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The purpose of this study is to suggest how the Covid-19 lockdown may affect illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people who become involved in County lines drug dealing.

This is an “opinion piece” based on data released by central and local government departments and voluntary sector sources concerning the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people. The data is augmented with information from recent discussions with police officers, youth workers and social workers in a London borough.

It appears that the Covid-19 restrictions have had, and will continue to have, a deleterious impact upon both illicit drug users and the young people caught up in County lines drug distribution.

The study’s originality lies in its attempt to use a range of sources to anticipate the consequences of the Covid-19 restrictions on illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people.

This paper aims to explore children’s experiences during their time in custody in England and Wales.

A total of 48 children were interviewed, as part of a wider study on children’s pathways into, through and out of custody. The focus of this paper is on children’s experiences in young offender institutions.

The findings from this study suggest that children’s behaviour during incarceration can be understood largely as strategies for surviving the hostile environment in which they find themselves.

This paper seeks to make a series of recommendations for practitioner and policymakers, based on the findings of this study.

The findings from this study suggest that children’s behaviour during incarceration can be understood largely as strategies for surviving the hostile environment in which they find themselves. This paper seeks to highlight specific elements of this environment and offers an insight into how they may impact upon a child's sense of self and place in the world.

Drawing upon current research in Northamptonshire, this article argues that the assumption, implicit in recent UK youth justice legislation, that formal criminal justice interventions with early‐stage young offenders will have positive deterrent and rehabilitative effects does not appear to be borne out in practice. It contends that the use of informal diversionary strategies with, low‐level, early‐stage, young offenders may, in fact, have a more positive impact in terms of re‐conviction rates, averting the escalation of ‘deviant careers’, reducing criminal victimisation and cost savings. The article concludes with a discussion of the political and administrative barriers to the implementation of such strategies in English youth justice.

The general consensus amongst policy makers regarding the causal explanations for the involvement of young people in the August Riots of 2011 seems to have centred on “mindless criminality” and “thuggery”. These explanations have tended to be quite one dimensional where complexity has been avoided in favour of simplicity. Issues of structural inequality, poverty and social injustice appeared to be negated by political figures in favour of an emphasis on neo-liberal, individualistic explanations and solutions. Understanding that there have been very different interpretations of the riots, where some have come to very different opinions from the same data, the purpose of this paper is to revisit the causes and meanings of the rioting that took place over a five-day period in August 2011. Second by drawing on social democratic perspectives the paper stipulates several factors that if not dealt with may give rise to future rioting.

The paper takes the form of a conceptual analysis. I draw on the work of a number of key academics and commentators to enrich the analysis.

Within the paper it is argued that the policies that emanate from neo-liberal political ideologies have impacted disproportionately on working class children and young people. More specifically the paper finds that problems experienced are deemed to be the responsibility of the individual, side-lining the influence of ecological and socio-economic factors.

In the light of the criticisms of neo-liberalistic approaches, social democratic perspectives are drawn upon in order to consider new ways of approaching the issues facing children and young people within contemporary society. Such perspectives are concerned with addressing structural inequality, poverty and social injustice.