Youth and Adult Custody in England and Wales - Essay Example

Youth and Adult Custody in England and Wales Introduction: Considering the criminal justice system in England and Wales, it has been observedthat the system experiences huge pressure and there are huge demands that the system has to encounter. The population in prisons also reflects significant increase over the years. The criminal justice system in England and Wales has their focus on four major objectives that include: conviction of individuals who commit crimes; acquittal of individuals who are not guilty; safety of the common public from crime; and prerequisite of certain kind of compensation to the sufferers of crime (Stephens 2000). However, in the recent times youth crimes have increased significantly thus bringing out a focus on youth custody comparing it to the adult custody. The present study focuses on the differences between youth and adult custody in England and Wales and tries to determine whether youth custody can be said to be effective. Adult and Youth Custody in England and Wales: One of the major differences that have been obtained in the adult and youth custody in England and Wales involve the availability of an appropriate adult for the criminals. An appropriate adult has the responsibility to work as a defender or protector for the defenseless individuals involved in a crime and hence put under custody. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 have created this role for the criminals under custody and an appropriate adult is supposed to be called for any vulnerable youth or adult. For the youth, local authorities or the youth offending teams have been given the statutory responsibilities by the Act to ensure for the availability of the appropriate adults for the youths under custody. Contrary to this, for the adults, there are no particular responsibilities for statutory authorities to provide the appropriate adults to the adults under custody. Hence different services are made available in different countries (The provision of appropriate adult services in England and Wales 2013). It has been found through recent studies that young offenders are reoffended more than the adult offenders. Records reflect 73 percent of young offenders being reoffended as against the 47 percent of the adult offenders being reoffended. Although education is supposed to be provided to the youths under custody, but in most cases the youth custodies have failed to be successful in providing such needed education to the offenders. The costs in some of the youth custodies are around ?200,000 which in many cases can be said to be higher than the costs of sending a child to a school. Still the custodies are unable to provide the youths with the proper education and hence they end up being reoffended. The facility for education is a major concern for the youth custodies and not for the adult custodies with an intention to send the youths back to normal lives or schooling and training (Travis 2013). The sentences for the adult prisoners are much severe as against the youth offenders. Population in the adult custody has been rising increasingly over the years with their sentences being for longer periods of time. In case of the adults the custody, in severe cases, is meant as the last resort for the offenders. While on the other hand, the youth custody is meant for correcting the young offenders such that they can live their normal lives when they are released in the society. Thus the differences lie with the concerns in regard to the adult and youth custody (Hough, Jacobson and Millie 2003). In case of the adult custody it can be said that the crime committed needs to be judged and accordingly the custody is determines keeping in focus the rising population in the prisons. In case of the youths, however, the concern is more to correct them, which in many cases have proved to be failures in England and Wales. Thus the problems encountered by the justice system in regard to the adult and the youth custodies are significantly different. This also takes into consideration the difference in the expenditures of the custodies. The Youth Custody in England and Wales: It’s Effectiveness: In England and Wales, young individuals can be detained and put in custody if they have been found to be suspicious of committing any crime or in cases where they have already committed some crimes. Considering the juvenile custodies, there are three kinds of custodial settings that are available in England. These include: Secure Children’s Home, Secure Training Centers, and Young Offender Institutes. Local authorities are responsible for the secure children’s homes and individuals between 10 and 17 years of ages are put into these custodies. In secure training centers, individuals of 12-17 years of ages are detained and this center is the responsible of the private companies. Young offender institutes are under the charge of the prison authorities and private contractors and detain people between 15 and 17 years of ages (Children’s Rights Alliance for England 2010). The growth of the youth justice system in England and Wales has been exemplified by the pressure involving control of crimes and the welfare of children throughout the initial years of the twentieth century. This scenario continued throughout the entire century. One of the major concerns was with the condition of the children and their necessity for particular conduct and concern and security when these were not available from