Youth crime starts early ........

MORI Youth Survey 2004
Summary of findings

The findings from the MORI Youth Survey 2004 (commissioned by the Youth Justice Board) show that:

# 26% of young people in mainstream education have committed a crime
# 60% excluded young people have offended
# Overall, however, offending levels have remained stable since 2001.
A higher proportion of boys have offended than girls, as have a higher proportion of young people who are black, compared with young people who are white or Asian.

# In mainstream schools; 31% of boys have committed a crime, compared with 20%
of girls; 37% of young people who are black have offended, compared with 26% of
young people who are white and 20% Asian.

# In excluded projects, 65% of boys admit to committing a crime, compared with
48% of girls.

This year, the peak age for offending is 14 – slightly younger than in previous years.

The Youth Survey findings suggest that, if a young person has not committed an offence
by the age of 14, they are unlikely to do so.

However, the most common age for first time offending is between the ages of 11 and 12 among mainstream offenders, and between 10 and 11 among excluded offenders.

This is a lengthy and detailed report but these are the most significant findings. As Fagin and the Jesuits know .... catch 'em young. They are young AND they are excluded ... are you thinking what I am thinking ?