Where have all the young offenders gone?

In this research briefing paper, AQMeN doctoral student Ben Matthews explores why the crime drop that has happened in Scotland since the early 1990s is not evenly distributed among offenders. There has been a substantial decline in the rate of convictions of people aged 25 or under, in particular young men, whereas, by contrast, rates of convictions for people over

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Crime and Victimisation media coverage

2017 coverage: How Scotland reduced knife deaths among young people– 3rd December 2017 The Guardian’s Gary Younge quotes Susan McVie on the drop in violent crime among young people in Scotland Black people more likely to be searched by police, report finds – 4th July 2017 The National reports on the review prepared by Susan McVie and Kath Murray for

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Examining the crime drop in Scotland

Like many other western countries, the number of recorded crimes and offences in Scotland has seen a dramatic reduction since the early 1990s. A key aim of the AQMeN research on crime and victimisation was to examine the crime drop in Scotland, comparing and contrasting the trends in different types of crimes and offences, and to establish how this was

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Criminal careers and the crime drop in Scotland

The number of recorded crimes has fallen in many countries, including Scotland, since the early 1990s. As crime is committed by people, this crime drop must be explained by either a reduction in the number of people offending (prevalence) or a reduction in the number of offences committed by people who do offend (frequency), or both. However, to date, little

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Criminal careers and the crime drop: influencing Scotland’s youth justice strategy

This AQMeN impact case study highlights the impact of recent research by doctoral student Ben Matthews. Ben’s research explores the fall in conviction rates for young people in Scotland, including the use of his findings in the development of the Scottish Government Youth Justice Strategy, published in 2015, and the revised Justice Strategy, due to be published in 2017. Read

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