The Minimum age of Criminal Responsibility in England and Wales

Introduction

An abstract is a short summary of what the article is all about (Price).  A good summary gives the reader a good idea of the aims, methods undertaken, key findings and conclusion or take-home message. Therefore, an abstract is a powerful tool in informing readers pertaining to the research or work that has been undertaken. The article “Unsafe, Unjust and Harmful to Wider Society’: Grounds for Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in England and Wales” has an abstract but it is not to standard. The purpose and the objectives are stated while the conclusion or take-home message is not clearly stated. From the abstract, it is apparent that this article seeks to analyze critically how statutory and social construction of the child offenders converge and reinforce processes of adultification and responsibilization. Barry Golden (2013) proposes increasing minimum age of criminal responsibility to protect children from prosecution. From the overview, it is clear that this source is not pertinent to the methodology and population. The major sectors of research are absent in the abstract and subsequently, the body of the article.  The abstract fails to reveal how the study was done or conducted, what the results were and why the findings are critical.  In the article by Noroozi, Singh and Fazel (2018), the abstract section captured all there necessary components of a good abstract. This abstract provides readers with a good idea of what is the article (Noroozi et al. 2018). It provides all the information the reader need to appreciate the key findings and develop an interest to go through the whole article. The objectives of the study are clearly stated in the abstract.

Literature Review

The introductory part and literature review were not clearly stated (Goldson 2013). Immediately after the abstract, what follows is the background or literature review section. A literature review refers to a survey of scholarly books, journals, articles and other sources pertinent to a specific topic (Arlene, 2014). It involves a search and evaluation of existing literature in a chosen area of research to justify the importance of the topic area and explain the contributions the proposed research will make in the field. A review of literature provides a summary, description and evaluation of scholarly works related to the research issue being investigated (Jesson, 2011). These reviews are designed to give a synopsis of sources the researcher has examined while conducting research on a particular issue. Literature review is meant to demonstrate to the readers how the research under study fit within the wider field of study (Arlene, 2014). The chief goal of literature review is to identify any gaps/weaknesses that exist in literature, identify novel ways to construe prior research, identify area of previous research to avoid duplication, and to address contradictions among conflicting previous studies (Ridley, 2012).

While the sources have been used comprehensive and seminal to the field, Golden did not include the most relevant literature about each of the concepts.  Goldson (2013) reviewed mostly secondary sources instead of primary sources and some lines of argument are duplicated from his previous work. It would be good to delete duplicated lines of argument to make the article less repetitive. Additionally, none of the literature used was published in the last five years. Some references were published some six decades ago and therefore the information is not up to date and relevant. Some sources used were published as earlier as 1962 (Aries) and 1963 (Becker) yet there is substantive recent literature on the MACR that can provide the most current information. In addition to that, the author did not justify the need for this study and its significance.

Unlike Goldson, the article by Noroozi et al. (2018) included comprehensive review of literature. Moreover, the review did indicate the study purpose, the need for the study and its significance to the field off criminal justice system. Noroozi et al identified inconsistencies in legal and developmental perspectives being used as markers of competency across judicial and medical systems. Children accessing mental health treatment must parental consent but when it comes to criminal justice systems, they are charged with adult responsibilities and punitive judgments. Most of the references used in Noroozi et al. (2018) are relevant, current and up to date. They were published mostly after 2010. Those references were primary and sourced from seminal work and have been reviewed. The authors of those references did identify and link theoretical and conceptual framework to the study   

The author used argumentative literature to argue that the current MACR is unsafe, unjust and harmful. It is a mutation of justice to adultify children aged 10 for prosecution. “A reduced age of criminal responsibility functions as “an apprenticeship for career criminality” (Goldson, 2013: 122). Gold argues that it makes no sense that the 10-year olds who are no considered to be sufficiently responsible to own a pet until they are twelve years old can face the full rigor of the criminal law’ a full two years earlier. Pillay (2019) argues that MACR should be raised to secure immunity for children in conflict with the law. These sources help gain better understanding of the problem. Most of the literature used are outdated and thus not current. Although the references are sourced from seminal works and authors by people with expertise in this field, they are not up to date and the information therein is largely outdated.

