- To provide a critical overview of the historical development of state policy responses to youth crime (particularly within England and Wales) and to explore criminological and sociological conceptualisations of ‘youth’, ‘crime’, ‘criminalisation’ and ‘justice’.
- To analyse the competing priorities and underpinning discourses that inform youth justice policy formation.
- To explore the application of youth justice policy through the interventions of state agencies, and to consider the principal consequences of such interventions for ‘young offenders’, the management of youth crime and the regulation and governance of young people

(LO1) An understanding of the trajectory of state policy responses to children and young people in conflict with the law from the early nineteenth century to the present and a familiarity with key debates within youth criminology and the sociology of youth justice.

(LO2) An awareness of key criminological and sociological debates and an ability to critically analyse the competing priorities, tensions and paradoxes intrinsic to ‘welfare’, ‘justice’ and ‘retributive’/‘punitive’ approaches to the delivery of youth justice.  

(LO3) A critical grasp of the politics of youth crime, youth justice and social control.

(LO4) An appreciation of the temporal and spatial dimensions of youth justice and the significance of comparative transnational analyses.

(S1) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S2) Critical thinking and problem solving - Synthesis

(S3) Information skills - Critical reading

(S4) Information skills - Information accessing:[Locating relevant information] [Identifying and evaluating information sources]

(S5) Skills in using technology - Information accessing

(S6) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Academic writing (inc. referencing skills)

Week 1: Introduction and module overview.

Week 2: The ‘discovery’ of youth crime and the ‘invention’ of youth justice.

Week 3: State intervention and the welfare-justice complex.

Week 4: The ascendancy of welfare and welfarism.

Week 5: ‘Benign’ intervention, intermediate treatment and tutelage.

Week 6: The ascendancy of justice and just deserts.

Week 7: Diversion, decriminalisation and decarceration.

Week 8: The ascendancy of correctionalism and retribution.

Week 9: Demonisation and re-penalisation.

Week 10: Expanding realms of social control - youth crime, disorder and ‘anti-social behaviour’.

Week 11: International perspectives and comparative youth justice.

Week 12: Module summary, revision and assignment guidance.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: The primary purpose of lectures is to provide students with a broad introduction to key areas and debates.
Attendance Recorded: No

Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description: Seminars provide opportunities to explore particular issues and debates in greater detail in a way that supplements and builds upon the lectures. Seminars also allow for greater levels of student participation and such participation will be actively encouraged throughout the module.
Attendance Recorded: Yes