What Policies Should Be Incorporated in the UK Youth Justice System - Coursework Example

Party Policy INTRODUCTION Throughout history, various criminologists have contributed to defining the term youth and according to Muncie in ‘Youth and Crime’1, it is a variable period in the life-span of a person, which falls between infancy and adulthood, hence it has been a dilemmatic challenge to unanimously agree upon a specific age at which a child can be given the liberty of being considered incapable of committing an offence. Thus despite numerous developments in the judicial system of the world over time, the system of youth justice has undergone changes and reforms since its initial enunciation in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s, owing to a substantial rise in crime rates. HISTORY OF YOUTH AND JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Though the growth rate slowed down by 1990s, as according to Jim Goddard in ‘Youth justice policy in the United Kingdom’2, UK had already witnessed an astronomical 50% overall increase in the crime rate in 1987 as compared to late 1970s. As a result, the leading political parties, namely the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, proposed various strategic solutions to this menacing problem; however from 1950s to 1990s they faced continued failure of policies, as the crime rate incessantly increased. Policies such as the ‘Criminal Justice Act of 1991’ proposed the abolishment of penal sanctions and supported the concept of ‘punishment within community’; moving into 1993, the Conservative Party sided with the development of training centers for young people of 12-14 years of age. Also, the reliance on the use of custody methods led to a devastating increase by double in the number of youth from 15 to 17 years old in custody till June 1998. In addition, the Labour Party under the leadership of Tony Blair made criminal justice an eminent feature of the party’s political agenda. The national hype in the demand for an effective youth justice system was created in 1993 when James Bulger (6 years) was murdered by two 10 year old boys on Merseyside. Thus, with the advent of the Blair regime in 1994, UK politics began devoting considerable attention to crime issues. YOUTH JUSTICE UNDER THE LABOUR PARTY SINCE 1990 Key Points In 1997, the Labour Party Manifesto for the General Elections included the following:3 1- Reducing the time spent between arresting and sentencing by half. 2- Scrapping of repeated cautions, and replacing it with a final warning system. 3- Development of geographically created ‘Youth Offending Team’. 4- Streamlining of Youth Courts. 5- Parents were made responsible for their children’s misbehavior. 6- A ‘Zero-Tolerance- policy was to be adapted against crimes committed by the young people. Tackling Knives Action Programme, Anti- Social Behavior Order and Youth Offending Teams4 In order to control the youth crime rate, it is imperative to consider the causes which provoke violent instinct in the young people, and only when the causes are matched against the consequences, can the negative outcome be prevented. Labour Party, since 1997 has initiated preventive policies like the Tackling Knives Action Programme- TKAP, which controls the most prominent form of youth crime which is in the form of knife crime; and also other forms of youth violence through the Anti- Social Behavior Order, which monitors individuals and families that have a disturbing attitude towards the community as whole, and by whose actions the other members of the community feel insecure. Furthermore, policies have also been implemented which manage post-crime behavior of the individuals who were convicted or cautioned, these teams comprise of expertise and sufficient resources to make sure the youth are on the right track. Custodial conditions have also been upgraded and amended to include special conditions for the young people such as better healthcare and educational services; in addition, the victims are consulted and given the right to voice opinions. Plus, misbehavior of students at school and their attendances are properly monitored, and also established the ‘Sure Start Children’s Centres’ which help parents by the provision of mentoring for healthy upbringing of their children and positive attitude inducing activities. INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE LABOUR PARTY Despite the efforts of the Labour Party and the positive results its policies attained coupled by the large support it amassed from the British population, it failed to achieve the extent of desired results which was aimed and according to the research by Liberal Democrats5: ‘More than a million children have been convicted of a criminal offence and another million cautioned since Labour came to power’ The Liberal Democrats claim that this is not just a mere statement, but it is supported by factual figures: 1,033,454 children between the ages of 10years to 17years have been charged with an offence since 1997. This comprises of a surprisingly 30,000 10 to 12 year olds as well. UK has undergone an 87.2% and 54.6% increase in youth crime convictions for 10-12 year olds and 13-15 year olds respectively. 