Relationship between public attitudes to young people and the development of youth justice policy.
Relationship between public attitudes to young people and the development of youth justice policy.
Youth Justice unit.
- With reference to the deviancy amplification spiral (Wilkins 1964), critically discuss the relationship between public attitudes to young people and the development of youth justice policy. Use recent examples from England and Wales to illustrate your argument.
Useful!
The meanings we attach to youth crime and how we understand ‘young offenders’ are socially and politically contingent
Cyclical inter-relationship between children’s behaviour, public reactions, media campaigns, police/policy responses – which can affect children’s behaviour
Role of underlying social problems such as exclusion of children/young people, poverty, inter-generational divisions, fear and mistrust
But can also lead to positive opportunities and interventions for children and young people involved – albeit often charities / grassroots organisations etc (ie not seen as a governmental responsibility!)
Raises questions about role and responsibility of the media, including social media, and politicians.
Crime’ / the ‘criminal’ and ‘youth crime’ are social constructs, affected by place and time, and by social divisions – class, gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality etc: crime has ‘no fixed meaning or reality’ (Scott 2013)
Unit ILOs: The objectives of the unit are to develop students’ awareness and knowledge of:
- how children and young people are perceived and treated by the youth justice system in England and Wales
- theoretical, policy and professional approaches to the needs and rights of children and young people involved in offending behaviour
- international differences in the ways in which children are perceived and treated by criminal legislation.
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- identify the needs and rights of children and young people involved in offending behaviour
- apply these important considerations to situations where children and young people’s circumstances and experiences cause them to be subject to youth justice interventions
- critically assess policy and professional responses to working with children involved in the youth justice system
- synthesise different theoretical, policy and professional approaches to youth offending
- critically evaluate cross-national differences and similarities in perceptions of and the treatment of children within youth justice systems
Formatting guidance:
- Accordance with the handbook regulations, penalties will be applied if your submitted work exceeds the word count.
- Reference Style: Harvard referencing.
- Assessments should be typed using: font size 12, font type Arial, Calibri or Times
- The minimum size of margins will be: 2cm top and bottom, and 3cm left and right
- Line spacing will be: 1.5
