Transformations in youth crime and justice across Europe

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview the research evidence relating to the crime drop, highlighting the very small number of studies which have examined the contribution of young people to the observed reductions in crime. It begins with a contextual overview of evidence relating to the crime drop and its relationship to trends and policies in youth justice. The chapter explains the changing trends in youth crime and justice in a European context and to consider what these changes mean for those young people remaining in the system. It demonstrates how the youth justice client group across Europe has contracted in recent years and provides a critical review of the policy contexts in which this has occurred. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the implications of these effects for the future of youth justice in Europe and, more particularly, how they verify the efficacy of a diversionary paradigm as an ethical and pragmatic response to youthful transgressions.