Summary information
Study title
Children and Young People in Police Custody: Metadata for Exploration of the Experience of Children and Young People Detained in Police Custody Following Arrest, from the Perspective of the Young Suspect, 2016-2017
Creator
Bevan, M, Goldsmiths, University of London
Study number / PID
855658 (UKDA)
10.5255/UKDA-SN-855658 (DOI)
Data access
Information not available
Series
Not available
Abstract
Anonymised schedules of data collected as part of a doctoral study into the experiences of children and young people detained in police custody following arrest in England and Wales. Owing to the ethical protocols used at the time of data collection (2016-2017) transcripts of interviews and logs of observations are not included (with the approval of the UK Data Service).The aim of this post-doctoral fellowship is to enable me to maximise the impact of my doctoral research into the experiences of children and young people when detained in police custody. Arrest and detention by the police is the only substantial contact with the criminal justice system that the vast majority of young people have. My doctoral research is the first empirical consideration of how the police custody process functions as a whole for children and young people in England and Wales, and the first to explore with a substantial group of children and young people their experiences as they underwent the custody process, from arrest to release.
The picture which emerges of young suspects' experiences in police custody is deeply troubling. Many young research participants struggled to cope with a detention experience which was punitive, unnecessarily lengthy and very minimally adjusted to account for their youth. Their accounts are dominated by feelings of uncertainty, helplessness and desperation to "get out" of the cell. The protections which should be in place to support them through the process are often not implemented, or function ineffectively. In particular the research identifies the challenges for young people in accessing legal advice, and the really problematic limitations on the support that can be provided by an 'appropriate adult'. Young participants' reflections, combined with the other fieldwork, raise real concerns about children's abilities to make the significant decisions required of them in custody and to participate effectively in police interview. The findings call into...
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Keywords
Methodology
Data collection period
01/01/2016 - 01/01/2017
Country
United Kingdom
Time dimension
Not availableAnalysis unit
Individual
Universe
Not availableSampling procedure
Not availableKind of data
Text
Data collection mode
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with children and young people who had recent and/or repeated experience of detention as a ‘juvenile’ in police custody in England and Wales (n=41). They are referred to collectively as ‘young participants’ and individually by pseudonym. The sample group included a range of ages at interview: 10-14 years (n=5), 15-16 years (n=19), 17-18 years (n=15) and over 18 (n=2), including eight girls and 14 young people who identified themselves as Black or of minority ethnic status (BAME). Levels of police custody experience varied – some had only one detention experience (n=6), some several (2-4 episodes, n=18) whilst others had been detained more frequently (5+ episodes, n=17). They were accessed through gatekeepers, with particular care being taken to ensure that fully informed, and ongoing, consent was obtained from all young participants, and from an adult with parental responsibility for those under 16. The interviews were semi-structured, designed to treat young participants as ‘experts by experience’ (Cohen, 2000) with freedom to focus on aspects that they considered important. In addition, 192 hours of observations were conducted in 6 police custody blocks across 3 force areas - a major regional metropolitan force, and two county forces. The observations involved tracking all young suspects (YS) passing through the block (n=47), observing processes and conditions within the block, and holding face-to-face discussions with officers, predominantly COs, and custody staff (CA) (n=96), AAs (n=11), healthcare practitioners (n=14), legal representatives (n=9), and independent custody visitors (ICV) (n=3). Further interviews were carried out away from custody blocks with additional AAs (n=11), legal representatives (n=4) and ICVs (n=3). Numerical signifiers are used for all young suspects, forces, blocks and adult participants. All data was transcribed in full and subjected to thematic analysis - the material being coded using a hybrid approach, combining both deductive and inductive methods (Fram, 2013).
Funding information
Grant number
ES/V007084/1
Access
Publisher
UK Data Service
Publication year
2022
Terms of data access
The Data Collection only consists of metadata and documentation as the data could not be archived due to legal, ethical or commercial constraints. For further information, please contact the contact person for this data collection.
Related publications
Not available