their families. For appearance in courts for the young offenders, there are special courts called the Youth Courts that are specifically represented magistrates’ courts. These courts function in an adversarial method (Caputo and Vallee 2010). Apart from the Youth Courts, there are adult Crown Courts as well where the children and young offenders may appear for their charges and hearing of their sentences. Sentences are charged for the young individuals involved with homicide, indecent assault or other acts of crimes depending on which the imprisonment may vary up to 14 years of time. It can be said that the Crime and Disorder Act have a significant impact on the justice system in England and Wales for young offenders. “The increased use of custody provides evidence that its law and order provisions have been enacted. Its record on child welfare, on the other hand, is equivocal at best. There is little doubt, however, that for England and Wales, the Crime and Disorder Act represents the most radical overhaul of the youth justice system in fifty years” (Caputo and Vallee 2010). In England and Wales the minimum age for setting custody punishments for young offenders is 10 years of age. The rates of crimes by the youth are particularly in high in England and Wales in comparison to other countries across the world. The Youth Justice Board is responsible for prevention of the young offenders from offending and reoffending, thereby taking care of the accommodation and settlement of the young offenders, trying to determine alternatives to custody sentences, custody, diversity, education, training and employment, their health care, monitoring and practice of improving, prevention, research, and working with the victims (Williams 2012). It has been observed that the youth justice system has proved to be effective in “reducing the number of criminal offences committed by young people over the last ten years, an achievement in which the Youth Justice Board has played a central role” (The youth justice system in England and Wales: Reducing offending by young people 2011). The young offenders remaining in custodies for certain periods of time are expected not to reoffend. However there are certain negative aspects that have also been observed. For instance, 70 percent of the offenders have encountered difficulties of communication but not much concern is taken on this issue. The Board does not have enough information on the interventions that are being decided in the youth justice system or about their outcomes. Rather their focus is more on the processes than on the outcomes. There has been a plan of abolishing the Youth Justice Board which again raises question in regard to decisions of policies as well as the national focus of reduction of young offenders from committing crimes (The youth justice system in England and Wales: Reducing offending by young people 2011). Conclusion: From the above study, it can be said that with young offenders increasing in numbers over the years in England and Wales, the youth justice system has taken certain sincere measures for the justice and sentences of these individuals along with a focus on trying to correct them such that they do not reoffend and can live their normal lives when they are released in the society. Considering the causes of the crimes that are committed and the impacts of the punishment, there are differences among the adult and youth custody in the country. However, although the concerns and treatment of the youth custody have been different, yet the effectiveness of the system still remains questionable. While on one hand there are records of reduction of young offenders reoffending, there are other negative aspects that need to be taken particular concern of such that the youth custody can be said to be completely effective on prevention of young offenders. References Caputo, T. and M. Vallee (2010) A Report Prepared for the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence. Children. [Online]. Available at: http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume4/comparative_analysis.aspx [Accessed 7 May 2013]. Children’s Rights Alliance for England (2010) Violencefreecustody. [Online]. Available at: http://www.violencefreecustody.org.uk/about-child-custody/ [Accessed 7 May 2013]. Hough, M., Jacobson, J. and A. Millie (2003) The Decision to Imprison: Sentencing and the Prison Population. Prisonreformtrust. [Online]. Available at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/decisiontoimprison.pdf [Accessed 7 May 2013]. Stephens, M. (2000) Crime and Social Policy: The Police and Criminal Justice System. London: Routledge. The provision of appropriate adult services in England and Wales (2013) RCN. [Online]. Available at: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/communities/rcn_forum_communities/prison_nurses/news/?a=513087 [Accessed 6 May 2013]. The youth justice system in England and Wales: Reducing offending by young people (2011) Publications. [Online]. Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmpubacc/721/721.pdf [Accessed 8 May 2013]. Travis, A. (2013) Young offenders: government plans to put education ‘at heart of detention’. Guardian. [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/14/young-offenders-education-detention-academies [Accessed 6 May 2013]. Williams, N. (2012) Youth Crime in England and Wales. Civitas. [Online]. Available at: http://www.civitas.org.uk/crime/factsheet-youthoffending.pdf [Accessed 8 May 2013]. Read More