Youth Justice and Family Breakdown image

Youth Justice and Family Breakdown

Date: 23 November 2011

The FBC, with the support of the Franco British Lawyers Society, held this seminar in London.  The event brought together representatives from the French and British justice systems, governments, academia and the voluntary sector in order to examine the strengths and shortcomings of the youth justice systems in England, Wales, Scotland and France.  What emerged were astute observations on the causes of youth crime, the way youth justice is administered in each country, and how the justice systems can improve.  The discussion focused on key themes such as political will, preventative versus punitive justice, relationships between institutions, working practices of agencies and the role of communities, families and the voluntary sector. 

The Chair of the Seminar, Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP, shown above with Rod Morgan and French former Interior Minister, Pierre Joxe, introduced the day with the suggestion that too often political interference has meant that youth justice policy in both countries has shown little consideration for long term consequences.  The group welcomed this, highlighting that issues of youth justice, crime and communities must not be used as a means for short term political gain, as the task of tackling the causes of youth crime is a long term process.    

Certain institutional practices were highlighted as not useful.  Professor Lesley McAra from Scotland suggested that early years intervention based on a ‘risk-factors paradigm’ which targeted ‘at-risk’ young people and disrupted families often doesn’t work as it is too difficult to identify children who may offend from such young ages and the risk of stigmatising young people is high.  Resources should instead be targeted at young people who are transitioning from Primary to Secondary school.  Richard Garside, Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies proposed that the youth justice industry encourages the maintenance of the status quo, and focuses on ‘keeping a lid on problems’ rather than seeking to transform society and make our communities better places to live.     

 

Download the report

French Section Website

CFB