The Kilbrandon Lectures - reflections on Care and Justice for Children in Scotland

The Kilbrandon Child Care Lecture series was set up to commenorate the Kilbrandon Report (1964), which led to the establishment of the Children's Hearings System.This publication brings together the first ten lectures exploring the children's hearings system, children's rights, families and processes in other countries.

The lectures (links to full list) are:
Sandford J. Fox (1991). Children's hearings in the international community. 
Fred Stone (1995). Advent of the Children (Scotland) Act in 1995.
Donalds Dewar (1997). Justice for Scotland's children.
Anthony Clare (1999). The Lost Boyhood of Judas.
Neil MacCormick (2001). A Special Conception of Juvenile Justice: Kilbrandon's legacy.
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio (2003). Justice for Europe's Children.
Trond Waage (2005). Modern Childhood: The image of the child in our society .
Bjorn Cronstedt (2007).Children in Conflict with the Law: An International Perspective.
Kathleen Marshall (2009). Children's Hearings and the Love that Binds: Reflections on Community, Discipline and Exile. 
Harry Burns (2011). Healthier Lives: Better Futures. 

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.

Discrimination in youth justice

May, T., Gyateng, T. and Hough, M. (2010). Ethnic minority young people: differential treatment in the youth justice system. Institute for Criminal Policy Research. This study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, investigates the causes and extent of differential treatment in the youth justice system including the over representation of Black Carribean and Black African groups, the differential inflows caused by policing and how the youth justice system responds to different ethnic groups.

Two new E-documents

Shaw, C. (2010). Research into private fostering. Department for Children Schools and Families. This research aimed to collect information into the practices and procedures of local authorities in relation to private fostering arrangements and to improve the understanding of the needs of privately fostered children, especially in regard to safeguarding issues.

Hart, D. (2010). Children and young people in breach: a scoping report on policy and practice in the enforcement of criminal justice and anti-social behaviour orders. NCB. This research is the first phase of a project undertaken by NCB to increase understanding of policy and practice in relation to breach proceedings, wih particular focus on young people who are incarcerated as a result of breach of bail conditions or ASBOs.

Anti-social behaviour

Policy Exchange have published A State of Disorder: moving beyond the ASBO in tackling anti-social behaviour. The report critical of government policy on anti-social behaviour, ASBOs and the lack of state research on their efficacy. Author Max Chambers urges the use of evidence based approaches and proven interventions such as early intervention and Family Intervention Projects.

Supporting young people

A Scottish Government funded scheme designed to tackle offending behaviour of young people is being piloted in Aberdeen and will be rolled out further, beginning in the Central Belt. Under the schemeYoung people up to the age of 18 are screened by a multi-agency group within a week of being apprehended and referred directly to support services. See Herald, April 5, 2010.

Department for children, Schools and Families (2010). Safeguarding children and young people who may be affected by gang activity. Guidance for frontline practioners in social care, probation, health and education on the nature of risk posed by gang activity, including violence, sexual exploitation and extremism, signs of  gang involvement and guidance on dealing with gang involvement.

New E-publications

Action For Children (2010). Deprivation and risk: the case for early intervention. In three sections: policy analysis, life stories and a summary of effective practice in tackling child deprivation.
Statham, J. & Smith, M. (2010). Issues in earlier intervention: identifying and supporting children with additional needs. Department for Children, Schools and Families. Focuses on two broad types of need: the risk of abuse or neglect and the risk of emotional/behavioural/mental health difficulties.
Walker, J. et al. (2010). Relationships matter: understanding the needs of adults (particularily parents) regarding relationship support. Department for Children, Schools and Families. A qualitative study designed to inform policy formulated to support relationships between parents, in order to minimise the risks, for children, associated with parental separation.
Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2010). Building a safe and confident future: implementing the recommendations of the Social Work Task Force. A joint policy implementation plan from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in partnership with the Social Work Reform Board.
DCSF Violence Agains Women and Girls Advisory Group. (2010). Advisory Group final report and recommendations. this group was set up to advise ministers on how schools can help to tackle the issue of violence against women and girls.
May, T. et al. (2010). Differential treatment in the youth justice system. Equality and Human Rights Commission. Examines the inequlity of treatment of different ethnic groups by the youth justice system.

The Norway town that forgave it's child killers.

Some years ago I read about the case of the murder of five year old Silje Redergard by two young boys, no doubt in comparison to the media frenzy surrounding the trial, in an adult court, of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson for the murder of James Bulger. Given the recent media coverage of Jon Venables readmission to custody following alleged breaches of licence, it seems pertinent again to compare the treatment of children committing the most serious of crimes in this country, where the tabloid press excert such power in public opinion and can influence the actions of the home secretary, with the Norwegian case. See Guardian, March 20, 2010.

The real cost of imprisoning young people

In the report Punishing Costs, (2010), A. Knuutila of The New economic Foundation has called for a huge reduction in the number of young people locked up for offending, and the £100 000 annual cost per offender to be redirected to local authorities in programmes designed to reduce offending and create a safer, more inclusive society.

Highlights from Careknowledge this week

Care knowledge brings together 11 social work journals and useful reports from a variety of sources. This weeks reports include A Recipe for Abuse, a Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland investigation into the care and treatment of a supported landlord scheme; What are we learning about protecting children in the community?, a Save the Children Report; and Risky People or Risky Societies? : rethinking interventions for young people in transition, from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.

Glasgow gangs and violence reduction

Strathclyde Police's Community Initiative to Reduce Violence report a 49.2% drop in recorded violent activity among gang member participants in the initiative. CIRV takes the approach of working with a gang as a unit and works with the gang to address offending behaviour.

Care Knowledge highlights - new Scottish content this week

Care knowledge is useful in highlighting new e-documents and acting as a gateway to reports across a variety of sources.
From the Scottish executive:
The Capacity of disability organisations to engage with public authorities.
A resource guide to engagement standards, guidance and tool kits.
Mapping Scotland's disability organisations.
Older people living in the community - nutritional needs, barriers and interventions: a literature review.
Other highlights from Careknowledge this week:
Targeted violence and hostility against people with mental health conditions.
Healthier children safer communities.
Young black people and the criminal justice system.

Children and Young People in custody 2008-2009

This report was published by HM inspectorate of Prisons, Youth Justice board today. The report found an over representation of care-leavers and ethnic minorities in the custodial population, with many young people complaining that little has been done to help them avoid reoffending on release. See also comment in the Guardian, December 9.