Exploring Children’s Understanding of the Legal Rights of Suspects in England and Wales

Kemp, Vicky; Watkins, Dawn

Abstract

While studies have explored adult suspects’ understanding of their legal rights, seldom are the experiences of children and young people taken into account. In this article, we discuss findings arising out of research interviews conducted with 61 children and young people; many of whom have experience of being suspects. From listening to their points-of-view, we find that children and young people fundamentally lack understanding of the rights of suspects, and especially the inalienable nature of those rights. We argue this is not surprising when children are being dealt with in an adult-centred punitive system of justice, which is contrary to international human rights standards.

Citation

Kemp, V., & Watkins, D. (2021). Exploring Children’s Understanding of the Legal Rights of Suspects in England and Wales. Youth Justice, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254211030597

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 10, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 10, 2021
• Journal: Youth Justice
• Print ISSN: 1473-2254
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-6283
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-19
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254211030597
• Keywords: Law; Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5788819
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14732254211030597