Between 1978 and 1992 the number of juvenile offenders aged under 17 in England and Wales who were removed from home under sentence and sent to institutions such as detention centres, borstals, youth custody institutions or residential Community Homes with Education fell from 14,000 to 1,800. This thesis documents how this significant decarceration came about, and why it has been given little attention in the criminological literature, placing it in context of developments in juvenile justice legislation and practice between 1965 and 1996 and theories of policy change. It suggests that the key development was the funding of charity and voluntary sector organisations to provide Intensive Intermediate Treatment programmes to juvenile courts as an alternative to custody, and the development of a small group of practitioners willing to act as campaigning advocates for young offenders in court. Interviews with key politicians, civil servants, academics and practitioners from this period are used to explore these trends in more detail, and consideration is given to the respective roles of the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Security and the tensions between them over responsibility for young offenders. The development is then situated within theories and examples of decarceration, deinstitutionalization, abolitionism and reductionism, drawing on attempts to close institutions or to reduce institutionalization in the fields of youth justice, mental health and learning difficulties in the UK and other countries. Alternative explanations of what happened in juvenile justice in England and Wales are considered and challenged. Conclusions are then drawn as to the conditions that are necessary for any decarceration strategy to be successful and sustainable.

Background: Despite its status within internationally agreed psychiatric systems, the extent to which the behavioural symptoms of Conduct Disorder are indicative of mental disorder is debatable. The aim of this thesis is to assess the extent to which the collection of behaviours currently defined as Conduct Disorder might be better understood within a sociological framework. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out to explore young people’s perspectives on behaving badly. Most of the participants interviewed met DSM-IV criteria for Conduct Disorder, which was identified on the basis of Voice-DISC profiles at two earlier phases of the West of Scotland 11-16/16+ study (West, Sweeting, Der et al., 2003). Findings. The findings highlighted that behaving badly was generally perceived as normative, purposive and adaptive, therefore reflecting more sociological interpretations of behaving badly. Two participants appeared to link their behaviour to mental distress, which provided limited support for the view that some forms of antisocial behaviour might be indicative of mental disorder. Since young people often depicted behaving badly as adaptive and purposive, the findings suggested that epidemiological research may be neglecting the positive functions of antisocial behaviour for young people. Implications. An in-depth exploration of young people’s accounts led to the conclusion that the current diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder are over-inclusive. Four amendments to the criteria were proposed which might help to distinguish between individuals with disorderly conduct and those with Conduct Disorder before the publication of DSM-V and ICD-11

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This thesis analyses findings from a predominantly qualitative study of young (aged 18 to 24) imprisoned fathers interviewed in prison shortly before release, some of whom were also followed into the community. The research focused on the experiences of these men in prison, and how being a young father in prison affected their attitudes to offending, fatherhood and the future. Furthermore, this work investigated how these men then reintegrated back into the community and whether they managed to fulfil their hopes for change, focussing on what factors helped or hindered this process. This research applies desistance theory and identity theory to the lived experience of young imprisoned fathers; a group that has been largely ignored in previous research. The work is informed by both social-psychological (Maruna, 2001; Farrall, 2002; Meek, 2007a) and sociological perspectives (Laub and Sampson, 2003). This thesis adds to knowledge about the process of change for young offending fathers, highlighting it to be a gradual and active process that draws on both internal and external influences. Change is a complex activity, especially for men with transient relationships and lifestyles, which relies on the fragile coincidence of many inter-connected factors. Due to the instability of many of these factors, it is a process characterised by successes and failures. This thesis argues that criminal justice policies need to support fatherhood to take full advantage of fatherhood’s desistance-potential. The findings provide evidence to support Maruna et al’s (2004a) description of a three track process of change, requiring self-determination, formal support and informal support. They also suggest the need for the additional important factors of identity transformation (Maruna, 2001; Paternoster and Bushway, 2009) in positive social and personal contexts (Farrall, 2002; Walker, 2010). Fatherhood adds an additional layer to these factors. This thesis also contributes to knowledge of how agency and structural factors interact.

