rights and responsibilities (Youth Justice)
Paper details:
Essay on rights and responsibilities
Introduction – 85 words
Brief introduction in which you outline your approach to the task.
Part 1-
Explain what is meant by the “age of criminal responsibility” (350 words)
You considered the age of criminal responsibility. This is the place to start your reading about this subject sources such as –
• The Article by Neal Hazel (2008) Cross-national comparison of Youth Justice.
• The chapter by Lambe & Aubrey-Johnson (2017) on “rights, principles and the implications for practice in youth justice”
You are asked to explain what is meant by the term, so read all the related materials.
Part 2 –
Consider the reasons for the variation in the age of criminal responsibility internationally. (350 words)
You will recall from the article by Hazel (2008) that the age of criminal responsibility varies between countries. Note there is a table of page 30 which shows the differences in 90 countries at a glance and that the age ranges from 6 to 18 years.
Consider the implication of a low or high age of criminal responsibility for young people and then why this might occur. Bear in mind that at the age of criminal responsibility a young person is seen to be able to understand that they have done something wrong. You might then ask why is that some countries see young people as reaching this level of understanding at different points in their development. Do you think it is different understandings of how children develop and mature cognitively that is the issue of underlying philosiphies about how to work with children who breach the law. Some of these differences in approaches (including welfare or justice approach) are also outlined in the Hazel Article (see Cavadino and Dignan, 2006 cited in Hazel 2008 p26)
Conclusion (90 words)
Sum up what you have found through your investigation of the concept of rights and what this means for your own practice.
References
Hazel N (2008) Cross-national comparison of youth justice. London: Youth Justice Board
Lambe, S and Aubrey-Johnson, K (2017) “rights, principles and the implications for practice in youth justice” in Stephenson, M and Allen R (eds)