Research Methodology

Research methodology describes the strategies, techniques and produces used to select, process, gather, measure and analyze data (SHU Library, 2020). According to Birks and Mills (2011), “methodology as “a set of principles and ideas that inform the design of a research study” (4). The researchers provide information on how they picked the study sample, how they measured there variables under consideration, and the analytical techniques used to analyze data. This systematic process allows readers to critically assess the reliability and validity of a study.  It is used to solve a research problem via data analysis. A good methodology explains what choices were made and why they were made. The researchers often explain the relevance of their methodological approach to research design (Quinlan, 2011 and Quinlan, 2015). The choice of methodology is consequential for to the phenomenon being investigated as well as the researcher’s philosophical stance. 

The article by Goldson (2013) lacked the methodology, hypothesis being tested, research question and other aspects of research design. The article by Goldson (2013) did not detail the methodology used to allow for research critique. The major sections of methodology were absent because the researcher never conducted primary research and this made it impossible to critique the article. However, the author did conduct conceptual analysis even though the procedures and process followed were not clearly stated. It was not mentioned how Goldson did concept analysis, how the references were retrieved and how data was collected.

Criminological or sociological imaginations allow social scientists to see how biography and history intersect. They are able to look at how an individual is historically positioned, how one will as a result experience the social world. Sociological lens allows social scientists to understand how social world works, how the past dictates the present and future, so that people can appreciate who are how they are (Young, 2011). Goldson (2013) makes use of a sociological/criminological lens/perspective to the analysis of minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR). Goldson (2013) engages theoretically (hypothetically) with both statutory and social constructions of child offenders as well as examines the different ways in which criminal responsibility could be conceptualized. Golden addresses questions relating to sociological research, the wider corpus of criminal and civil law, international human rights standards and comparative criminal analysis to make a case for increasing the MACR.  Using sociological imaginations, Golden was able to show how statutory and social constructions of children offenders in England and Wales shaped the minimum age of criminal responsibility. This approach showed the trends and patterns in child criminalization (Dwyer, & McAlister, 2017,).  

By contrast, article by Noroozi et al. (2018) did present the methodology section and detailed the procedures followed to gather and analyze data.  Noroozi explained how data were originally created or gathered. Basic procedures of how the sources were extracted and filtered were excluded because readers are familiar with them.  The researchers conducted systematic review of literature from 52 countries to compare minimum age for mental healthcare and MACR. Google Scholar and Pubmed databases were searched using key terms. Methods of data collected were clearly described and served the research. These details are enough to critique the article. The article (Noroozi 2018) can do better by describing in detail systematic analysis of data.

 A systematic review refers to a synopsis of the evidence on a clearly formulated research topic or question (Gough, Oliver, & Thomas, 2017). It is transparent and comprehensive form of review of literature.  Van der Knaap et al.(2008) described systematic review as ‘the most reliable and comprehensive statement about what works’  (49).Systematic review offers several advantages including (1) delivering comprehensive synopsis of available evidence; (2) helping identify gaps in understanding of topic of field

The methodological approach by Noroozi can be improved by incorporating research questions or hypotheses and linking them to the study purpose. Another areas worth improving include addressing potential limitations. Many of the countries explored lacked defined MAMHC and researcher used Human rights textbook to determine the MAMHC. The researcher designated countries with no MAMHC policy or guidelines as not specific.     

Data Gathering Methods

For Noroozi et al (2010), online search was done through PubMed and Google Scholar on 52 countries. Of the 52 countries, only 11 had maintained defined minimum age for mental health care. The Library of Congress and Human Rights textbook were used to determine MAMHC for other countries.

Research Ethics

Ethical consideration is important where the research involves human subjects. Researchers must comply with ethical norms to make sure mutual respect, accountability, trust and fairness are maintained (Resnki, 2015). When gathering and presenting data, it is important to be mindful of the right to privacy of participants, seek informed consent of participants, ensure participant is voluntary and inform participants of their right to withdraw from the research process should there be need.

Ethical considerations were not stated in both Goldson (2013) and Noroozi et al (2018). Because these studies involved no human subjects, ethical approval was not necessary (Goldson, 2013; Noroozi et al. 2018).

