A New Response to Youth Crime

Antisocial and criminal behaviour involving children and young people have been a cause of heightened public concern in England and Wales for more than a quarter of a century. It has been the subject of numerous policy paper, research studies and academic assessments as well as extensive newspaper, radio and television coverage. This has set the context for an ever expanding volume of legislation seeking to amend and improve society's official response. Yet despite a massive injection of resources into the youth justice system the results achieved have been unimpressive, reoffending remains a persistent problem and the general public appears to have little confidence in the youth justice system. The time is ripe therefore for a new look at the problem of youth offending and government and society's response to this. This book accompanies the "Report of the Independent on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour" which is to be published 2010. In it leading authorities in the field, from a variety of different disciplines, review youth crime and different responses to it, focussing particularly on England and Wales but also analysing for comparative purposes the nature of responses in other parts of the world, in particular Canada. It will be essential reading for practitioners, policy makers, students and others with an interest in addressing one of today's most intractable social problems.

ISBN 1843927551   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9781843927556 (What's this?)   Pages 432 Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd   Weight (grammes) 884 Imprint Willan Publishing   Published in Cullompton Format Hardback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 05 Jul 2010   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 364.36   Academic level Postgraduate

		List of figures and tables
		List of acronyms and abbreviations
		Notes on contributors
		Preface and acknowledgements
1		The need for a fresh start by David J. Smith		1
2		Changing patterns of youth by David J. Smith		17
3		Time trends in youth crime and in justice system responses by David J. Smith		54
4		Responding to youth crime by John Graham		104
5		Responding to antisocial behaviour by Larissa Pople		143
6		Causes of offending and antisocial behaviour by Michael Rutter		180
7		Preventing youth crime: evidence and opportunities by David Utting		209
8		Families and parenting by Frances Gardner		247
9		Models of youth justice by Lesley McAra		287
10		Youth justice reform in Canada: reducing use of courts and custody without increasing youth crime by Julian V. Roberts		318
11		Public opinion, politics and the response to youth crime by Trevor Jones		341
12		Key reforms: principles, costs, benefits, politics by David J. Smith		380
		Index		407

'This volume constitutes a source of reference material on a wide range of concerns about the youth justice system. It makes a powerful case for the need for reform and aims to provide readers with the evidence and analysis to inform the design of a new, more just and constructive system of youth justice, particularly in England and Wales.' '...this book is wide ranging, and likely to be of interest to many different readers as a source of debate and as a signpost to a wealth of research and theory. It reinforces the message that we all have much to learn from experiences outside our own national boundaries.' -Bernadette Wilkinson, KWP, Independent Trainer and Consultant in Criminal Justice, in EuroVista Journal vol 2 issue 1 2012

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