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

Kemp, Vicky; Watkins, Dawn

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Authors

Dawn Watkins



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 Mar 29, 2024
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

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