1,172,599 young people between 10 and 17 years of age were cautioned. Simultaneously, 2,251,798 young adults ranging from 18 years to 21 year olds were charged, and 577,424 were cautioned. Hence it is obvious from these statistics that the UK political policy is in dire need of reforms which shall uplift the justice system, and initiate policies that would, if not reduce, then at least halt the youth crime rate from increasing. Various approaches can be undertaken to achieve this objective in the form of a recommendation for party policy on youth justice, which would have a prospect of becoming the government policy following the May 2010 elections. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARTY POLICY ON YOUTH JUSTICE Extending the Labour Party’s effective policies When a policy is framed, its effectiveness can not be guaranteed completely unless it is implemented, and in order to maintain a continuation and avoid disruptions in the political setup, it is desirable to make use of the existing initiatives that were popular amongst the general public, and which managed to achieve a positive result. Hence, adapting the Labour Party’s policies of TKAP, ASBO and YOT etc., and their proper implementation, might overtime enable it to achieve the targeted goals. Hence, if the scope of these policies are widened, such as the Sure Start Children’s Centres are increased in number, and their allotted budget is raised up to 2 billion pounds to expand this service to a larger segment of the population would lead to positive outcomes, in addition, their curriculum can be upgraded to include more activities and trained personnel who help the parents in the proper nurturing of their children, who would become the youth of the future. Efforts could be undertaken to reduce the feeling of inequality amongst children, by provision of Childcare services and resources to enable the parents to strategically plan their children’s early development, and thus reduce risk of poverty induced violence in them as they grow up. Provision of secure employment Since unemployment is one of the major factors that persuade young individuals to resort to criminal practices in order to vent out their frustration, the preventive measure that can be undertaken is to provide these high-school leaving students a secured employment opportunity at the age of 16, in order to reduce the risk of these young people submitting to negative sources for the fulfillment of their economic demands. Counseling Centres should be setup which provides psychological support to individuals who are experiencing fatigue and depressions due to any reason, whether it be family constraints or financial setbacks, in order to properly channel their stress to prevent their conversion into criminals. In addition, the areas which suffer from high anti- social behavior should be the key focus areas, and the efforts should be undertaken to upgrade living standards in these units, by provision of positive activities and youth services, such as educational facilities of high standard, recreational facilities, developmental centres, small and medium enterprise support centres, and job placement opportunities. Effective Punishment and Rehabilitation Programmes It must not be subsided that apart from preventive measures mentioned above, it is also essential to reduce the rate of at which these young people re-offend. Although recent trends have witnessed a sharp decrease in the rate of re-offending, this fell by nearly 24% between 2000 and 20076 and it must be extended into the future. The principal aim of inflicting punishments is to decrease crimes and furthermore, re-offending. However, it must be taken into account that these individuals are not adults, hence they must be treated differently, some argue that leniency should not be shown to these criminals, but it must not be ignored that these individuals have a future which can be organized and managed through proper counseling, and if the state adapts a mentor’s behavior, then these lives can be saved, thus development of alternatives to custody and sentencing should be adapted, measures which are sufficient enough to induce a sense of modification of behavior and attitude, and simultaneously not be extremely aggressive that they shatter the self-confidence of these young children. Restorative Justice system should be properly implemented, and hence proper resettlement into the society should be stressed upon, like the counseling centres, Youth Restorative Units should be developed to provide treatment to the convicted individuals instead of criminalizing them, they can be mentored and helped in development of strong links to help them resettle into the community, attain adequate jobs, and these units can monitor reparation programs with consultation with the victims, and hence with the community’s support, these individuals can be resettled. The reparation tenure should be flexible and can be extended if a modification in behavior is not observed. This programme could include treatment against drugs and alcohol and also for mental health of the individuals, they should be monitored, and if need arises they could be placed under curfews. Youth courts should be established that deal with youth cases separately, and