Youth justice policy and its influence on desistance from crime

Tackling youth crime has become a prime concern of Government policy relating to children and young people. However, the arena in which such policy is played out remains predominantly within the confines of the youth justice system rather than in wider policy initiatives. As has been seen in other chapters in this book, this has resulted in the increasing criminalisation and stigmatisation of young people, with less emphasis on their status as'troubled' and more emphasis on their label as'troublesome'. Although only a small minority of young people offend with any conviction, in both senses of the word, these young people are seen to justify the majority of youth justice funding, policy and practice initiatives.