Data Analysis

Data analysis summarizes collected data (Johnson, 2014). Conceptual skills and theoretical knowledge are applied to analyze data using existing data. Noroozi et al (2018) conducted cross-national comparison of MACR and MAMHC. MACR in relation to the international average age of majority was evaluated in countries with information on MACR laws. The data analysis strategy used were appropriate for this study. Detailed information should be provided to help readers understand how the analysis was conducted and its statistical significance.

Findings of the Study

The results are supposed to answer research question or hypothesis. They must be well described and drawn from the data. The article by Goldson (2013) lacked the background, research question, methodology and thus devoid of results. On the other hand the article by Noroozi (2012) dealt well with results section. The findings were described (Noroozi et al). The findings by Noroozi et al. (2018) revealed that very few countries (18%) keep mental health policies to address mental health needs of children. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Goldson (2013) concluded that the current MACR are unsafe, unjust and harmful to the wider society. In addition, the position of government on the MACR is not compatible with conceptual evidence. Golden made no recommendations or cited any limitations to the study. This makes it difficult to critique the conclusion. Noroozi et al (2018) concluded that children and adolescent mental health policies vary across countries with very few countries having established appropriate age markers for competency as far as MAMHC and MACR. Despite the emerging scientific evidence for development of decision making, competence and responsibility, many countries keep maintaining varied medical and legal minimum age of legal and medical consent.  Noroozi et al (2016) proposes establishing MAMHC legislation based on evidence-base to help implement uniform law. These consistent approaches along with the development of objective measures of adolescent competency may offer a solution. The author proposes the need for a more coherent approach to adolescent consent across legal and medical disciples so as to help enhance accessibility of services.  

Summary

This journal article is not well organized and written. It lacks major sections of a standard research article (Goldson 2013). Overall Goldson (2013) article is not very straight ward to engage readers more engaged. It order to appeal to more readers, the entire article needs to be reorganized and have an introduction or background. By contrast, the article by Noroozin et al (2018) is well presented, well organized and well written. The major sections of a research article are clearly indicated.

References

Dwyer, C., & McAlister, S. (2017, Dec 20). Raising the age of criminal responsibility: endless debate, limited progress. Retrieved on January 25, 2021 from https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/publications/features?keys=&page=1

Fink, Arlene. (2014). Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Goldson, B. (2013).  Unsafe, Unjust and Harmful to Wider Society’: Grounds for Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in England and Wales. Youth Justice, 13 (2), pp. 111-130.

Gough, D., Oliver, S., & Thomas, J. (2017). An introduction to systematic reviews. Los Angeles : SAGE,

Jesson, J. (2011). Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Johnson, M. P. (2014).Secondary Data Analysis: A Method of whichtheTime Has Come. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML) 3:619 –626,

Mills, J., & Birks, M. (2014). Qualitative Methodology: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Noroozi, M., Singh, I., & Fazel, M. (2018). Evaluation of the minimum age for consent to mental health treatment with the minimum age of criminal responsibility in children and adolescents: a global comparison. Evidence Based Mental Health, 21(3), 82-86 

Pillay A. L. (2019). The minimum age of criminal responsibility, international variation, and the Dual Systems Model in neurodevelopment. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 31(3):224-234

Price, M. (2010). Lab Reports and Projects in Sport and Exercise Science: A Guide for Students. New York: Routledge.

Quinlan,  C.,  Babin,B,  Carr,  J,  Griffin,M.,Zigmund,W. (2015). Business Research Methods. South Western Cengage.

Quinlan, C., (2011). Business Research Methods. South Western Cengage.

Resnik, D. B. (2015, December 1). What is ethics in research & why is it important? NIEHS Research. Durham, NC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. NIEHS

Ridley, D. (2012). The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students. 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

SHU Library (2020, January 28). Research guides: Organizing academic research papers: 6. the methodology. SHU Library Research Guides Fairfield, CT: Sacred Heart University

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 3 June 2016. para. 78(a).

Van der Knaap, L.M. (2008). Combining Campbell standard and the realist evaluation approach: the best of two worlds? American journal of evaluation, 29(1): 48–57.

Young, J. (2011). The Criminological Imagination. Cambridge and Malden: Polity).

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