2024/02/23 by Jodie Hodgson · 1 voice
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Child Abuse and Trauma #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Migration, Health and Trauma
paper · doi:10.1332/26352338y2024d000000007
openalex publication_date 2024/02/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
This article focuses on youth custody and the imprisonment of children. It applies an abolitionist, anti-carceral lens to exploring this injustice. In doing so the article critically explores the imprisonment of children and young people in England and Wales and the institutionalised violence to which these children are subject. It presents a case study of the youth secure estate, using document analysis focused on two recent reports of Werrington Young Offenders Institution, undertaken by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in 2022. These reports are drawn upon to support the key critical arguments, concerning the imprisonment of children, presented within this article. Such arguments are centred on the failure of the state to afford legitimate safety and protection to children imprisoned in these institutions, and the deplorable role of the state in directly causing and perpetuating a range of harms against children, including ‘cultural, physical and institutionally structured violence’ (Scott, 2020: 58). Finally, the article will present a framework for abolitionist alternatives to the imprisonment of children which will ultimately serve to ensure their safety and protection.