Report reveals views of young on sentencing guideline

Rehabilitation should be the primary purpose of sentencing young people in Scotland, according to research into the views of the 14-25 age group carried out for the Scottish Sentencing Council.

Those surveyed also felt that sentences should attempt to repair the harm done to victims.

The report from the University of the West of Scotland is published today by the Council as part of its development of a guideline on the sentencing of young people.

Currently in draft, the guideline would require particular attention on the young person's age and maturity, their capacity for change, and their best interests. A young person is considered to be anyone under the age of 25.

In the research project, focus groups with 66 young people were carried out from nine local authority areas across Scotland. This included some young people who had experience of the criminal justice system, either through being convicted of a crime, or as victims of crime.

The findings suggest young people were largely in agreement with the provisions in the draft guideline.

Across the focus groups, there was support for rehabilitation as the primary purpose in sentencing young people. However, views differed on what the next most important purpose of sentencing should be. Those who had experience of the criminal justice system believed that it should be providing the person who had offended with the opportunity to make amends, while young people who were involved in youth work organisations thought that it should be protection of the public.  

When asked about what sentences should be trying to do for victims, responses included statements that sentences should “bring justice to the victim” and should show that something is being done in response to the offence, including repairing the harm done. Participants felt that the victim should be listened to, and that help should be provided to the victim as well as the person who had offended.

As respects the age up to which someone should be treated as a young person, suggestions generally ranged from 16 up to 25, implicitly reflecting a general view that there is no one age at which someone turns from being a young person to an adult. Participants believed that there should be a graduated approach to age rather than a cut-off point.

Participants also considered childhood family circumstances and relationships to be very important, and believed that there should be a broader understanding of what adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are and how they can be experienced differently.

Given a range of sentencing options, a community payback order with supervision was often viewed to be the best option, due to the involvement of a social worker in the sentence, addressing the needs of the young person and providing someone to listen to them.

While prison was generally regarded as unlikely to achieve the aim of rehabilitation, most groups also believed prison had a purpose for very serious offences especially when considering the protection of the public.

Mentors, mentoring, and counselling were suggested as areas where the criminal justice system sometimes fell short, with some participants suggesting an option that would provide mental health support as part of an integrated sentence.

Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk and chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council, commented: “We would like to thank the young people who took part in the focus groups as well as the University of the West of Scotland for this report. We have considered its findings carefully along with the other research reports we have gathered and the responses to the public consultation we conducted last year. This will allow the Council to finalise the draft guideline and submit it to the High Court for approval in due course."

Dr Johanne Miller, who conducted the research along with Dr Sarah Anderson, added: "Including the voices of young people and those young people who have had contact with the justice system is essential in ensuring justice is for young people and not something done to them."