– The purpose of this paper is to explore the tension between government protestations that youth justice policy is evidence-led and what the evidence implies in the context of the age of criminal responsibility.
– The paper takes the form of a conceptual analysis of government policy and the evidence base.
– The paper concludes that the current low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales can be understood as a manifestation of the influence of underclass theory on successive governments.
– The paper is not based on primary research.
– The arguments adduced help to explain the reluctance of government to countenance any increase in the age of criminal responsibility.
– The analysis might help inform approaches adopted by youth justice policy makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in seeking a rise in the age of criminal responsibility.
– The paper offers an original analysis of government intransigence on an important social issue.
