Angela Morgan recently reviewed Martin Stephenson's book Young People and Offending, for November's British Journal of Criminology. Here are some extracts from that review:


Stephenson’s book seeks to enlighten its readers about the world of youth offending — a phenomenon which is often clouded by myths and stereotypes in the educational world and beyond.

The book consists of eleven chapters divided into three sections. The first section of the book offers a theoretical background on the nature of schools and delinquent behaviour, a chronological history of education and how it relates to the youth justice field, and an exposition ofhow social exclusion has provided an explanatory framework for the developmentof social policy for the past 15 years. Section Two evaluates the evidence on educational risk factors for offending (low attainment or becoming detached from school), and examines in detail the impact of custodial educational interventions. Chapters in this section focus particularly on detachment (exclusion,absenteeism, nonparticipation and unemployment), low attainment and under achievement, the influence of the school, and custody and custodial education. Finally, Section Three goes on to discuss the perceptions of education and youth justice amongst other key stakeholders (such as magistrates, Youth Offending Teams and young people themselves) as well as general public opinion. Stephenson also surveys ‘what works’ and the evidence relating to the effectiveness of government social policy in the fields of youth justice, education and broader ‘social inclusion’ initiatives.

This book marks a significant step in the right direction. It is comprehensive in scope and very well written. It also has aring of authenticity about it. I found it resonated strongly with my own research with vulnerable and challenging children and young people. It is, in short, a highly recommended book which will be of value to practitioners,academics, theorists and policy makers working with young people who offend.

Angela Morgan - University of Wolverhampton

British Journal of Criminology, Vol 47, no 6, November 2007
For more information about Young People and Offending, please go to: Young People and Offending