More Young Offenders Are Being Punished

More young offenders caught committing crime are being punished, a new youth survey commissioned by the Youth Justice Board has shown.

The MORI 2002 Youth Survey suggests police, Youth Offending Teams (Yots) and courts are increasingly applying punitive measures such as apologising to the victim and paying fines or compensation.

The survey, published today (Monday May 20), shows that reported offending levels among mainstream and excluded pupils have not changed significantly since 1999. In the 2002 survey, they were 26% and 64% respectively.

Levels of mobile phone theft have remained constant since 2001, with 5% mainstream offenders and 25% of excluded offenders committing this offence.

The survey, which looks at trends in offending, shows that the number of school pupils who are not punished after being caught for an offence has fallen from 22% in 2001 to 16% in 2002. There has been an increase in the use of punitive measures for this group since 2001, while the use of warnings and reprimands has fallen slightly.

The report also indicates excluded young people caught for an offence are better able to distinguish between right and wrong than those that have not been caught, suggesting that contact with the youth justice system may be having a positive impact on perceptions of criminal activities. Nearly half (47%) of excluded pupils caught for an offence think that is wrong to carry a knife as a weapon, compared to 36% of excluded offenders who have not been caught.

The fear of being caught and parental reaction remain the two greatest deterrents to committing crime among both mainstream and excluded pupils (41% and 40% respectively for school pupils, 31% and 34% for excluded pupils). However, offending levels and the likelihood of being caught differs considerably by region. The highest levels of offending are in London, North East and South East, while the 2001 survey found that young offenders in the North East and Wales are the most likely to be caught.

Excluded pupils are more likely to offend than school pupils, and commit more serious offences. The most common offence committed by excluded offenders is handling stolen goods (60%), while the most common offence committed by offenders in school is fare dodging (46%).

Two-thirds of excluded pupils (66%) and over half of school pupils (56%) have been victims of crime in the past year. The majority of offences against young people are committed by other young people (71% of those against school pupils and 60% of those against excluded pupils).

Technical details

1. Over 5,000 pupils in mainstream school and nearly 600 pupils attending projects for excluded young people were surveyed in January-March 2002.
2. This is the third MORI Youth Survey commissioned by the YJB. The survey was conducted in schools and projects across England and Wales.
3. The Youth Justice Board is responsible for spearheading the reforms of the youth justice system. Chaired by Lord (Norman) Warner, it was set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
4. Youth Offending Teams are one-stop shops for all young offenders aged between 10-17. They bring together officers from the police, probation, education, health and social services and have been running since April 2000.
5. A summary of the MORI report and the full report are published on the YJB website