Histories of Youth and Crime

Annotated Further Readings

Wills, A. (2007) Historical Myth-making in Juvenile Justice Policy. London: History & Policy. www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/historical-myth-making-in-juvenile-jus­tice-policy 

And,

Pearson, G. (1983) Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears. London: Macmillan.

Two of the most accessible and engaging introductions to the potential of social his­tory research in (re)informing contemporary debates. Both trace some remarkable historical conti­nuities in adult reaction to troublesome youth, marked in particular by misplaced views of ‘reform as progress’.

 

Hendrick, H. (1997) ‘Constructions and reconstructions of British childhood: an interpre­tative survey, 1800 to the present’, in James, A. and Proat, A. (eds), Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Falmer.

A useful overview of some of the most important social reconstructions of childhood since the end of the eighteenth century which illus­trates the theme of historical variability.

 

Magarey, S. (1978) ‘The invention of juvenile delinquency in early nineteenth century England’, Labour History (Sydney), 34: 11-25

 

King, P. and Noel, J. (1993) ‘The origins of the problem of juvenile delinquency: the growth of juvenile prosecutions in London in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries’, in Criminal Justice History, Vol. 14. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

 

King, P. (1998) ‘The rise of juvenile delinquency in England 1780–1840: changing patterns of perception and prosecution’, Part and Present, 160: 116-166

All provide the debate about the origins of juvenile delinquency with a much needed historical substance.

 

King, P. (2006) Crime and Law in England, 1750–1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are useful in breaking with some previous orthodoxies of the origins of delinquency and reformatory effort. His research focuses particular attention on the previously overlooked period 1790–1825.

 

Springhall, J. (1986) Coming of Age: Adolescence in Britain, 1860-1960. London: Gill & Macmillan.

A thoughtful overview of the period 1860–1960 which focuses on the impact of the concept of adolescence.

 

Hendrick, H. (1990) Images of Youth: Age, Class and the Male Youth Problem 1880-1920. Oxford: Clarendon.

Narrower in focus than Springhall, (restricted to 1880–1920), but is important in placing the debates in the context of class, as well as age, relations.

 

Bailey, V. (1987) Delinquency and Citizenship: Reclaiming the Young Offender  1914-1948. Oxford: Clarendon.

 

Cox, P. (2003) Gender, Justice and Welfare: Bad Girls in Britain 1900-1950. Basingstoke: Palgrave

Both give sustained attention to the, otherwise neglected, period 1914–48. 

Weblinks

www.historyandpolicy.org

A series of articles designed to illustrate the relevance of historical research for contemporary policy debates. Carries multiple themes, one of which is criminal justice and law reform.

www.oldbaileyonline.org

A valuable resource which contains accounts of over 200,000 criminal trials between 1674 and 1913 and which are searchable by keywords, offences, verdicts and punishments.

www.learnhistory.org.uk/cpp/

Designed for secondary school students but includes a useful section, with illustra­tions, on crime, punishment and protest, 1450–2004.

www.britishorigins.com/BritishOrigins/gallery-employment/Childrens Employment.aspx  

Government publication of 1842 which contains vivid and detailed description of the conditions of child employment in the early nineteenth century.

www.cjcj.org/Education1/Juvenile-Justice-History

A brief introduction to the history of juvenile justice in America.