Youth Crime Case Study

here are nationally shared views that disorderly behaviour among young people has reached a historically exceptional high. A study conducted by the Cambridge University found that communities throughout the UK felt that over the years a unified society has been shattered due to a lack of mutual respect, domination, greed and the widespread admiration in the celebrity rap culture (BBC History Magazine, 2013). How far these views can be justified is questionable, as it could be down to a following of opinion rather than a personal experience of being effected by youth crime. The purpose of this section is to increase the understanding of why youth and crime relate commonly subject by considering statistics, what significant episodes of youth crime have occurred in the past, and if these events have any place in determining why people cannot look beyond the media and typical public perception.

Through the public eye the level and types of crime performed by young people is perceived to be far worse than the crimes initiated by adults. After extensive research attempting to find categorised crime statistics it became clear that the true image of crime in general is unknown, let alone age specific crime. However, to grasp the degree of the problem it is useful to firstly look specifically at the profile of youth offending, despite the lack of depth in the data.

[Refer to Data A in the appendix]

What these figures suggest is that youth offending has fallen in various aspects. The Ministry of Justice (2011) confirm this analysis stating that figures have dropped since 2008/09, and reveal that in 2011 offences committed by young people only accounted for 10.7 percent of the offending age population. Also there has been fewer young peop...

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...hich limit a justified understanding of young people, they can be useful to monitor the rates of youth offending. By identifying factors and changes that have an influence on crime rates it can create a better understanding of what strategies young people respond to best, helping to achieve a more effective youth justice system.

When looking at youth offending statistics it is beneficial to take into account that the majority of young people do not participate in activity serious enough to attract the attention of the youth justice system (Pakes and Winstone, 2007). However, many young people engage in other forms of illegal activity such as underage drinking and use of illegal substances, which are enjoyed equally by adults. But like with any crime the ones which would cause the most intense response are the incidents which are drawn to the attention of the public.