Background

The lack of equity and empathy in the youth justice system for ethnic minority children, especially Black and mixed race boys, has been a notable concern for many years. The Lammy Review (2017) concluded that disparity and disproportionality still characterised the youth justice system; it was found that ethnic minority children entered the criminal justice system at a younger age than their white counterparts, were more likely to be remanded, and were more likely to receive custodial sentences for comparable lower-level offences.

Summary of the evidence

Drivers of disproportionality

Some ethnic minority groups are more likely to experience social exclusion (poverty, unemployment) and neighbourhood deprivation. These social factors increase the likelihood of involvement in crime and antisocial behaviour as perpetrators and victims. Low educational attainment and school exclusion are also key drivers of youth offending, and these schooling factors are more common amongst Black and mixed-race boys than other children.

The reasons for ethic disproportionality in the youth justice system should be seen as complex, involving the interplay of neighbourhood deprivation and a lack of opportunities alongside stereotyping and other biases. A notable bias is adultification, where the acknowledgement of immaturity, childhood innocence and vulnerability are not afforded to certain children, very often Black children. Adultification leads to victim-blaming and shifting the responsibility for safeguarding to the children themselves. Weaknesses in prevention and intervention work, and negative experiences of the wider youth justice system have also been highlighted by children and practitioners as relevant factors.

In relation to Black and mixed heritage boys, it has been found that they are…

Youth justice leaders need to ensure that robust and well-resourced systems are in place for the accurate monitoring of caseloads and processes to support the identification and reduction of racial disparities and disproportionality.

Supporting desistance

We should always be mindful that interventions and approaches developed while working with one minority group may not necessarily affect the same positive change when working with another group. In relation to Black and mixed-heritage boys, it has been highlighted that attention should be focused on their ‘complex individual identities’, recognising that much work on desistance has been focused on generic offending. It has been further argued that Black and mixed-heritage boys may not develop the same kind of social capital or resources from their families as some white children, which may hinder their ability to desist, and that strategies for their desistance can only have any real effect when their voices – their (counter-)story telling – are at the centre of the process, helping to develop multi-dimensional, flexible and bespoke interventions which address their intersectional needs.

Practitioner skills

For youth justice practitioners, developing cultural competence – the ability to understand, appreciate and interact with people from cultures different from one’s own – is vital to engagement and positive interactions. Seeking guidance from role models can be beneficial, and practitioners should be helped to overcome any reluctance and anxiety in discussing issues of race, culture, faith, and experiences of racism with children being supervised. Such conversations can improve engagement and trusting relationships. Staff also need to have the confidence and psychological safety to challenge personal, colleague, and organisational biases.

Engaging parents and carers is also a critical success factor in working with children, but limitations in practitioners’ knowledge and experience, and biases and stereotyping, can be barriers to establishing positive relationships. Moreover, the personal experience of racism by ethnic minority parents and carers can undermine trust in criminal justice professionals. Youth justice workers must work to (re)gain trust and legitimacy with parents and carers, as well as the children themselves.

Deploying the principles of procedural justice – voice, neutrality, respect, and trustworthy motives – at the practitioner and the policy level is a promising way forward to increasing the legitimacy of the youth justice system and better supporting children from racialised minorities.

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Last updated: 19 July 2024