NCJ Number
165781
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Recent trends in the detention of untried and unsentenced juvenile in prisons in Great Britain are examined.
Abstract
Governments since the mid-1970's have aimed to phase out the remanding of juveniles to remand juveniles to penal establishments once sufficient secure accommodation is available locally. Legislation between 1976 and 1981 progressively restricted custodial remands for juveniles. The Criminal Justice Act 1991 included Home Office proposals to prohibit custodial remands of juveniles except when a need existed to protect the public from the risk of serious harm. However, since 1992 the decline in the number of juveniles remanded to prison service custody has been halted and reversed as a result of tougher attitudes toward offenders. The annual number of such remands increased by 72 percent between 1992 and 1995 and daily number increased approximately fourfold in the same period. However, the arguments against such remands remain as powerful as ever. Juveniles remanded in custody experience worse conditions and more restricted regimes than those for sentenced offenders in young offender institutions and those in local secure units. Juvenile detention in this form is a recipe for intimidation, bullying, and developing criminal habits. Alternatives include additional local secure accommodations, bail support, bail information, remand fostering, and intensively staffed open residential care.