NCJ Number
238900
Date Published
2010
Length
122 pages
Annotation
This study from the Prison Reform Trust in the United Kingdom develops profiles of children in the custody of the judicial system in England and Wales.
Abstract
Highlights from this study include the following: approximately three-fifths of the children in custody in England and Wales in 2008 were convicted of offenses that usually result in non-custodial sentences; about 50 percent of the children were imprisoned for crimes that were considered non-violent, while 35 percent were imprisoned for offenses that were both less serious and non-violent; only 20 percent were assessed as posing a high or very high risk of causing serious harm to others; and the majority, about 60 percent, of the children sentenced to custody were repeat offenders. This study by the Prison Reform Trust in the United Kingdom examined the type and number of children who are sentenced to custody in the judicial system in England and Wales. The purpose of the study was to determine who are the children in custody, and why and how did they come to be in custody. Data for the study were obtained in two phases: a review of general information collected by the Youth Justice Board on all children who received custodial sentences or custodial remands in the second half of 2008, and a more detailed examination of the backgrounds and current circumstances of a sample of children in custody (n=300, of which 200 were sentenced and 100 were remanded). The findings indicate that a large majority of the children in custody in England and Wales suffer from a complex set of disadvantages both in terms of home and family and in terms of psycho-social and educational problems. Implications and recommendations for policy are discussed. Tables, figures, references, and appendixes