ABSTRACT
The adolescent population in the UK constitutes half of the child population with around 7.5 million young people in the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. The dangers of holding juveniles and adults together in the same institutions were recognized and separate facilities for juveniles were developed: initially houses of refuge and, later in the century, industrial and reformatory schools. Most jurisdictions have arrangements to transfer juveniles from, or waive the jurisdiction of, the juvenile system when dealing with very serious offences. Juvenile courts were established throughout England and Wales after the Children Act 1908 and the see-saw battle between a welfare and a moral or just deserts approach to delinquency which has continued since then has been outlined. The English system of juvenile justice is an amalgam of welfare, justice, crime control and diversion and so it inevitably reflects the tensions inherent in the diverse approaches.
