Public says lock up fewer children

Nearly two thirds of the public do not want to see children locked up behind bars until at least the age of 12, rising to 14 for young people convicted of a non-violent crime, according to a new poll. The poll supports the findings of a major new research report by Out of Trouble profiling around 6,000 young people in custody.

Punishing Disadvantage has been written by Dr Jessica Jacobson, Professor Mike Hough and colleagues at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research.

Children as young as 10 can be imprisoned for committing a violent crime in England and Wales, and 12 for a crime that is non-violent. The report highlights the damaged and disadvantaged backgrounds of the majority of young people in custody and the high proportion of children imprisoned for non-violent and less serious offences.

The exclusive YouGov poll was commissioned by the Prison Reform Trust’s Out of Trouble campaign. For the poll, YouGov questioned 2,089 members of the public on their attitudes to imprisoning children and the most effective ways of preventing young people from reoffending. The poll reveals:

Three out of five people (62 per cent) do not support the current minimum age of imprisonment (10) in England and Wales and think it should be at least 12

Nearly two thirds (63 per cent) think the current minimum age of imprisonment for non-violent crime (12) is too low and should be at least 14

Better supervision by parents, treatment to tackle drug addiction, treatment to tackle binge drinking and better mental health care are all rated much more effective than a prison sentence at preventing young offenders from returning to crime.

Despite public support for locking up fewer young people, the UK is readier to send children to prison, and to send children to prison at an earlier age, than most other European countries. In 2009/2010, the average under 18 secure population in England and Wales was 2,444. In June there were 2,173 under 18-year-olds in custody, of which 28 per cent were on remand.

Punishing Disadvantage set out to find out who these children were, and why and how they came to be in custody. The report is based on a census of all children who received custodial sentences or remands in the second half of 2008, approximately 6,000 in total, along with a more detailed examination of the backgrounds of 300 of these children.

The findings reveal the multiple layers of complex disadvantage that characterise the backgrounds of the majority of young people in custody:

The report also highlights the high proportion of children imprisoned for non-violent and non-serious offences, and the growth in imprisonment of young people for ‘technical’ reasons, such as failing to turn up for supervision appointments or breaking the conditions of an ASBO:

Three out of five of the sample were convicted of offences that would usually result in non-custodial sentences

Around a fifth had been imprisoned for breaching conditions of community sentences, of ASBOs, of licences following earlier release from custody or for failing to surrender to bail

The authors highlight the persistence of a punitive approach to youth justice in the UK underpinned by a political rhetoric on youth crime that has reinforced public anxiety about reoffending and anti-social behaviour. However, with the government’s ongoing sentencing review and commitment to a ‘rehabilitation revolution’, the current times present valuable opportunities for reform of the youth justice system and the development of a more progressive approach to offending by children.

The detailed recommendations contained in the report are underpinned by three principles:

Deterrence is ineffective when dealing with children whose life to-date has been characterised by abuse and punishment. The lessons they learn will not be those the state intends.

Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: ‘The findings of this uniquely comprehensive study will give all of us cause for concern and should reinforce the coalition government’s determination to intervene early, support families and get children out of trouble.’

Penelope Gibbs, Director of Out Of Trouble, said: ‘This report shows definitively that children and young people are being doubly punished. First by having traumatic childhoods; then by being locked up, often for not very serious crimes. Prison is often seen as a deterrent, but for these young people it isn’t. It is just the last in a long series of bad experiences in which family and state have failed to protect them from harm.’