Education, Children’s Social Care and offending – what do the statistics tell us?

The recently published government research - Education, children's social care and offending provides a window into the landscape of childhood offending and uses Ministry of Justice education data to examine the education and social care background of children cautioned or sentenced for committing an offence.

Children entering the criminal justice system should be viewed as a safeguarding issue, for several reasons. Firstly, children experiencing the criminal justice system are likely to find this difficult, confusing and intimidating. There is a risk that the systems in place for protecting and supporting children in contact with criminal proceedings may not be sufficient or child-centred, and, in some cases, harmful, as seen with the recent case of Child Q and as identified in the recent reports by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

In addition, children who experience grooming, exploitation and abuse are frequently implicated in offending as part of their abuse and exploitation by perpetrators. Therefore, when discussing children committing offences it is important to remember we are referring to children, and there are often external influences out of their control which may impact their offending behaviour, meaning they could be at risk themselves.

The government report reviews data gathered around characteristics of children who have been cautioned and/or committed an offence. The report defines the cohort of children as below:

It is made clear from the outset – the research does not imply a causal link between children’s education and social care background and likelihood for offending, this would need more complex research methods to explore in full. Therefore, the results need careful interpretation and should not be seen as a basis for predicting likelihood of offending by children depending on their education and social care backgrounds or characteristics.

That said, the report does raise some interesting points about potential outcomes for children with education and social care characteristics and backgrounds. This insight will aim to summarise the findings and explore alongside other prominent research, what this means for school, through a lens of how schools can contribute to protective experiences for children and young people in their settings.