Stopping Young People Committing Crime

Article written by Nisha Rikhi, BA in Politics and International Relations from University of Sussex, GDL graduate, and current LPC student.

This country has a problem with young people committing crime, particularly knife crime. Three young people were stabbed in Bristol and in recent years several young people have been the victims of knife crime in London. Recently, two teenage children were convicted of murdering another teenage child in Cheshire. Youth crime is now an epidemic and this country must act to stop young people committing crimes and ruining the rest of their lives. This article explores several issues that the country should tackle to try and reduce youth crime. These issues include school exclusion, funding of youth clubs, Universal Credit, volunteering and housing for care leavers and young offenders.

School Exclusion

School exclusion should be treated as the option of last resort. This is because we know that expelling children from school puts them at greater risk of grooming and exploitation by gangs. If we wish to reduce knife crime then children should be kept in school whenever possible. This means that schools should only be expelling children for serious breaches of school rules or the law. Bullying and violent behaviour are two possible reasons for immediate and permanent expulsion from school. This is because victimising or intimidating other innocent young people at the school should always be considered unacceptable and be subject to immediate punishment. However, behaviour that does not harm others and only causes inconvenience could be dealt with differently. Disruptive behaviour and disrespecting teachers, for example, should not result in expulsion as there are other methods of dealing with this type of behaviour. This is because expelling pupils from school routinely, puts those children at greater risk of involvement with crime. Therefore, school exclusion should only be used as a last resort or for those behaviours that directly harm others.

Funding for Safe Spaces

Councils need to fund youth clubs, libraries, boxing gyms, and community cafés that work to keep young people off the streets. This is because providing young people with safe places to go after school and during the holidays helps to keep them off the streets and away from crime. These services are able to offer activities and show young people that there are alternatives to committing crime. We know from recent news reports that community organisations and charities are working to keep young people away from crime by involving them in activities. In Bristol, a boxing gym is working with young people to divert them from the streets. In London, there are youth workers working in custody units in an attempt to persuade young people involved in crime to choose a different path. These initiatives to divert young people from the streets and from crime is only possible with council support. In the current climate, councils are facing dire funding challenges and there is a risk that community grants and funding for non-statutory services could be cut or eliminated all-together. This means that there is a risk that young people will soon find themselves without alternatives to crime, making it more likely that they get involved with gangs and criminal activities. It is, therefore, vital that councils look for ways to support community organisations to keep their doors open so that young people can be kept away from crime.

The Standard Element of Universal Credit

Government should make the Universal Credit standard element for a single person under the age of twenty-five more generous. At the moment, a single person under the age of twenty-five receives £292.11 a month as their standard element. This clearly is not enough to live on, given that the cost of essentials and utility bills have all gone up due to inflation and base rate rises in the current climate. Young people in receipt of Universal Credit are therefore being forced to use foodbanks and apply for hardship funds with their local councils because they cannot meet their essential costs with their benefit income. This puts those young people at risk of becoming involved with gangs and knife crime. We know that young people in poverty are at risk of grooming and exploitation due to their circumstances. This is because criminal gangs can exploit their unmet needs and make them feel looked after by giving them gifts and treats, which only lures these young people into a life of crime. It could therefore be argued that government could make young people less vulnerable to the lure of gangs and crime by increasing the amount of money they receive from the standard element of Universal Credit. By increasing this amount, young people would be better able to meet their essential living costs which would reduce their dependence on foodbanks and charitable support. This would also make them less of a target to criminal gangs due to their poverty.

Supported Lodging

Young people who are leaving care, are homeless, or are coming out of youth offender institutions should be placed in supported lodging. This is because many of these young people have no family support and may not have learned important life skills that will make it more likely that they could live independently. Given that some of these young care leavers and young people are at risk of homelessness or are homeless, it is vital that they are given adequate support so that they can obtain housing and keep their housing long-term. Putting young people in supported lodging can give them a buffer of support for the first few critical years of living independently. By placing them with a host or host family for a time, these young people will have access to support and will be able to learn essential life skills that they may not have learned previously. These young people would be able to learn how to sustain a tenancy and would be able to look for secure employment which would be harder for them to do if they were facing housing instability. This is particularly important for young offenders who are coming out of prison. We know that a lot of young offenders have been care leavers which suggests that many care leavers face challenges when they leave care, one of which is undoubtedly housing. This means that young offenders could only benefit from being placed in supported lodging. This is because having stable housing makes those young people less like to offend in the future as they are given stability and a chance to get back on track by looking for employment and developing skills. Therefore, if we are able to support young people at risk of housing instability by putting them in supported lodging for a period of time, we are reducing the risk of homelessness, offending and reoffending amongst young people.

The Cadets

Young people who are at risk of offending should be signed up to the army, air force or navy cadets. This is because these organisations are activity-based and are focused on developing skills. They are run by former or currently serving armed forces personnel and there is a focus on mentoring young people and giving them alternatives to crime. Young people at risk of offending should be encouraged to sign up to be part of one of these cadet groups. This is because it will reduce the time available to get into trouble as they will spend more time engaged in activities that will develop their skills and make them more employable. Furthermore, being part of a cadet group will provide them with positive role models. This is because these young people will be able to engage with the adult instructors, who will encourage pro-social behaviours, and they will see there is another way to live life, a way that does not include committing crime. Therefore, persuading young people at risk of offending to sign up to a cadet forces group could be a good way to divert them from criminal activity.

Volunteering

All young people over the age of eighteen who are not in further education or work should be required to volunteer with local charities. This is because volunteering can help young people develop valuable transferrable skills that employers look for when recruiting new employees. Often the organisations that young people volunteer for are willing to provide references to future employers which proves that those young people are employable and are able to hold down a job. Furthermore, having unemployed young people take up volunteer roles keeps them engaged with the community as they are focused on helping others and doing things that will benefit the needy. Volunteering also keeps young people away from crime as they are learning pro-social behaviours, and their time is being spend doing productive activities and developing skills for future employment. This means young people have less time to be out on the streets either looking for trouble or getting involved in criminal activity. Therefore, getting young people over the age of eighteen who are not in education or employment into volunteer work could reduce youth crime.

It is clear that youth crime is a particular problem in this country. Given the recent stories about the spate of knife crime in Bristol and Nottingham and the recent conviction of two teenager murders, it is clear that action must be taken to reduce youth crime and youth violence. The issues discussed in the article above are areas where action could be taken to try and reduce the likelihood that young people will engage in criminal activity or reoffend in the future. Whatever we all think of youth crime and how it could be tackled, it is undeniable that action has to be taken to prevent young people committing violent crimes.