Example phones and the internet dissertation topic 2:

Are breach actions of youth justice orders prompted by recidivist tendencies, or are they reflections of wider social challenges?: A study

In 2009/2010, ‘an average of 9% of children were in custody solely for breach of a statutory order’ and ‘around 20% of children in custody [had] been found guilty of a breach offence’ (Hart, 2011: iv-v). This thesis considers the reasons for breaches of criminal justice orders in those aged under 18, and explores whether such breaches are evidence of a wider disregard for the rules of society amongst peers and family, a reflection of disrespect for the justice system as a whole, or proof of increasingly recidivist criminal tendencies in this age group. The paper reports on existing literature, as well as undertakes primary research through the execution of surveys and interviews with troubled youth, social workers, probation officers, and families.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Bateman, T. (2011). ”We now breach more kids in a week than we used to in a whole year’: The punitive turn, enforcement and custody’, Youth Justice, Vol. 11(2), pp. 115-133.
• Hart, D. (2011). Into the Breach: The enforcement of statutory orders in the youth justice system. London: Prison Reform Trust.
• Smith, D.J. (ed.) (2010). A new response to youth crime. London: Willan.