Crime

Abstract

Having considered in Chapters 5 and 6 the way in which the cultural politics of childhood is reflected in the production and reproduction of childhood in the key spheres of education and health, we now wish to consider recent developments in what appears to be, in the UK at least, the almost axiomatic relationship between children, childhood and crime. This issue is not, at first sight, as pervasive in its reach as either education or health, which are by definition issues for all children. It is, however, the case that the law as it relates to the criminal activities of some children applies potentially to all children and young people. Moreover it is also the case that there is a widespread view, amongst both policy-makers and adults more generally, that there is a clear relationship between the developmental/social space of childhood and crime such that it requires special measures that is, different from those deemed to be necessary for adults to deal with it.