Young people and the police in Scotland

The phenomenon of youth crime in Scotland (and elsewhere in the UK) emerged largely from the post-war era and has been a continually developing theme in Scottish policing ever since. The recognition in the early 1960s that social and economic factors were related to young people’s offending behaviour has informed the response to offending, significantly with the development of the Children’s Hearings system, along with a diverse range of policing initiatives.