The needs of young people who offend and the risks they pose are not Essay

The needs of young people who offend and the risks they pose are not the same thing. Discuss - Essay Example According to Arthur (2005) the courts have held the parents of offending youths responsible on some level since the 19th century. Prior to 1990 such parental responsibility was only generally found in financial terms with the parents being forced to pay compensation for the harm caused by their children1. The same financial responsibility has been retained since the reforms in the criminal justice system2 but the government has added extra burdens on the parents in non-financial terms. Gelsthorpe (1999) highlights the proposed changes that the Government were planning on implementing in 1991 such that the parents of offending children could be charged with failing ‘to prevent their children from committing offences’. These plans failed to come to fruition but the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 s58 did give the courts the power to issue a bind-over to the parents of offending youths. Parents were entitled to refuse to accept the bind-over but could then be faced with a fine of  £1000. Prior to the 1991 Act the non-financial responsibility of parents was limited to a requirement for them to attend court with the children3. Most of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 was repealed by the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 although the provision to bind-over parents was retained under s150. Under this section a bind-over can remain in place for a maximum of 3 years or until the child attains the age of 18, which ever is the sooner. This section can also make it so that the parent is bound over to ensure that the child complies with any community sentence that has been imposed on them4. Prior to the 2000 Act parenting orders were brought into being through the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 aimed at making parents responsible for the actions of their children. These orders range from making the children attend school to curfews and enforcing their children from association with certain persons.