Introduction

Public opinion tends consistently to overestimate the scale and trend in offending as recorded in official crime data. This applies as much to offending among young people as it does to offending among adults. Over the last decade, youth crime has become highly politicised, resulting in soaring custodial figures and increasingly tough posturing by ministers over approaches to dealing with young people who commit crime. It is well documented elsewhere that, despite a stable or downward trend in offending by young people according to official figures (Audit Commission, 2004), there is a widespread view among the public that children and young people are out of control and criminal behaviour is increasing (Hough and Roberts, 2004; see also Kemshall and Nash, Chapters 1 and 6 in this volume). Although some of this can be attributed to the fact that actual youth offending figures in terms of self-reporting may be higher (Home Office, 2006), a handful of cases in recent months have caused a moral outcry and public disturbance, leading to a perception that violent crime is out of control. Reinforcing this view is a re-categorisation of children and young people in the youth justice system as ‘offenders’ rather than children with varied complex needs. Much of the public focus on people who offend and who pose a high risk since 2005 has been concerned with adults, but there are parallels to be drawn with the youth justice system and it is with regard to a category of cases, known as ‘serious incidents’ in youth justice, that this chapter is concerned.

The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) has drawn up a definition of serious incidents that covers both those children and young people who commit certain grave crimes, and captures those children and young people who attempt or commit suicide while under the supervision of a Youth Offending Team (YOT). The accompanying guidance issued by the YJB is to be welcomed for two reasons. Firstly it provides a definition that demonstrates that young people are also victims as well as perpetrators of crime. Secondly, it enables lessons learned from serious incidents to be recorded and analysed, thus providing the potential to influence policy and improve practice in how we deal with young people who offend.