These resources were selected by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and are now maintained by IRISS.
This article reviews policy developments in Scotland concerning 'persistent young offenders' and then describes the design of a study intended to assist a local planning group in developing its response. The key findings of a review of case files of young people involved in persistent offending are reported.
This article presents some key findings from an exploratory study of teenage girls’ views and experiences of violence, carried out in Scotland. Using data gathered from self-report questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, it conveys girls’ perceptions of violence and discusses the nature and extent of the many forms of violence in girls’ lives. In particular, the article flags up the pervasiveness of verbal conflicts within girls’ lives and outlines the characteristics of those girls who describe themselves as violent.
This article reviews the evidence regarding young women’s involvement in violent crime and, drawing on recent research carried out in HMPYOI Cornton Vale in Scotland, provides an overview of the characteristics, needs and deeds of young women sentenced to imprisonment for violent offending. Through the use of direct quotations, the article suggests that young women’s anger and aggression is often related to their experiences of family violence and abuse, and the acquisition of a negative worldview in which other people are considered as being ‘out to get you’ or ‘put one over on you’.
The study of decision-making by public officials in administrative settings has been a mainstay of law and society scholarship for decades. The methodological challenges posed by this research agenda are well understood: how can socio-legal researchers get inside the heads of legal decision-makers in order to understand the uses of official discretion?