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Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology Series Editors Ben Crewe Institute of Criminology University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK Yvonne Jewkes Social & Policy Sciences University of Bath Bath, UK Thomas Ugelvik Faculty of Law University of Oslo Oslo, Norway Tis is a unique and innovative series, the frst of its kind dedicated entirely to prison scholarship. At a historical point in which the prison population has reached an all-time high, the series seeks to analyse the form, nature and consequences of incarceration and related forms of punishment. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology provides an important forum for burgeoning prison research across the world. Series Advisory Board: Anna Eriksson (Monash University) Andrew M. Jeferson (DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture) Shadd Maruna (Rutgers University) Jonathon Simon (Berkeley Law, University of California) Michael Welch (Rutgers University). More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14596 Alexandra Cox • Laura S. Abrams Editors The Palgrave International Handbook of Youth Imprisonment Editors Alexandra Cox Laura S. Abrams Department of Sociology Luskin School of Public Afairs University of Essex University of California Los Angeles Colchester, UK Los Angeles, CA, USA Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ISBN 978-3-030-68758-8 ISBN 978-3-030-68759-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68759-5 © Te Editor(s) (if applicable) and Te Author(s) 2021 Tis work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustra- tions, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar method- ology now known or hereafter developed. Te use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Te publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Te publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional afliations. Cover illustration: Klaus Vedfelt Tis Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Te registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword Te United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty concludes that more than seven million children (under 18 years of age) are deprived of liberty per year worldwide. Most of them are kept in institutions of all kinds, including special facilities for children with disabilities, others are placed in migration-related detention, and more than 1.5 million children are held in justice-related detention, that is, in police custody, pre-trial detention facili- ties and prisons. Tese are still conservative estimates, based upon a broad variety of data submitted by governments, the United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations, civil society and academia. In 2014, the UN General Assembly had invited the Secretary General to commission this Global Study. In 2016 I was requested to lead the Global Study research pro- cess as an independent expert, and in 2019 I submitted the results of our comprehensive and inclusive research and data collection to the General Assembly. Te high number of children deprived of liberty stands in direct contrast to the requirement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN human rights treaty with the highest number of States parties (196), which clearly states that the detention of children shall be used only as a measure of last resort. Tis means that children shall be deprived of liberty only in excep- tional circumstances on a case-by-case basis if non-custodial solutions are really not available or appropriate. Although some progress has been achieved in recent years, it is evident that much more needs to be done in terms of deinstitutionalization, diversion, ending migration-related detention, strengthening child welfare systems and similar measures. Tis is crucial since children have to be protected from the traumatic experiences detention v vi Foreword settings inevitably create. Depriving children of their liberty means depriving them of their childhood. It is our responsibility to give children in detention back their childhood. Children have a right to grow up safe and surrounded by love—if not in their family, then in a family-type setting. States have a cor- responding obligation to support the family, which is the natural and funda- mental group unit of society responsible for the upbringing, care and education of children. Where children are unable to remain with their families, States must invest in efective child welfare systems that provide non-custodial alter- natives to the deprivation of liberty in numerous settings including institu- tions, migration detention or in the context of the administration of justice. Children deprived of liberty are invisible to the large majority of society and their fate constitutes the most overlooked violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Te Palgrave International Handbook of Youth Imprisonment deals with one important aspect of deprivation of liberty which is related to the admin- istration of justice. In addition to case studies in Europe, the United States and other world regions, the Handbook raises important issues, such as whether to reform or abolish the current practice of youth prisons altogether. It points at the disproportionate confnement of poor and socially, economi- cally and politically marginalized children across the globe. It describes the bitter experiences and emotions of children behind bars and the long-lasting detrimental impact of detention on their physical and mental health. I congratulate the editors of the Palgrave Handbook, Alexandra Cox and Laura Abrams, for having compiled such a rich variety of academic contribu- tions which confrm the fndings of the Global Study and the need for far- reaching institutional reforms in the feld of child justice and youth imprisonment. Governments shall stop “tough on crime policies” against chil- dren; decriminalize the behaviour of children and abolish status ofences; establish specialized child justice systems; raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years; abolish life sentences and other excessive prison sentences for children; apply diversion at every stage of the criminal justice process and empower police ofcers, prosecutors, judges and prison personnel to involve the families and transfer children to their families or family-type settings within the child protection system; replace punitive and repressive child justice systems by restorative justice approaches; keep police custody to a maximum of 24 hours and pre-trial detention never longer than 30 days until formal charges are laid; provide children with efective proce- dural safeguards and complaints mechanisms at every stage of the child justice proceedings; develop an efective system of independent and unannounced Foreword vii monitoring of all places of child detention; treat children in detention with humanity, dignity and full respect for their human rights; abolish corporal punishment, other forms of physical and psychological violence as well as soli- tary confnement; and make widely available early release and post-release programmes, such as mentoring programmes, community service work and group/family counselling. I sincerely hope that the Palgrave International Handbook on Youth Imprisonment will have an impact on making the invisible visible and help to start a process of liberating children from detention in the context of the administration of justice. Children behind bars constitute a practice of struc- tural violence. By drastically reducing the number of children in detention, the Palgrave Handbook, together with the Global Study, will foster the aims of the “Agenda 2030”, which strives to end violence against children and to leave no one behind, and in particular no child behind bars. Vienna and Venice, November 2020 Manfred Nowak is Professor of International Human Rights at Vienna University and Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights, based in Venice. In 2016, he was appointed as Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty. Te United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty was pub- lished in November 2019 and in a slightly corrected version in June 2020 online and in print. Since October 2020, an Executive Summary is also avail- able in English and will be translated into the other fve UN languages. Download the Executive Summary (68 pages) as well as the entire Global Study (768 pages) in PDF or consult the interactive version on omnibook: https://omnibook.com/Global-Study-2019. Manfred Nowak Professor of International Human Rights Vienna University Acknowledgements Tis volume would
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