make use of rehabilitative methods of sentencing and punishing such that re-offending rate would reduce.7 Prevention of Youth Offending Youth crime family intervention units should be established, which should focus on families that involve a high risk of producing criminals, the measurement can be on the basis of extremely low income, low standing in the economy, anti-social behavior, lack of parenting knowledge and resources etc. Engagement sessions should be established to develop social networks for such families, in order to give them a sense of belonging in the community, and increase their social capital. The youth of such areas can themselves be involved in the teams which are developed to reduce crime, since as it becomes their responsibility, they are less likely to dwell into criminal practices, supervision however is necessary in order to avoid corruptive measures. Youth violence can also be controlled if drug misuse is controlled, hence Drug abuse treatment centres should be established to scrap this menace from the society as far as possible. In addition, the individuals who suffer from financial constraints’ stress should be provided scholarships on need basis, such that tuition fee is not a burden on them, and they would also attain education, and they must also be provided the security of employment as mentioned earlier. Teams should be setup which makes use of positive activities to flourish a friendly relation between the police and the young individuals, this effective networking would reduce the feeling of alienation from the justice system that might develop in the child as s/he grows up. NGO’s Participation As the recognition of NGO’s becomes widespread, they can be involved in development of activities and events that promote anti-crime initiatives such as the ‘No to Knives Coalition’. These NGO’s can also partner with the state to organize events with leading youth ideal figures, who are likely to amass a public following, to endorse such initiatives. Support projects can also be undertaken by them to provide interactive sessions between young people and expertise that can monitor their behavioral trends. Support for Young Victims It is essential that the victims of youth violence must be provided with adequate justice in order to make them accept the restorative justice policies which are adapted towards the offenders. However, this justice should not be harsh, but based on reparation and imposition of punishments on the offenders which lead to them serving the society to which they have inflicted upon damage, whether directly or indirectly. They can be made to work for community service purposes, or instigated to undertake counseling and mentoring programmes. This would ensure that the victims are satisfied that their offenders have not been excused without proper punishment, for this it is necessary that consultation is undertaken, by meeting with these victims, as does Sara Payne of the Labour Party. It would also ensure the justice endowment in a healthy manner rather than resorting to criminalizing of the young offenders. Early Identification It is better for a society to adapt preventive measures rather than wait for a menace to proliferate into the roots of the society and then rectify it. Hence, if the entire community is integrated into a cohesive bond, through proper channels, meetings and seminars, and also through awareness campaigns, by the help of the NGO’s or even interest groups that work for implementation of justice, via this the youth would be given an opportunity to become gain awareness pertaining to their placement in the society, and also with regards to their rights and the laws which they need to adhere to. In this way it could be ensured that the youth of UK diverts away from any sort of crime or violence, since they would be aware of the repercussions. Apart from this, the youth would be consulted through this platform, and their views would be incorporated into the judicial system and framing of policies, this would provide them with the sense of belonging and there would be a better chance of them adhering to the rules which they helped to develop themselves. These programmes could be developed in line with the propositions presented by Stephenson, Giller and Brown in their article ‘Effective Practice in Youth Justice’8 which develops a thematic procedure to undertake policies that undertakes supervision methods in order to have evidenced research pertaining to the aspect of the lives of the people who require intervention, whether voluntarily or by state control. Moving onto the incorporation of preventive measures which were also discussed earlier in the form of parenting support, restorative justice, mentoring and other prevention programmes; extending these policies to adapt to more aggressive and intensive policies of intervention, in guise of surveillance programmes, custodial policies, and rehabilitation of serious offenders into the community without relegating them to an inferior position that would provoke them to resort back to criminal practices. This thematic procedure encompasses the practices of the Youth Justice Board’s ‘Key elements of effective policies- KEEP’. Responsibility of Parents A young child is