Read the evidence which explains and describes why there’s such a strong case for treating young people in the criminal justice system differently from other groups.
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Search our research and reports
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Learning from tragedy? The potential benefits, risks and limitations of offensive weapons homicide reviews
A new duty to review homicides involving offensive weapons is unlikely to achieve its aim of reducing weapons-enabled homicides, whatever else it may accomplish says this Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) report.
February 2025Read more
Adultifying Youth Custody: learning lessons on transition to adulthood from the use of youth custody for young adults
This briefing explores how the Government’s decision to temporarily raise the age young people transfer from the children’s secure estate to the adult secure estate from 18 to 19 resulted in a 253% increase in the number of over 18s in the child estate. It highlights the lost opportunity for systemic reform during this time and warns of the long-term risk of blurring the boundaries between youth and adult justice systems.
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The Wayland Pilot: Use of a peer-led scrutiny panel to amplify voices and restore trust in the discrimination complaints system in prison
In November 2023 the Zahid Mubarek Trust (ZMT) looked at developing a pilot project to address the lack of confidence in the prison discrimination complaints system amongst minority ethnic prisoners, with a particular focus on young adult prisoners. The ZMT then delivered that pilot in HMP Wayland fromJanuary to April 2024. The findings from that […]
30 September 2024Read more
Young women’s education in prison
This report from Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) demonstrates the powerful role education plays for young women in prison and on release.
Publisher: Prisoners’ Education Trust
Author: Katy Swaine Williams
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Young Justice Advisors Impact report: 2016 – 2024
This report highlights the strengths, impact and legacy
of the Young Justice Advisors project.
Publisher: Young Justice Advisors
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Always Hope Evaluation: Final Report
The University of Sussex was commissioned to assess the extent to which the Always Hope project had achieved its intended aims and impact.
Publisher: University of Sussex
Authors: Claire Durrant, Tamsin Hinton-Smith and Lisa Holmes
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Our sons and daughters: Is maturity considered in the magistrate’s court?
This report examines whether maturity is taken into account during court hearings based on the observations of almost 200 hearings involving a young adult defendant.
Publisher: Transform Justice
Authors: Fionnuala Ratcliffe, Penelope Gibbs
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Time for Change: Acquired Brain Injury and Young Adults Involved in The Criminal Justice System
This report explores the experiences of young adults with an Acquired Brain Injury in the criminal justice system.
Publisher: UKABIF
Author: Gemma Buckland
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Bridging gaps and changing tracks
Alliance for Youth Justice briefing on supporting racially minoritised young people transitioning from the youth to adult justice system.
Publisher: Alliance for Youth Justice
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Restorative Justice for Young Adults in Prison and on Probation
This report contains key policy recommendations for improving access to Restorative Justice for young adults in the criminal justice system.
Publisher: Why me?
Author: Leah Robinson