NCJ Number
129118
Journal
American Jails Volume: 4 Issue: 5 Dated: (January/February 1991) Pages: 108-110
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines the issue of juvenile offenders in custody in the United Kingdom. The suicides of two 15-year old boys in 1990 has led to a call to abolish sentence detention for 14-year old boys in the young offender institution.
Abstract
However, penal custody will remain an option for boys 15 and 16 years old. Juveniles can enter penal custody when receiving a custodial sentence in a young offender institution, at the remand stage, and when convicted of certain grave crimes under Section 53 of the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act. Sentenced juveniles who serve time in young offenders institutions are subject to rules for certain activity regimes and a personal officer scheme. However, this rule is implemented only in some of the institutions. Remand juveniles spend time in remand centers designated for those under 21 or in the remand wing of adult prisons. Dissatisfaction with these approaches is leading to a movement to remove juveniles from prison and to place them in appropriate community-based programs or secure facilities if warranted.