The Impact of the History of the Youth Justice System on Current Policy and Practice - Essay Example

The Impact of the History of the Youth Justice System on Current Policy and Practice. Introduction In the Green Paper (2003) en d Every child matters, the Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Mr. Paul Boateng expressed that children are valuable beings and the world where they must learn to dwell in is one in which they will face hazards and obstacles alongside real and growing opportunities. Children are the future and they easily grow up fast to become adolescents. With this, it is important that adults safeguard the children and realise their potentials of becoming either responsible or irresponsible adults. The Crime Offenders UK (2008) website accounted statistics showing that 287,013 offences were committed by 10- to 17-year-olds, which resulted in convictions in 2004 to 2005. This number represents 20 percent of the 1.4 million offences committed in that year. These figures have been an alarming and the subject on the Youth Justice Systems remains to be in scrutiny by the eyes of many. This essay will trace back the history of the youth justice system and analyse history's impact on the current legislation for youth offenders. History of the Youth Justice System There was an escalation of youth offenders in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s. Thus, the Labour party reacted to the situation and produced the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which created the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and Youth Offending Teams (YOT). According to Pearson (1898), the general impression running through the pages of youth crimes was a riot of impunity, irresponsible parents, working mothers and lax discipline in schools, with magistrates and police believing themselves to be impotent before a rising tide of mischief and violence-particularly the recent serious increase in ruffianism among city youths." It is this recent drive to administer justice locally that highlights the historical comparisons in the methods used to tackle youth offending. Whether it is local authorities issuing antisocial behaviour orders, community courts being created to administer penalties or police publicising the names and faces of young offenders, justice is increasingly administered closer to home (Hayes 2008). The Youth Justice Board (YJB) This is an executive non-departmental public body under the joint governance of the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Children, Schools and Families which aims is to prevent offending among under 18-years-old and it delivers this by setting standards and monitoring performance, promoting good practice and making grants available to local authorities and other bodies. The YJB also manages the juvenile secure estate including arranging placements for sentenced young people. TheYJB has set up a number of diversionary schemes to engage with young people, increase their knowledge and deter them from offending. (Youth Justice Board 2008) This body established the Youth Justice System (Table 1) which serves as the system's summary and guide. Table 1. Steps through the youth justice system Youth Justice System Persons Involved Prevention YOT, LEA, Social Services, Police Pre-court Police, YOT, Local Authority Court Police, YOT, CPS Police, YOT, CPS, Solicitor, Youth Court YOT, Solicitor, CPS, Youth Court / Crown Court Youth Court / Crown Court YOT, Custody YOT = youth offending teams; LEA = local educating authority; CPS = crown prosecution service. Source: Youth Justice System (2008) The Cautioning Plus Project Cautioning plus is defined as a form of cautioning-official warning by the police-which included voluntary participation by the young offender in a preventative programme. One component of the Youth Justice Board is the Cautioning Plus Project (Dawson 2001) which provides direct services, such as counselling, befriending, information, advocacy, holistic welfare, and early crisis intervention to challenge cycles of drug use and crime. With this project, there's a network among the youth offenders with a combined focus among these individuals. Punishments Based from Youth Justice System, youth offenders may have different kinds of punished depending on the offense. If they were to be brought into custody, they can be placed in: (a) Secure Children's Homes, small homes with between six and 40 beds and are mainly run by local authority social services department; (b) Secure Training Centres, accommodate young offenders up to the age of 17 and the regimes are constructive and education-focused providing tailored programmes for young offenders that give them the opportunity to develop as individuals which, in turn, will help stop them re-offending; and (c) Young Offender Institutions, run by the Prison Service and for young offenders aged 15 to 21. (Youth Justice Board 2008) Young offenders may also be sentenced for community service, which is standard and created by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Legislations and Policies The UK government has been aggressively trying to address the matter on youth offenders and provided additional legislations and polices. (a) AntisocialBehaviour Act 2003 (Community Care UK, 2008) This act was introduced by the government in a bid to protect neighbourhoods and communities. Different measures have been undertaken which are targeted at children and includes giving police powers to disperse groups of two or more young people on the streets if they are deemed to be acting antisocially and the extension of fixed penalty fines to young people (Community Care UK, 2008). Since the introduction of the antisocial behaviour legislation, there has been a huge uptake in the number of antisocial behaviour orders being given out. a former chair of the Youth Justice Board Rod Morgan, claimed that the rise in the young offender population in custody in 2004 was a partly a result of breaches of antisocial behaviour orders. (b) ChildrenAct 2004 (Community Care UK, 2008) This act produced in 2004 places emphasis on joined-up working and early intervention. It aims to divert young people away from crime and ensure parents are responsible for their child's behaviour. (c) CriminalJustice and Immigration Act 2008 (Community Care UK, 2008) Under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, provisions for youth justice include the creation of the Youth Rehabilitation Order and statutory one-year reviews for under 18-years-old. YouthCrime Action Plan (Community Care UK, 2008) Published in July 2008, The Youth Crime Action Plan includes: Increasing take-up of parenting orders Expanding family intervention projects More funding for resettlement and aftercare for children leaving custody More funding for intensive fostering pilots With this plan for implementation, it is the councils' lead role on the education and training of young offenders, and they are also responsible for the full cost of court-ordered secure remand. Councils also have a formal duty to review cases where children go to jail and look at whether custody could have been avoided by earlier intervention (Community Care UK 2008). The Youth Justice Board, just as any government agency, do face scrutiny and controversies especially when a youth offender in custody is harmed or worst, died while in custody. Thus, even if there is a system which safeguards the public from these young offenders, the YJB system should also make sure that these individuals will have a safe environment when they are in custody or under community service. The Youth Justice Board came under the joint governance of the Ministry of Justice and the newly created Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF) in June 2007 (Youth Justice System 2008). Rumours say that there have been suspectedapprehensions between the approaches of DSCF and Ministry of Justice. Youth crimes do not seem to show any signs ofdeclining in its figures and remains to be a public concern up to this date. References: Every Child Matters. (2003). Norwich: TSO, p 4. Dawson (2001). Cautioning Plus Project. Available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmhansrd/vo010321/text/10321w02.htm, date accessed 16/01/2009. Hayes, D. (2008). Antisocial behaviour and policies to tackle it: what's new Community Care. Pearson, G. (1898). Hooligan (A History of Respectable Fears), University of London. Wilson, D., Sharp, C., Patterson, A. (2006) Young People and Crime: Findings from the 2005 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, London: Crown Copyright. Youth Justice System. (2008). Step through the youth justice system, Available at http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/TheSystem/, date accessed 16/01/2009. Read More