Juvenile Desistance and Community Disadvantage: The Role of Appropriate Accommodations and Engagements

Abstract

In recent years, juvenile justice systems have shown renewed interest in ensuring effective programming and support for young offenders as they reenter the community. These services often focus on suitable accommodations, education, work-based employment, and engagement in conventional activities. Recent studies also suggest, however, that these services may not have the desired impact in the community (i.e. desistance) if underlying community-level risk factors are not attended to. This may especially be the case for young offenders. Given the developmental literature underscoring the heightened sensitivity of youth to external conditions, this study focuses attention on the recidivism of young offenders in the United Kingdom. Data from 2005 through 2009 show that changes in appropriate accommodation and engagement offered to ex-offenders in a community are both related to a community’s rate of youth reoffending; however, the strength of this relationship differs across level of community disadvantage.

Keywords:

• youth
• structural disadvantage
• reoffending

Notes

¹ LA is a generic term for any level of local government in the UK. In this study, LAs include non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, and London boroughs.

² Suitable accommodation means accommodation (a) which so far as reasonably practicable is suitable for the child in the light of his needs, including his health needs and any needs arising from any disability; (b) in respect of which the responsible authority has satisfied itself as to the character and suitability of the landlord or other provider; and (c) in respect of which the responsible authority has so far as reasonably practicable taken into account the child’s: (i) wishes and feelings and (ii) education, training, or employment needs. Good performance is typified by higher percentage.

³ The UK census categorizes qualifications into four levels. The measure of “no qualifications” includes people over the age of 16 who did not complete at least a General Certificate of Secondary Education, who did not complete an apprenticeship, or other comparable qualifications. It excludes full-time students and school children aged 16–18.

⁴ Crime data were obtained from all 44 police force areas in England and Wales, including the British Transport Police.

⁵ Indicators are returned in YOT areas but reported by LA. Some YOTs cover two LAs. In these cases the data are duplicated so that, for example, the data for City of London are the same as for Tower Hamlets. The affected LAs are: Tower Hamlets & City of London Halton & Warrington Worcestershire & Herefordshire Shropshire & Telford and Wrekin Bournemouth & Poole. Furthermore, there are no data for Middlesborough, Rutland or the Isles of Scilly.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Stansfield

Richard Stansfield is an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. His research interests focus on crime over the life course, with a particular emphasis on youth vulnerability. In addition, his work covers violence, structural predictors of crime, race, and ethnicity. Recent work on these topics has been published in Crime & Delinquency, Social Science Research, and Criminal Justice & Behavior.