Criminal Children: Researching Juvenile Offenders, 1820–1920

by Emma Watkins, Barry Godfrey

A history of juvenile crime, punishment, and reform in England in the years before, during, and after the era of Charles Dickens.   How were juvenile delinquents dealt with in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? What dire circumstances led to their behavior? Were the efforts to curb their criminal tendencies successful? From 1820–1920, ideas about youth and transgression changed dramatically in the United Kingdom. Criminal Children delves into this period to uncover fascinating insight into the neglected subject of childhood crime and punishment, and the “invention” of juvenile delinquency.   Drawing on the life stories of twenty-four “bad seeds,” true crime journalists Emma Watkins and Barry Godfrey explore every aspect of these young and desperate their experiences in prisons, reformatory schools, industrial schools, borstals, and female factories; their trials and criminal petitions; and the harrowing transport to Australia—considered the last resort for adult convicts and children alike.   Including resources for researching one’s own criminal forebears, Criminal Children is “an interesting book to anybody who wants to know more about juvenile offenders in England” (Nell Darby, author of Life on the Victorian Stage).

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2018

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting

This book has documented a good history of juvenile delinquency. Some of the boarding schools seemed to help. It was interesting how many of the minors were arrested for being improperly supervised; which, wasn’t the minors fault but rather the parents.. it did help those who didn’t have good parents, but unfortunately it did house them with criminal kids at times. It is interesting how Juvenile delinquency has changed… As a Juvenile probation officer I have seen through this read how generational culture impacts delinquency. It appears in the early 1700 to 1800’s many kid were exposed to poverty; which, resulted in delinquency but as you got closer to the 1900’s it seems there was a lot of bad parenting that would cause children to be placed in institutions. As a JPO a lot of crimes are now beginning to evolve around the unsupervised social media …… exposure to pornography, no filter of sexuality, lack of social boundaries and what kids are exposed to on the web. It is creating a new form of crimes that are difficult to monitor because there are no safety measures in place to protect minors from predators, exposure to poor role models and lack of accountability.

[Wendy Lovatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was quite disappointed...looked like it would be a great read, but too much a 'study'. Boring, maybe good if you were writing as essay about the topic, but not just for the sake of reading.

[S. A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

A meandering, unstructured book which doesn't stick to the titled time period (Brendan Behan being the most obvious, as he wasn't even born until 1923!) and could benefit from a better editor. A lot of wasted time looking at prison reform through the 20th century, often well after the time period cited, and then repeated in the case studies immediately afterwards. Research methods and ethical quandaries dumped slap bang in the middle, for some reason. All in all, not especially useful or enjoyable.