Accommodation and youth crime

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine a number of the problems young people face in respect of their living arrangements and how these difficulties can impact on them and the decisions that are made when they are involved in the criminal justice system. It discusses some of the problems that have to be overcome, the role of youth offending teams and some of the initiatives that have been developed to address young people's needs.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a literature review based on research the author has undertaken over the last decade that incorporates the findings of other research, obtained from research reports, project evaluations, thematic inspections and contributions from the voluntary sector. It also refers to findings from analysis of Asset data. Asset is a standardised assessment tool used by youth justice practitioners in youth offending teams to identify risk factors that will be addressed in supervision of young people subject to statutory orders.

Findings

The paper summarizes information from a range of sources about the problems young people in the criminal justice system face when there are difficulties with their living arrangements. There can be additional difficulties (when compared to other vulnerable young people) because of criminal justice involvement. The paper analyses what some of these difficulties can be by describing the implications at some of the key decision‐making points of the system and explores the role of youth offending teams which do not have statutory responsibilities for providing accommodation for young people and advises that this remains a responsibility of statutory agencies, although one that is not always properly fulfilled by children's services or local authority housing departments. Legislative responsibility is clarified with reference to recent case law. The paper concludes with mention of some of some relatively recent initiatives that have been taken in relation to resettlement in particular and their findings. The article concludes that addressing housing need requires a co‐ordinated approach from youth offending teams (as brokers and advocates) and that statutory services need to fulfil their obligations or prevent offending and assist young people to lead settled lifestyles.Research limitations/implications – The paper has largely reviewed existing materials, however it adds to existing material by providing an update on more recent developments and provided a discussion of the issues as they affect young people. Some of the information obtained from examination of Assets (by the author in the conduct of research) has not previously been published and the author attributes this to Asset review. Also whilst many young people in the justice system are experiencing problems which are not within the scope of youth offending teams’ responsibilities to fully resolve – there are therefore limitations to how far discussion around this particular aspect of the analysis can be taken.

Practical implications

The paper is important as it reinforces the need for statutory services to fulfil their obligation to young people in housing need. It is important for those engaging with young people who have housing difficulties to be aware of their problems and vulnerabilities – which can often be forgotten as statutory agencies can have a tendency to see view them primarily as offenders and not young people in need.

Social implications

The social implications of not addressing this problem are that young people with housing difficulty grow up into adults who also have housing needs and there is a greater risk of homelessness. Criminal activity contributes to homelessness and can occur as a result of homelessness. Also those with housing difficulty can potentially face more punitive sanctions from the criminal justice system because of their problems and not their actions, the biggest one being that they can lose their liberty. It is in the best interests of young people to ensure that they are living settled and law‐abiding lifestyles. Addressing housing need is an important social function in the prevention of offending.

Originality/value

The paper re‐visits a long‐standing problem that continues to require resolution. The paper provides a summary of the problem, indicates how it can impact on criminal justice decision making, the role of youth offending teams and some recent initiatives. It presents this information in one paper and discusses housing difficulties from the youth justice specifically, which discussion of young people and their housing difficulties may touch on but not go into in the level of depth that this article does.

Citation

Thomas, S. (2013), "Accommodation and youth crime", Safer Communities, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 111-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-10-2012-0015