discourse, had he been sent to some rehab after he was the caught the first time, the case would have a different and much amiable outcome. There is less doubt in concluding that a child in custody destroys the child’s morality moreover the expense of keeping a single child in custody is far more than educating them in best schools of England. Jailing one young criminal costs around 140000 pounds a year to the tax payer according to Mirror News UK (3 January 2010). Multiplied to the number of young in jails, this is a huge amount that is spent yearly on keeping juveniles in custody. Locking up young offenders makes them more likely to commit further crimes and be unemployed later in life. The same money should rather be saved and invested in rehabilitation programmes. Morris (2004), a home affairs correspondent at The Independent UK writes, ‘The £283m bill for locking up young offenders is largely wasted, with the vast majority committing new crimes when they are released, MPs warned yesterday. When these offenders are released they have trouble in finding jobs, homes and education and later on become a burden on the economy’. According to Morris (2004), a survey held in England showed that 80% of the teenagers who were locked up were reconvicted within two years. Morris (2004) also states that the Youth Justice Board spends 72 per cent of its £394m budget on custody, which is a huge amount and if the proportion of young offenders given custodial sentences increases so will the budget spent on the so there is a dire need of developing some alternative to custody. Young people in the criminal justice system are a significant financial burden not only on that system but also on social services, health and education. It is of immediate concern that our leadership needs to combat the problems of youth and find pragmatic, implementable short term and long term remedies to those problems. It is a long known fact among sociologists that criminal behaviour is caused by a range of factors and circumstances. Likewise personal behaviour and thinking is shaped over years by environment and experiences in which an individual grows up. There are plenty of reasons for young people indulging in criminal activities for example lack of discipline at home, violence at home where either of the parent abuses the other in front of the child, financial issues and educational instability. More often teenagers are a target of peer pressure that makes them do things they dont want to do as Barret, et al. (2006, pp. 541-546) suggests. The community centres and government agencies should analyze and rethink their policy steps and measures as to ensure that every child gets a safe environment at home and in school. The issue nonetheless bears a hope aspect attached to it. The recent improvements in youth justice system have made reductions in recorded youth crime but young offenders who receive more serious community or custodial sentences are likely to reoffend, confirmed by Healey and Farrington (2004, pp. 93-105). The number of young people held in custody has decreased by 14 percent over the past five years and there is a further chance of greater reductions. The overall goal of the youth justice system is to prevent offending by young people but local and national governments both play an important role in it to introduce more youth friendly, socially intelligent correction system. Reference List 1933. The Children and Young Persons Act, The National Archives. Sec. 44 (1). 1969. The Children and Young Persons Act, The National Archives. Sec. 43 (1). Barrett, B. Byford, S. Chitsabesan, P. & Kenning, C., 2006. Mental Health Provision for Young Offenders: Service Use and Cost, The British Journal of Psychiatry 188, pp. 541-546. Healey, A. Knapp, M. & Farrington, D. P., 2004. Adult Labour Market Implications of Antisocial Behaviour in Childhood and Adolescence: Findings from a UK Longitudinal Study, Applied Economics 36, pp. 93-105. 2010. ‘Jailing One Young Criminal Costs Taxpayer £140k a Year’, Mirror News UK. 3 January, Online edition, viewed 27 February, 2011, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/03/01/140k-kids-in-jail-115875-22077168/ Morse, A., 2010. The Youth Justice System in England and Wales: Reducing Offending by Young People, National Audit Act 1983, Sec. 6. Morris, N. A., 2004. ‘£283m for Youth Custody Wasted’, The Independent UK. 24 October, Online edition. Viewed 27 February 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/acircpound283m-for-youth-custody-wasted-535201.html. Wark, P., 2010. Locking up Children doesnt Work, The International Child and Youth Care Network, 9 February. Online edition. Viewed 27 February 2011, http://www.cyc-net.org/features/viewpoints/viewpoint-100210.html. Appendix – Presentation Pointers 1. What is youth justice system, how do you define it? A system made for youth, people or children under the age of 17. Children cannot be dealt in the normal adult courts although initially there was no separate justice system for youth. It sprang in the early 1930s, matured in late 60s and mature legislation came in 1989 and 2004. 2. The first point to be discussed here is that should the children be held in custody or punished for what they do? People have different perspectives over it but in most cases it has been observed that all the first time offenders who were taken into custody repeated the same mistake again and all through their lives went in and out of jail. 3. Does the locking up of children work? Statistics show that around 2203 children are in custody in England and most of them are charged for non violent charges. Such children become a menace to a society afterwards; they become rebellious, revengeful and grow up with complexes. 4. Most importantly the government has to bear a huge expense of keeping a single child in custody, yearly millions of pounds worth of resources wasted on it, and those same resources can be used in a better and more fruitful way. What is the point of wasting pound 283 million pounds yearly for locking up young offenders when they tend to become second time offenders who later on become a burden on society and economy? 5. Youth crime is caused by many factors such as the environment provided at home and in school, the kind of people child hangs around with, peer pressure, exposure to violence and etc. These all things should be taken care of by guardians, society and legislation. 6. However there is a reduction in the youth crime but young offenders who receive more serious community or custodial sentences are likely to reoffend. Effective and efficient corrective measures must be adopted. Read More