not solely responsible for his/her actions. The social upbringing and the family atmosphere is largely responsible for their behavior, and the family conditions are the major contributor to the behavior of a child. Hence, the state should adapt measures to hold the parents responsible to undertake cooperative measures with the society and the educational institutions, to ensure proper nurturing and grooming of their child, such that s/he does not resort to misbehavior in class, or undergoes any mental stress that would result in the development of criminal instincts. These responsibilities can be in the form of agreements between the School administration and the parents, and it should also provide advisory services to the parents in case they are unaware of the practices to undertake to ensure that their child copes up with the behavioral expectations of the instructors, society and the state as a whole. Hence parents should be the key factor in inducing the notion of collective identity within a child, and creating awareness in their minds of how to dwell in a social setup.9 Role of Media Media is another major contributor to youth violence and crime. Since the exposure to crime is easily accessible in the contemporary times just in a click of a button, the young individuals of a community are open to violence screening on media. Hence, restrictive methods should be developed to ensure that the media is confined within limits of only promoting positive exposure, and focus more on the achievements of life and how can young people contribute to the overall development of the society and themselves, and thus develop optimistic attitude towards life instead of a depressing one.10 Conclusion Throughout the political history of the United Kingdom, a general consensus has not been reached as to what policies should be incorporated in the youth justice system of the government, and these conflicts within different factions of the political systems has resulted in the disruption in implementation of policies, as every party focuses on the development of a manifesto that would appeal to the masses, they develop an election campaign without the consideration of its consequences, and generally without contingency planning. It must not be ignored that youth justice is not a mere political debate but a philosophical one, wherein the views of any individual might differ from another. Hence it is not possible to achieve a utopian state of youth justice policy implementation which is unanimously agreed upon, however best measures can be undertaken to achieve the ideals to the maximum extent possible. These policies, like any other policy, are subject to time, era and to changes and amendments as the world progresses and extends into a more considerate atmosphere, wherein the individuals associate themselves to a collective social identity rather than streamlining their preferences to meet self-centric needs. Hence, it is imperative on every individual, as a member of a family, society and the world at large, to contribute to the development of a restorative justice system rather than a traditional harsh one which sentences individuals to hard core punishments. This would develop a social network which is integrated and cohesive, and promotes cooperative ties within different people, regardless of their distinctions, come together for a progressive future and in turn contribute to reducing crime on the whole as every individual attains a sense of belonging to the community. References Goddard, Jim(2003) 'Youth justice policy in the united kingdom', Criminal Justice Studies, 16: 4, 329- 338. Retrieved May 7, 2010 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0888431032000183524 HM Government- Youth Crime Action Plan (2008). Retrieved May 7, 2010 from http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/youth/youth080.htm Home Office (2009) Youth Crime Action Plan- One Year On. Ministry of Justice Juvenile Justice Reform Initiatives in the United States (1996) Parental responsibility laws. Retrieved May 7, 2010 from http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/pubs/reform/ch2_d.html#note78 Liberal Democrats (2009) Labour has criminalized a generation with a million children convicted in a decade. Being, Channel Wharf. Retrieved May 7, 2010 from http://www.libdems.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?title=Labour_has_criminalised_a_generation_with_a_million_children_convicted_in_a_decade&pPK=bfc61550-1c33-4e90-b647-0a597e8a0df1 M. Stephenson, H. Giller and S. Brown (2007) Effective Practice in Youth Justice. Willan Publishing. Muncie, J (2004) Page 314. Muncie, J. (2004) Youth and Crime (2nd edition), London: SAGE Publications. National Assembly for Wales- Communities and Cultures Committee (2010) Youth Justice. Retrieved May 7, 2010 from www.assemblywales.org Re-offending of juveniles: results from the 2007 cohort England and Wales Ministry of Justice Statistics bulletin (2009). Statistical bulleting. Ministry of Justice. London. http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffendingjuveniles.htm Solomon. E and Garside. R (2008) Ten years of Labour’s youth justice reforms: an independent audit. Centre for crime and Justice Studies. Read More