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Outline and evaluate strategies used by criminal agencies to control youth crime.

‘Statistics from public agencies such as the police suggest that changes to the youth justice system in 1998 and 1999 have steadied the crime rate’ (homeoffice.gov.uk) This may be the opinion of the government, however this may not be an accurate portrayal of what is exactly happening, as public opinion goes against what the home office statistics portray and they admit this ‘Three quarters of respondents in a recent survey believed the number of young offenders had risen Source: Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Public opinion in England and Wales 2004’ (homeoffice.gov.uk). The acceptance the juvenile delinquency is a serious issue that has to be dealt with with due care is not a new concept, the understanding the children and adolescents are not at the same level of moral development as adults has been recognised since the 1920s and the way in which that are tried and punished for criminal activity has been built upon since then. In the following paper I will be looking at the problem of youth crime and that is any criminal activities committed by a person under the age of eighteen years. I examining how the procedures in place to deal with juvenile crime has changed through the years and the reasons why they have, and making my own assessments on the issue in modern day society while giving my opinion on what else we could do to help in the prevention of youth crime.
In 1925 the ‘Molony Committee’ was set up to look at the treatment of young offenders, It was an advocate of the youth court system and recommended the magistrates should be provided with all the relevant information regarding the young offenders circumstances such as home, education and their medical histories ( Morris & Giller in Youth & Crime, 1999) This information obviously would make for a more sympathetic case for the individual. The recommendations of the ‘Molony Committee’ were...