A very small number of young people enter youth custody between age 16 and 18 (about 4 in 1000 males), yet the consequences are severe. They spend an average of 7 months in youth custody and such incarceration has been related to negative outcomes in the longer term even if they can establish themselves in the labour market. In this paper, we…

This study aims to explore why and how the views of others are elicited and integrated within youth justice work, and how educational psychologists (EPs) may support this. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations, 1989) highlights the right for all children and young people to express their…

This study examined whether the implementation of Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999) improved lawyers' questioning strategies when examining child witnesses in England. The government's Section 28 pilot study involved judges holding Ground Rules Hearings, during which restrictions and limitations were placed on the…

Young offenders' perceptions of their educational experiences are little researched not least because of methodological and ethical challenges. These include being difficult to access, questions on their reliability as interviewees and their 'doubly vulnerable' position, due to the secure locked context and their age. This article draws on…

Whilst there is research evidence on the benefits of mentoring and its non-significant effects, the practice of peer mentoring in the Youth Justice System has received little empirical attention. This paper seeks to critically explore the benefits, limitations and challenges of using young offenders as peer mentors. First, the paper reviews…

Rationale: The rationale for this small-scale research project arose from discussions at a national youth offending special interest group for educational psychologists (EPs). The Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) was introduced following revisions to the SEND Code of Practice based on the Children and Families Act (2014) to support children…

Background: While the prevalence of language and communication difficulties among young people in custody is well established, holistic understanding of the complexity and co-occurrence of additional vulnerabilities among this population are rare. Methods: Ninety-three young people in a young offenders institution in England were assessed using…

Many young people in the youth justice system in England and Wales are educationally marginalised and systemic barriers to their engagement with education persist. This article presents an analytical framework for understanding how education and youth justice practices shape young people's educational pathways during their time in the youth…

This paper is concerned with the rise of 'the boot camp' as a means of addressing "the problem of troubled youth" in contemporary industrialised nations such as Australia and the UK. Drawing on a corpus of publicly available material including press releases and policy documents, media reports, and programme websites, the paper explores…

This paper focuses on the links between inequality in academic performance and juvenile conviction rates for violent crime, stealing from another person, burglary in a dwelling and racially motivated offences. We use area-based aggregate data to model this relationship. Our results show that, above and beyond impacts of absolute access to…

This article focuses on two women educator activists based in Birmingham, UK, in the first decades of the twentieth century: Geraldine Southall Cadbury (1865-1941) and Margaret Ann Backhouse (1887-1977). Motivated by a common belief in education as a force for progressive social change Cadbury and Backhouse were both Quakers who shared similar…

Risk factor research dominates explanatory models of youth offending and "evidence-based" policy and practice with young people in the youth justice system in England and Wales. Asset is the product of these actuarial ideas and has put the risk factor prevention paradigm into practice. This article evaluates the impact that an actuarial…

This paper investigates the impact of the increase in post-compulsory schooling and economic growth on conviction rates for antisocial behaviour in England. I hypothesise that both educational and employment opportunities should lead to greater reductions in antisocial behaviour when they are combined than when they exist in isolation. I test this…

Examines issues posed by cases involving murder of children by children, including the Bulger case in England and the Redergard case in Norway, which, though not typical, articulate how changes in notions of childhood mesh with change in major social institutions. Addresses concerns about pursuit of justice for children and analyzes relationships…

The effectiveness of the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R and R) program with juvenile offenders in an English prison was evaluated using reconviction and reimprisonment at eighteen months post-release as outcomes. A group of offenders who completed the program (n = 31) were compared with a group of offenders who did not receive the program (n =…