Nacro believes that prison should only be reserved for young people who represent a serious risk to the public.

We have an over punitive approach to young people who get into trouble in this country. Young people should be punished for breaking the law, but any sensible system for dealing with those who offend must have at its centre effective approaches for dealing with the welfare needs which are almost always at the root of serious and persistent youth offending.

If we look at young people in young offender institutions we find that half of them have a history of local authority care compared with 2% of the general population.

• A quarter have suffered violence in the home; many have suffered sexual abuse; and many more have suffered emotional abuse through parental neglect.
• Nearly half have literacy and numeracy levels below those of an average 11 year old and over a quarter have levels below those of a seven year old.
• 85% show signs of personality disorder and 10 % show signs of psychotic disorder. Half have symptoms of depression, anxiety and concentration problems, compared with one in 10 children in the general population.

Nacro believes that young people should be treated as children first and offenders second.