Abstract
Recent years have seen a dramatic shift in youth justice outcomes and a fall in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system in England and Wales. However, it appears that children from some backgrounds have not benefited as much as others from this change. There is a wealth of academic literature on processes of criminalisation, policies, and practices of youth justice and the experiences of children, particularly boys, in custody. However, there is little detailed understanding of how these processes, policies, and practices affect children from different backgrounds. This paper examines the most intrusive aspect of youth justice, namely, custodial sentences. Through an examination of the Inspectorate of Prisons’ reports and associated surveys, this paper seeks to explore black and minority ethnic boys’ perceptions of their experiences of custody.
Highlights
For some decades the disproportionate rate at which black and minority ethnic (BAME)1 boys are given a custodial sentence has been highlighted in government statistics in England and Wales.Surprisingly, there is a general paucity of scholarly work in the specific area of BAME boys and custody
In order to illustrate how boys experience custody differently over time, we explored changes in how boys from one institution, Feltham young offender institution (YOI), who were from BAME backgrounds or white, and who were Muslim or non-Muslim, experienced some key aspects of their imprisonment
Confirms that whilst there has been a substantial fall in custody rates, children from different ethnic groups have not benefited to the same extent from this phenomenon in our juvenile justice sector (Lammy 2017)
Summary
The disproportionate rate at which black and minority ethnic (BAME) boys are given a custodial sentence has been highlighted in government statistics in England and Wales. Almost none explores the different experiences both prior to and in custody of the distinct ethnic, racial, and religious minorities that make up the broad categories the literature describes This is an oddity given that the discipline of criminology is built upon the study of youth crime. Our review of the literature indicates that whilst quantitative evidence into ethnicity, disproportionality, and incarceration has been documented through official statistics and independent reports such as the Lammy Review, there is a dearth of theoretical and qualitative analysis into the subjective and lived experiences of BAME young people—and BAME children in particular—in custody (Phillips and Bowling 2007). Provided some insight on how black social lives are constructed inside a young offender institution (YOI) He pointed to the salience of ethnicity and religion in the incarcerated experiences of black youth. Scholarly contribution into incarcerated experiences remains rather limited, it does indicate some important concerns around young people’s need to develop coping mechanisms to deal with racism and social exclusion in these spaces (Wilson 2003; Phillips 2008)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
