Knife Crime - Home Affairs Committee Contents


Memorandum submitted by The Children's Society

  As a leading children's charity committed to making childhood better for all children in the UK we welcome this opportunity to contribute to the discussion on knife crime, particulalrly in relation to children and young people.

  The Children's Society believes that the relationship between young people and weapons is a very complex one. Research is needed into why young people are choosing to equip themselves with knives and other weapons. The possible causes emerging from our research and direct practice with children and young people are: the fear of crime and the need for protection, the distrust in police and, in relation to black and minority ethnic communities, previous experiences of racial discrimination or unfair targeting by those in authority.

  Thus, when we consulted with young people in Torbay[15] on their experiences of crime, 38% of children responded positively to the question "Have you been a victim of crime and/or abuse in the last 12 months". But 70% of those who responded positively did not report the fact to police. The most commonly cited reason for not going to police was "nothing the police can do/not interested" and comments like "nothing ever happens if you phone the police", "police don't do anything", "cos the police are pathetic and I am not a grass". These results in our opinion are reflective of the current climate in the society in which children are perceived by adults as trouble-makers and wrong-doers. It makes them less likely to report the crime, more likely to be the victim of crime, and more likely to try to protect themselves in some other way without the adults involvement.

  Our research on the experience of black young people in trouble with the law, called Just Justice,[16] showed that young people in the study did not trust the authorities, and particularly the police, to protect them. Young people in the study overwhelmingly reported that they would rather turn to their friends and family to help them when in need, and to take justice into their own hands if crimes were committed against them.

  In many cases these comments were made after they disclosed experiences of feeling targeted by police through stops and searches or experiences of racial discrimination particularly reported by young people in custody. With this letter we enclose two parts of Just Justice research highlighting experiences of policing and custody of black and minority ethnic young people.

  The Children's Society would like to see a greater focus on developing positive interventions that promote personal safety and encourage youth participation, not exclusion, within communities. We do not believe that separate focus on knife crime will help solve the problem of increasing number of young people carrying knives on its own. The causes of this behaviour must be looked at in greater detail and in connection with other experiences of violence (both at home and wider community), exclusion and discrimination that many young people go through without appropriate support available. Greater investment is needed in tackling root causes by building relationships at both the community and family level, with peer group support and the prevention of early victimisation.

October 2008








15   Fed Up With Being called A Yob? Young people's consultation on crime and community safety in Torbay. September 2005 to March 2006. The Children's Society's Torbay Participation project. Back

16   The Children's Society, "Just Justice: A study into black young people's experiences of the youth justice system". March 2006. Back


 
previous page contents next page

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2009
Prepared 2 June 2009