This thesis examines the extent to which, and the reasons why, the government of Malaysia provides educational opportunities for children and young people who are being detained in the closed (penal) institutions on orders under section 91 (1) (f) and section 97 of the Child Act, 2001. This thesis presents a detailed analysis of the driving factor(s) that motivate the government of Malaysia in formulating and implementing policy and law in regards to providing educational opportunities for such young people. The thesis, therefore, examines the conceptualization by the Malaysia Prisons Department of children‟s rights, particularly their rights to education and offender rehabilitation. Analysis reveals that, educational rights in Malaysia have such priority because education is seen generally as the way to socialize (all) young people and to improve human capital and economic potential in Malaysia. Consequently, rehabilitation in Malaysian penal institutions is conceptualized almost entirely as education. The thesis argues that the Malaysian government has been using children‟s rights to education and also offender rehabilitation to improve the process of socialization of young people in prisons institutions to enable them to contribute to the achievement of the national goals.

The primary aim of this thesis is to reach a better empirical and theoretical understanding of what ‘community involvement’ means and what work it does in restorative justice. A case study approach was adopted to examine the involvement of the community in one selected practice of restorative justice, namely youth offender panels in England and Wales. Data collection comprised 127 interviews with key stakeholders involved in youth offender panels, as well as observation of 39 panel meetings, and analysis of related documents (e.g. panel reports and contracts). The role of ‘community’ in youth offender panels is argued to be more ‘theatrical’ (or rhetorical) than real: community panel members do not have a real say in the type or extent of reparation the offender should undergo, they do not clearly benefit from this reparation, and they do not support the reintegration of offenders into the community. The experience of youth offender panels suggests that the greater involvement of lay members of the community – or their changing role from mere witnesses/juries to facilitators – does not help to fully incorporate community harm into criminal justice practice. The English and Welsh experience also suggests that restorative justice advocates have placed unreasonably high expectations on the benefits of lay involvement. For example, this study found that lay members of the community do not have better ‘local knowledge’ than professionals. All in all, a key lesson from the experience of youth offender panels is that – while ignoring the kind of community that features in contemporary, urban contexts – restorative justice programmes run the risk of paying lip service to genuine community involvement. In conclusion, it is argued that restorative justice programmes need to start from a more concrete and up-to-date notion of community. While operationalizing community involvement, they need to acknowledge, all at once: the importance of place; the importance of family links, friendship and other social ties; and the importance of similar social traits and identities.

This thesis, whilst taking a predominantly criminological topic as its subject matter, incorporates other sociological and social psychological debates around youth transitions, power relations, youth culture and capital. In so doing, this thesis attempts to come to terms with the wider problems faced by young people who become embroiled in offending. It argues that the transition to 'adulthood' is heavily implicated in the fact that most offending occurs in late childhood and youth. This study asked 20 young women and 20 young men about why they started and stopped offending and what influenced or inhibited them in that behaviour as they grew older. What these young people suggested was that their decision to offend - or not offend - was very much based on their need to feel included in their social world, through friendships in childhood and through wider commitments in adulthood. The process of moving through the transitional arrangements from childhood, through youth, to adulthood seems to run parallel with the process of starting offending, maintaining such behaviour over a period of time and eventually stopping offending in favour of greater conventionality and stability. This analysis of the parallel paths between the process of youth transitions and the process of offending draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu, in particular that of capital accumulation. But it goes further in suggesting the need to take into account not only capital accumulation but also capital expenditure and power imbalances - power imbalances based not only on class distinctions, as Bourdieu suggests, but also on age and status.

Critics of anti-social behaviour policy (ASB) introduced by New Labour Government since 1997 argue that it is overly punitive, and criminalises what is often sub-criminal or nuisance behaviour. Further criticism is that policy implementation through formal channels has led to the public increasingly relying on formal agencies in the governance of ASB, and becoming less willing to play an active role. The catalyst for my research was two Community Safety Teams aim to reverse this trend. I have developed an innovative approach in the form of a booklet (Let s Talk) based on the under-researched Imagined Intergroup Contact model associated with the Intergroup Contact Theory which underpins Intergenerational Practice. My thesis centres on the piloting of the booklet in two regions in England, and the proposition that Intergenerational approaches can be a useful way of understanding and addressing tensions associated with perceived anti-social behaviour by young people . Drawing broadly on a social constructionist paradigm (Burr, 1995), and using an inductive case study approach, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via various research tools. The sample included local residents, representatives of community organisations and the Community Safety Teams (CST). Data were coded and analysed using NVivo and SPSS. Theoretical data analysis was underpinned by the Integrated Threat Theory and the Social Cognitive Theory. Compared with other theories associated with Intergenerational Practice, the Integrated Threat Theory gave a more comprehensive explanation for intergenerational tensions. SCT gave new insights into the concept of agency in relation to the governance of ASB. My research identified anti-social behaviour that the CSTs felt did not warrant formal intervention, and the booklet received enthusiastic support from all parties consulted as an alternative, community-based approach. Reasons for a few individuals not wanting to adopt the booklet approach were identified; these included personal factors and social dynamics. My findings provided important knowledge for the future development and use of the booklet. This thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge. Firstly, it extends the theoretical explanation of intergenerational tensions, and adds insights into the concept of governance and the theoretical underpinnings of Intergenerational Practice. Secondly, it advances implications for practice in relation to fully exploring social dynamics other than intergenerational issues, taking account of potential multigenerational factors, and being aware that preparatory activities to strengthen selfefficacy may be required.

