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Why do some children go from school to college, while others go to court? In 2024, the research of Cornish et al. revealed an alarming fact: students who are permanently expelled from school have a significant increased risk of involvement in serious violent crimes in the future (Cornish, 2024). When we focus on the source of juvenile crime in the UK, we will find an intuitive path that starts from poor communities, passes through resource-poor schools, and finally leads to juvenile courts. This is not their personal moral choice, but an inevitable product under the oppression of structural injustice.

According to the crimeological perspective study, the school exclusion system may form the so-called school-to-prison pipeline (Arnez, J., & Condry, R., 2021). When a child is kicked out of school, he not only loses the opportunity to receive education, but also loses the most important protection network for teenagers in the face of society. A 2025 report in the Guardian further confirmed that teenagers expelled from school are twice as likely to participate in serious violent crimes as their peers.(The Guardian,2025) What’s more worrying is that schools in poor communities are more inclined to directly expell problem students, and these students are often directly at risk of being recruited by criminal organisations after being pushed into society. Data shows that about one-ninth of British teenagers have been contacted by criminal organisations and asked to sell drugs or carry weapons. (The Guardian,2025)

School exclusion is not an independent event. It is often intertwined with deeper social class inequality. For many children from poor neighbourhoods, being excluded from the education system is just the beginning of a larger structural problem. According to the summary of evidence released by the Youth Endowment Fund in 2025, there is a close relationship between poverty and the risk of juvenile crime, and economic pressure will significantly increase the possibility of juvenile violence. (Youth Endowment Fund,2025)This One conclusion is supported by many studies, so poverty not only means material scarcity, but also the lack of opportunities, worse schools, fewer employment opportunities, and limited social support.

In the past decade, the British government has drastically reduced public services, directly destroying the youth support network in poor communities. The National Youth Agency’s 2023 report reveals a trend: the sharp reduction in the budget for youth services and the closure of youth centres are directly related to the increased risk of teenagers entering the criminal justice system. ( The National Youth Agency,2023)A study by the Institute of Finance in 2024 also came to a similar conclusion that the closure of youth activity centres directly leads to an increase in juvenile crime.(Institute of Finance,2024) A survey by The Guardian in 2026 found that more than half of England’s early There is a lack of basic youth service resources.(The Guardian,2026) When the school no longer accepts them, the community centre is no longer open. In the end, they had to go to the streets and gangs.

According to a study by Giulietti and McConnell in 2020, welfare cuts and economic austerity policies have significantly increased the crime rate in poor areas (Giulietti, C., & McConnell, B., 2020). When the state reduces support for vulnerable groups, the illegal economy will fill this vacuum. Shift UK’s 2025 study paid special attention to the plight of girls and found that many girls involved in crime experienced family trauma, social exploitation and lack of systematic support.(Shift UK,2025)They are often victims before they become criminals. The core findings from the Edinburgh Juvenile Crime Study point out that social inequality, poverty and family environment are important structural factors for juvenile crime, and adolescents in disadvantaged communities are more likely to enter the criminal justice system (McAra, L., & McVie, S., 2010). And the consequences of these structural injustices are ultimately borne by the most vulnerable groups.

Solution

Despite the depressing situation, the successful experience shows that juvenile crime can be changed. A report released by London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) shows that the introduction of juvenile workers in detention centres to support juveniles who commit crimes can reduce the recidivism rate by up to 90%.(London’s Violence Reduction Unit,2025) This shows that when the state chooses assistance rather than punishment for juvenile crime, the effect is completely different.

The study of N8 Research Partnership also points out that the key to crime prevention is to solve problems such as social inequality and insufficient educational opportunities. ( N8 Research Partnership,2025)This means that we need to shift from structural injustice to structural support, the government , communities and businesses should increase their attention and investment in education, communities and families, rather than just expecting prisons and police to carry out final repression.

When we ask why these children commit crimes, perhaps what we should ask is where is the society when they need help most? Crime never happens out of thin air. It is the result of unequal education systems, welfare-reducing governments, disappearing community centres and persistent poverty. If crime is a tree, what we can do is not to cut it down, but to work hard to change the soil where it grows.

References

Cornish, R., et al. (2024). Exclusion from school and risk of serious violence. British Journal of Criminology. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Exclusion+from+School+and+Risk+of+Serious+Violence

Arnez, J., & Condry, R. (2021). Criminological perspectives on school exclusion and youth offending. Youth Justice. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Criminological+Perspectives+on+School+Exclusion+and+Youth+Offending

Giulietti, C., & McConnell, B. (2020). Kicking you when you’re already down: The multipronged impact of austerity on crime. Economics Letters. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kicking+You+When+You%27re+Already+Down+The+Multipronged+Impact+of+Austerity+on+Crime

McAra, L., & McVie, S. (2010). Youth crime and justice: Key messages from the Edinburgh study of youth transitions and crime. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 10(2), 179–209. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Youth+Crime+and+Justice+Key+Messages+from+the+Edinburgh+Study+of+Youth+Transitions+and+Crime

The Guardian. (2025, March 22). Teenagers excluded from school ‘twice as likely’ to commit serious violence. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/22/teenagers-excluded-from-school-twice-as-likely-to-commit-serious-violence 

The Guardian. (2025, December 16). One in nine teenagers in England and Wales asked to handle drugs, weapons or money. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/16/teenagers-approached-criminals-drugs-weapons-gangs 

The Guardian. (2025, June 4). Youth workers in London custody centres stop 90% reoffending, says report. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/04/youth-workers-in-london-custody-centres-stop-90-reoffending-says-report

The Guardian. (2026, February 12). Youth work “black holes” in half of council areas. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/12/youth-work-cuts-england-map-study

Youth Endowment Fund. (2025). Evidence review on poverty and youth crime and violence. https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/reports/evidence-review-on-poverty-and-youth-crime-and-violence/

National Youth Agency. (2023). Youth centre closures linked to greater risk of young people entering the criminal justice system. https://nya.org.uk/youth-centre-closures-linked-to-greater-risk-of-young-people-entering-criminal-justice-system/

Institute for Fiscal Studies. (2024). The effects of youth clubs on education and crime. https://ifs.org.uk/publications/effects-youth-clubs-education-and-crime 

Shift UK. (2025). Invisibilised: Girls caught up in, or at risk of, crime. https://www.shiftuk.org/learning-1

University of Leeds. (n.d.). Keeping children away from crime. https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/5896/keeping-children-away-from-crime