Children in custody

Jacobson, J. (2010). Punishing disadvantage: a profile of children in custody. Prison Reform Trust. This is the first in-depth analysis of custodial sentencing of children to be carried out since 1984. The authors found that young people finding their way into custody had suffered  a combination of disadvantagous circumstances eg, bereavement, absent parents, being looked after by the state, poverty and self harm. They further found that the 75% increase in custodial sentencing of children since 1992 is not due to increases in offending but in a widening in the types of offences which might lead to incarceration eg for the repetition of minor offences or the breaching of ASBOS. See also The Guardian, 15 september, 2010.