A child's perspective
The Sentencing Academy has published a new (30 October 2024) report, authored by Professor Kathryn Hollingsworth, Dr Jonathan Bild and Professor Gavin Dingwall, that explores what children above the above of criminal responsibility know and think about sentencing. The report is based on the findings of a survey of 1,038 children living in England and Wales aged between 10-17 years.
Although public opinion polls on sentencing and the criminal justice system generally are quite frequent, focusing on the views of children is very rare and the report makes for interesting reading. The fieldwork for the survey was conducted by YouGov between 29 August and 6 September 2023. Questions focus on respondents’ opinion and knowledge of sentencing practice in relation to children, and with questions about sentencing practice in relation to adults for comparative purposes.
Sources of knowledge
More than half (57%) of the children had spoken with their family about what happens in a criminal court, 39% said that teachers at school had spoken to them and 11% said they had spoken to friends. Almost a third of the children had spoken to no one.
Minimum age of criminal responsibility
The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is the age at which the law determines children have the capacity to commit a criminal offence. In England and Wales, the MACR has been 10 since 1963; lower than that recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2019) which suggest it should be ‘15 or 16 years of age’. Internationally, the most common minimum age of criminal responsibility is 14 years.
The survey question was:
‘The law says that judges cannot punish a child who has committed a crime unless they have reached a certain age. What do you think the youngest age a judge can punish a child is?’
Respondents were asked to select only one answer from ‘5 years or under’, through ages 6, 7, 8 and so on up to and including 18-years-old. While one third of children got the right answer, 51% thought the MACR was older with 19% thinking it was 16 years old or older.
The sentencing of adults
The survey asked parallel questions about views on the appropriateness of punishments for both children and adults. Few children (3%) believed that the punishments imposed on adult offenders were too severe. However, just over a quarter (27%) stated that sentences were too lenient. The two most popular responses were that they were either ‘about right’ (34%) or that they did not know (37%). The older the child, the more likely they were to hold the view that punishments were too lenient (my assumption is that this may be related to more exposure to/interest in media views at an older age).
The sentencing of children
Asked the same question about the sentencing of children, the views were markedly different. Few children (7%) stated that the sentences imposed on children who offend were too big, although this is an increase on the proportion who think that sentences imposed on adults are too severe (3%). Only 16% of children felt that sentences imposed on children were too small compared to 27% who felt that they were too lenient with regards to adult offenders; 29% stated that the sentences imposed on children were about right (compared to 34% in relation to sentences imposed on adults). As was the case with sentencing adults, respondents were most likely to state that they did not know. Almost half of children (47%) selected this option (compared to 37% with regards to adult offenders). It is noteworthy that children appear to have less knowledge of the sentences that could apply to them – or at least are less confident to express a view on the severity of them – than they are on adult offenders.
Case studies
Perhaps the most interesting questions in the survey were two scenarios where there exists clear judicial guidance and the likely sentence could be predicted. The children were asked what they thought the sentence would be.
The first scenario was:
‘Stephen’ is 16 years old. He has been convicted of carrying a knife into school. This means a court has said he is guilty of a knife crime. This is the second time Stephen has been found guilty of a knife crime. What type of punishment (sentence) do you think Stephen will get? If you are not sure, please make your best guess.
The most likely outcome would be a four month Detention and Training Order. Just over one quarter (27%) chose this option with 16% thinking ‘Stephen’ would get a 12 month custodial sentence, 43% thinking he would get a youth rehabilitation order, 11% a referral order and 3% a fine. Interestingly, the majority of the oldest age group (16- and 17-year-olds) – to whom the mandatory sentencing provisions apply – considered the likely sentence in this scenario to be a non-custodial one. This raises questions as to whether enough is being done to educate children about the potentially very serious consequences of carrying a knife.
The second scenario was:
‘Jimmy’ is 17 years old. Jimmy told ‘Amir’ he was going to hit him and then Jimmy stole Amir’s phone. Jimmy then told the court he stole Amir’s phone. This means Jimmy is guilty of this crime. It is the first time Jimmy has done a crime. What type of punishment (sentence) do you think Jimmy will get? If you are not sure, please make your best guess.
You can see the responses in the graphic below.
Responses to this scenario, in which the correct answer would be a less severe sentence than was the case with the previous scenario, were more accurate. The most common answer was the correct one, with 44% of respondents selecting a referral order. Unlike the knife possession scenario, respondents were much more likely to identify a more severe sentence than the likely outcome than a less severe one; respondents were twice as likely to specify a sentence more severe than a referral order (a youth rehabilitation order or custodial sentence) than they were to choose the less severe option (a fine). This contrasts with the knife possession scenario in which respondents were over three times more likely to choose a less severe sentence than would likely be imposed than a more severe one.
Summary
Three findings of particular significance emerged from this quantitative survey of children. Most strikingly, and fundamentally, is the high proportion of children who are not aware of the fact they have reached the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
Efforts to deter children from offending through the sentencing process, including the use of mandatory sentences, will founder where the individuals involved are unaware that criminal sanctions could even apply to them.
Secondly, when asked about their perceptions of sentencing severity in general, the children in the sample were much less likely to consider that sentencing is too lenient than has been the case for decades when adults have been asked this question.
Thirdly, it is notable that whilst the vast majority of respondents were aware that an adult would be sentenced more severely than a child for an identical offence, the panel were much more mixed as to whether a child should be sentenced more leniently.
Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here
