Child deaths in the juvenile secure estate
Child deaths in the juvenile secure estate
This chapter is about one of the most controversial issues in contemporary youth justice: child deaths in custodial institutions. First, it describes recent trends in child imprisonment in England and Wales and reviews what is known about the biographies of child prisoners, together with the treatment and conditions that they experience within the juvenile secure estate. It presents an overview of ‘safer custody’ reforms and their limitations alongside a critical assessment of the investigation and inquest processes that typically follow child deaths in penal custody. It argues that knowledge of child deaths in the juvenile secure estate is conventionally fragmented and limited in scope. More recent recognition of the issues involved, however, has led to demands for closer scrutiny and public inquiry. Building upon this, the chapter concludes by summarising the case for comprehensive independent inquiry into child deaths in the juvenile secure estate and related questions of contemporary youth justice policy.
Keywords: England, Wales, youth justice, child deaths, imprisonment, child prisoners, secure estate, safer custody, public inquiry
Policy Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.