• Constructive approaches – putting children first in the Youth Justice System

    Beyond Youth Custody’s (BYC) framework for the effective resettlement of young people leaving custody promotes children’s active involvement in the decision-making process and details why practitioners must recognise and praise children’s positive attitudes and behaviours. The report advocates constructive approaches that are future orientated and strengths-based. In this blog, we promote meaningful participation, alongside critically…

  • Feltham ruling shows youth custody fails to meet needs of vulnerable childre

    Sean Creaney, Edge Hill University and Michael Richards, Edge Hill University By placing a 16-year-old child with mental health issues in isolation for a prolonged period of time, Feltham Young Offender Institution in London breached his human rights and contravened prison rules, the High Court has ruled. The ruling came a few days after Her…

  • Children’s emotional health and wellbeing

    A new report, Just Health: An Enquiry into the Emotional Health and Wellbeing of Young People in the Youth Justice System, was recently published by Peer Power. The report makes a number of recommendations to improve the emotional support and wellbeing that young people receive in the youth justice system. Responding  to the report, Lord…

  • Hearing from the experts: giving young offenders a voice

    Last week the Youth Justice Board launched their Young Person Participation Strategy entitled giving young people a voice in youth justice. The strategy outlines the importance of capturing the views and opinions of young people who offend. Also, what is made clear is that children SHOULD have the opportunity to get involved in decisions about…

  • Spalding murders must not be used to justify more punitive responses to young offenders

    Sean Creaney, Edge Hill University and Stephen Case, Loughborough University Two teenagers convicted of stabbing and smothering to death a mother and daughter in their own home in Spalding, Lincolnshire have been sentenced to life in prison. The extreme nature of the sentence – which means the two will not be eligible for parole for…