L’objet de cette étude est de mettre en avant le débat sur la délinquance des mineurs ainsi que le système judiciaire français et marocain mis en place afin de contrecarrer cette délinquance.La délinquance poursuivie par les forces de l’ordre et sanctionnée par la justice est caractérisée par le droit pénal. Lorsque le droit connait des changements, le champ de la délinquance expérimente des oscillations et par voie de conséquence, l’enregistrement des comportements délictueux aussi. Or, la croissance de la délinquance, et particulièrement celle des mineurs, s’analyse en fonction de son environnement juridique. Dans cette mouvance et bien que la délinquance des mineurs évolue dans les mêmes proportions et au même degré que celle des majeurs et bien qu’elle soit sanctionnée plus sévèrement, elle demande une attention particulière précisément, parce qu’il s’agit de mineurs.Dès lors, le rôle de la justice des mineurs ne doit pas se limiter uniquement à la répression. Cette dernière doit se donner les moyens de les comprendre pour être capable d’agir sur ce qui les a motivés et empêcher toute récidive. Sa mission doit avoir également un rôle « éducatif » et « préventif ».Sanction et éducation sont devenues ainsi deux dimensions indissociables dans le traitement de la délinquance des mineurs. Et c’est dans cette optique que le législateur français et marocain essaye de construire une politique de traitement de la délinquance tout en respectant la personnalité juridique fragile du mineur. / The purpose of this study is to highlight the debate on juvenile delinquency as well as the French and Moroccan judicial system set up to counteract this delinquency.Indeed, delinquency pursued by the police and sanctioned by justice is characterized by criminal law. When the law changes, the field of delinquency experiences oscillations and, consequently, the recording of criminal behavior as well. However, the growth of delinquency, and particularly that of minors, is analyzed according to its legal environment. In this movement and although juvenile delinquency evolves in the same proportions and to the same degree as that of adults and although it is sanctioned more severely, it requires special attention precisely because it is minors.Therefore, the role of juvenile justice should not be limited to repression alone. The latter must give itself the means to understand them to be able to act on what motivated them and to prevent any recurrence. Its mission must also have an "educational" and "preventive" role.Sanction and education have thus become two inseparable dimensions in the treatment of juvenile delinquency. And it is in this perspective that the French and Moroccan legislator tries to build a policy of treatment of juvenile delinquency while respecting the fragile legal personality of the minor.

Amidst growing concerns about a rise in girls entering the Youth Justice System and official data highlighting increases in girls violent offending this doctoral thesis focuses on girls in the Youth Justice System. Drawing on case files and in depth interviews with a cohort of girls supervised by a Home Counties Youth Offending Team (YOT), and interviews with YOT practitioners it explores their needs and offending patterns and examines contemporary system responses to them. It aims to contribute to practice knowledge and understanding about girls offending, and to identify approaches and interventions most likely to be effective with them. Findings point to girls having multiple and interrelated needs and troubled backgrounds. Exclusion from school and non attendance, experience of severe family conflict and violence, heavy alcohol use and poverty and disadvantage are all cited as key risk factors for girls’ involvement in offending and other types of behaviour which can lead to social exclusion. Minor assault and the influence of alcohol emerge as key features in girls offending patterns. Assaults commonly arise from disputes with friends or family members, or occur whilst girls are in a mixed peer group where assaults are perpetrated against another young person or a Police Officer. The impact of more formal responses by Police and YOTS are evident and show that the highly regulated and male oriented Youth Justice System hampers the likelihood of successful interventions with girls. This study cites the importance of gender specific responses and interventions which are holistic, informal and flexible to meet the distinct needs and offending patterns of girls in the Youth Justice System. More widely early identification of girls at risk, information sharing across children, health and adult services, and the provision of a range of support and positive opportunities to girls which extend beyond the life of a Court Order are identified as key aspects of strategies aimed at improving future outcomes for girls.