ABSTRACT
Legal theorists have not systematically applied themselves to fundamental questions such as, should youth offending behaviour be proscribed by criminal law? How can such an approach to youth anti-social and offending behaviour be rationalised? If young people lack the capacity to make a meaningful choice and to control their impulses, should they be held criminally culpable for their behaviour? In what ways is the immaturity of young offenders relevant to their blameworthiness? This chapter seeks to address some of these questions by introducing some of the major criminal law theoretical paradigms that have attempted to explain the function of the criminal justice system. The chapter will examine these theories of culpability which underpin our criminal law and why conduct is defined as criminal, and consider their application to young people aged between ten and eighteen years. The proper response to juvenile offenders depends entirely on our theories of justification for intervention in their lives. These theories will help to assess whether it is appropriate for young people to be adjudicated and punished by the criminal justice system. I will critically analyse the implications of these questions for policy-making in England and Wales and conclude by proposing changes to the present law.
