Social Work Now, Issue 42, pages 18-23.
Young people who commit violent offences damage their victims, the community, their families and themselves. This article summarises work undertaken by the Ministry of Justice (Crawford & Kennedy, 2008) that explored concerns around a perceived increase in the level of violent offending by young people who come into contact with the youth justice system (i.e., 14–16-year-olds) and the challenges in providing effective interventions for serious violent offenders.