Law Breaking and The Criminal Justice System Youth Offending

1. Law Breaking and The Criminal Justice System Youth Offending Intervention, Punishment and Reparation h.ogilvie@mmu.ac.uk Ogilivepowerpoint.yolasite.com

2. Aims Recap on last week Look at the different ways we deal with young people to prevent offending or to punish offending Early prevention/intervention – targeted and universal approaches Non-custodial methods of dealing with youth offending Custodial methods

3. Last week Looked at risk factors Protective factors Methods of assessing risk DVD

4. Attitude to young people constantly changes and veers between punishment and welfare – as discussed in previous lecture

5. Political attitudes reflect the system in place System we have focuses on both prevention and punishment. Argued too many young people do end up in the criminal justice system Look at methods of prevention and punishment What are they? Are they working? Are custodial sentences the answer?

6. Intervention Intervening to prevent young people becoming involved in crime or re-offending Can be targeted at individuals Or Universal – aimed at everyone

7. Targeted Intervention – to prevent first time offending Identifies young people most at risk through assessment Onset –looked at last week Measures put in place e.g Youth Justice Board Programmes Parenting progammes

8. Youth Justice Board Programmes YIPs – Youth inclusion programmes YISPs – youth inclusion and support panels

9. Youth Inclusion Programme (YIP) • established in 2000 • 8 to 17-year-olds - identified as being at high risk of involvement in offending or anti-social behaviour. •  110 of the most deprived/high crime estates in England and Wales. • Agencies refer young people e.g. - (YOTs), police, social services, local education authorities, schools • Provides • somewhere safe to go • learn new skills • take part in activities • help with their education and careers guidance. • Positive role models – helping to change atitudes • Note: YIPs are also open to other young people in the local area (so is targeted and but also universal)

10. Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISPs) • 8 to 13-year-olds who are considered to be at high risk of offending. • Panels have representatives from different agencies (e.g. police, schools, health and social services). • Aim to ensure that children and their families, at the earliest possible opportunity, can access mainstream public services. • 122 YISPs

11. Parenting Parenting programmes provide parents with an opportunity to improve their skills in dealing with the behaviour that puts their child at risk of offending. They provide parents/carers with one-to-one advice as well as practical support in handling the behaviour of their child, setting appropriate boundaries and improving communication

12. Universal Interventions Open to all but designed to provide alternatives to crime and anti-social behaviour –in areas of high crime Examples Regeneration programmes Sure Start – children and family centres – available to all but designed to tackle some of the underlying problems Summer splash – diversionary projects. Employment programmes Safer Schools Partnership

13. Discuss which approach you think might be best Targeted or Universal Advantages/disadvantages

14. Targeted • Advantages • Young people often already known – resources can be used to help them • Focus resources on those causing most problems • Young people get the support they need – emotional, educational • Disadvantages • May stigmatise young people • How reliable is it- some may miss out • Does not address wider causes – deprivation, unemployment, gangs, peer pressure • Practioners argue only effective if young people engage (may won’t)

15. Universal • Advantages • Addresses wider social problems • Does not stigmatise • Can improve whole communities • Disadvantages • Cost • Young people most in need may not take advantage of services (e.g. summer splash – prefer to mix with own group etc)

16. Current system operates on both levels Universal and targeted

17. Punishment/Reparation Custodial and none custodial What’s available?

18. Non custodial • These are a mixture of • Punishment • Reparation • Prevention from re-offending • Young people may or may not get a criminal record

19. Sentences, Orders and Agreements Idea is to keep young people out of the court system using a variety of orders and agreements. Also offering them the help and support they need to stop offending

20. What is available http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/SentencesOrdersandAgreements/

21. Pre-court measures Reprimand Final Warning Anti-social behaviour measures Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) Individual Support Order(ISO)

22. Other measures Local Child Curfew Measures for under-10-year-olds Child Safety Order Sentences in the community Youth Rehabilitation Order Referral Order Reparation Order Fine Conditional Discharge Absolute Discharge

23. Other measures Local Child Curfew Measures for under-10-year-olds Child Safety Order Sentences in the community Youth Rehabilitation Order Referral Order Reparation Order Fine Conditional Discharge Absolute Discharge

24. Next step up from this is the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme

25. Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme • most rigorous non-custodial intervention. • community-based surveillance with a comprehensive and sustained focus on tackling the factors that contribute to the young person's offending behaviour. • targets the most active repeat young offenders, and those who commit the most serious crimes.

26. Custodial Sentences

27. There are three types of secure accommodation in which a young person can be placed. Together the following make up the secure estate for children and young people:young offender institutions (YOIs). secure children's homes secure training centres (STCs)

28. Young offender institutions (YOIs) are facilities run by both the Prison Service and the private sector and can accommodate 15 to 21-year-olds

29. A YOI at a glance Size of units Units for males – 28–360 young people, with each wing accommodating 30–60Units for females – 16-24 places Staffing 3–6 officers per wing Staff training Prison officer training, plus Juvenile Awareness Staff Programme (JASP)

30. Secure children's homes  are generally used to accommodate young offenders aged 12 to 14, girls up to the age of 16, and 15 to 16-year-old boys who are assessed as vulnerable

31. A secure children's home at a glance Size of units -6–36 young people accommodated in small house units Staffing High staff to young people ratio Staff training Most staff are qualified to NVQ Level 3 or above in child care

32. Secure training centres purpose-built centres for young offenders up to the age of 17. They are run by private operators under contracts, which set out detailed operational requirements. There are four STCs in England

33. An STC at a glance Size of units Units of 58–87 places, with a maximum of 8 places per house within the STC Staffing High staff to young people ratio, but lower than secure children’s homes Staff training A few qualified social workers, but the contracts require all staff to complete a nine-week training programme specified by the YJB

34. Exercise Handout Analyse and discuss some of the positive and negative aspects of each of the custodial methods used

35. Finally Is early intervention working? Are the methods in place to prevent re-offending effective? Are we succeeding in keeping young people out of the criminal justice system? Are we succeeding in preventing young people receiving custodial sentences?

36. There are still so many young people entering the Criminal Justice system and re-offending

37. Figures are down but still incredibly high

39. There was a drop in the number of children entering the justice system for the first time in 2007/08. Numbers of ‘first time entrants’ aged 10 to 17 entering the Youth Justice System in England and Wales were around 87,400, a fall of about 7 per cent on the previous year. Slightly more than 2,700 of children in this age group were in custody in England and Wales in December 2008, including around 500 children aged 15 and under. The majority of young offenders in custody were boys (94 per cent). More than four-fifths (86 per cent) of young offenders were held in Young Offenders Institutions, 8 per cent were in Secure Training Centres and 6 per cent were in Secure Children’s Homes. Around 51,000 children aged 10 to 17 were found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 and a further 75,000 were cautioned. Of those found guilty of an indictable offence, more than a third (36 per cent) were found guilty of theft and handling stolen goods and around 14 per cent were found guilty of violence against the person. Boys aged 15 to 17 accounted for 69 per cent of all children found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 including theft and handling stolen goods (11,200 offenders), violence against the person (5,500 offenders), drug offences (4,600 offenders) and burglary (4,500 offenders)

40. Handouts