Reimagining custody for children in Scotland

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Dyer, Fiona (2025) Reimagining custody for children in Scotland. Prison Service Journal, 278. pp. 34-40. ISSN 0300-3558

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Abstract

Over the last 20 years Scotland has made remarkable in-roads in reducing the number of children in custody. In 2010 the under-18 wing in HMPYOI Polmont opened with 120 boys. Today (August 2024) that figure stands at only 8 children, and there are plans, through new legislation in the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024, to have no children under 18 in custody in Scotland by the end of the summer 2024. Furthermore, Scotland is also aiming to reduce the number of children in secure care settings in accordance with current policy directives and is undergoing a process of reviewing secure care within Scotland, to meet the recommendations of our Independent Care Review, and the legal obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Although children continue to be held in police custody, alternatives are also an area under development in Scotland. Drawing upon research evidence and policy documents, this article will explore the policy, practice and other changes over the past two decades in Scotland which have focused on a ‘rights lens’ and contributed to achievements and a new position for children in detention in Young Offender Institutions (YOI), secure care and police custody. Documents and evidence that have influenced change will be examined; the incremental steps to creating the necessary environment for policy and practice change; the tangible changes to practice on the ground; and the development of alternative provisions for children. In outlining the progress made and the lessons learned from these Scottish developments, this article will contribute to the knowledge base, as well as having relevance to scholars, practitioners and policymakers in many other jurisdictions who are concerned with children’s rights, child-friendly justice, penal reform and alternatives to custody. This article was published in the Prison Service Journal: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/reimagining-custody-children-scotland

ORCID iDs

Dyer, Fiona ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0455-357X;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)