Support the Oldies Bike Ride for Fighting Knife Crime London.
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By Felicity Williams
This article aims to help build a case for challenging the long-term funding cuts to youth provision. The starting premise is that funding can be better spent on initiatives focused on prevention of violence rather than the costly incarceration of young people. I will explore the importance and impact of early intervention and prevention to make the case for how this is a better use of time and money in reducing youth knife crime. Government data for 2023 showed that 84% of child first time entrants (FTEs) into the justice system were boys, despite the fact boys only make up 51% of the general population of 10 to 17-year-olds.20 This statistic highlights that boys are being disproportionally represented within the youth justice system. This shows the importance of considering gender as a factor in youth crime. Therefore, I will explore how and why we might want to take a gendered approach to early intervention. We also must appreciate how gender interlinks with other socio-economic factors that help to shape the identities and thought processes of young people. In a study and review of existing research written by Dorcas Gwata, Antonio Ventriglio, Peter Hughes and Martin Deahl, the themes of ‘ineffective mental health systems, structural violence and inequalities, policing, safety and community engagement, vulnerability and resilience in minority communities’ arose when investigating the impact of knife crime.21 This strengthens the proposal that there are many more factors than gender which create and influence youth crime, which is essential to recognise when looking for solutions. This next section looks at the causes of youth-related knife crime in the context of gender, specifically for boys, as well as how these findings can inform solutions.
Gendered statistics
A further exploration of Government statistics highlights the differences in gender and youth crime, where we see boys are disproportionately involved. In the year ending March 2024, the statistics for children receiving a caution or sentence demonstrated that most were older children, aged between 15-17, and 85% were boys.22 This suggests that if early intervention considers gender, it needs to create a foundation which endures into the later teen stages. Additionally, boys make up most proven offences statistics, remand episodes statistics, and are significantly more likely to be remanded in custody, making up 98% of the youth custody population.23 These statistics show boys are consistently overrepresented within each part of the youth justice system, highlighting the necessity to focus on what causes boys to engage in youth violence.
Perceptions – why do children carry knives?
In their review of the existing academic literature, Ana Figuiera, Emma Alleyne and Jane Wood, identified two key drivers for why young people carry knives.24 These reasons are cited as ‘fear of further victimisation’ and ’masculine gender norms’, with further reasons also identified as lack of trust in the police or belonging to an organised criminal group.25 In the next section, I will draw on findings from the studies cited in Figuiera et al.’s review.
Study findings and causes
When we look through the findings of the studies provided in this journal article,26 Bailey et al. highlight the relevance of addressing knife crime through gender, as the authors found that 16 – 34-year-old white males are more likely to be involved with knife crime at every level, as victims, offenders or victim- offenders.27 Interestingly, Brennan found that a driver for weapon carrying was experience of violence rather than fear of victimisation, as well as distrusting the police and belonging to an organised criminal group.28 This suggests that the commonly cited driver of young people carrying knives because of fear is more complex than we think. The study from King introduces the importance of masculinity in the thoughts of young men and a factor in why they carry knives, however this study focuses on Black, Asian minority ethnic (BAME) men.29 In this same study, masculinity is outlined as ‘constructed, negotiated and performed,’30 as well as ’multiple, fluid and contextual, dependent on time and place.’,31 and ’relational, defined in opposition to femininity.’32 This shows how complex masculinity is and suggests the impact society could have on what this means.
A study by Gray et al investigated the importance of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in which a relationship between serious youth violence and ACEs is highlighted.33
ACEs are described by the World Health Organisation as sources of stress which a child experiences in their life.34 The HM Inspectorate of Probation recognises a substantial link between justice-involved children and childhood trauma.35 The impact of trauma on a developing brain is also discussed here,36 which shows the power ACEs may have on a young person. When they look at treatment, a lot of offending children with ACEs may not find standard behavioural treatments as effective.37 An alternative approach they offer instead involves focusing on learning routines and feeling safe, a holistic, foundation building approach.38 This may look like enhanced case management, based on the Trauma Recovery Model.39 Where children are thought to be developmentally trapped due to trauma, they can be treated with a trauma informed approach which centres treatment around the acknowledgement of the child’s negative experiences.40 This offers a holistic approach which is tailored to each child, targeting those who are vulnerable and taking into consideration characteristics, which is where gender may be considered.
A review of this approach showed a multiagency approach is desirable, and the children also reported the one-to-one experience positive,41 which shows the importance of stability and a dedicated space for children. There is also evidence that the interventions of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can prevent crime.42 A report from The Youth Endowment Fund concludes there are mixed findings on whether ACEs affect girls or boys more.43 This really highlights that youth crime may need to be looked at on a much more individual level still.
The College of Policing identify three causes for knife crime being ‘self-protection,’ ‘self-presentation’ and for facilitating crime.44 This supports the idea that young men carry out of fear of others carrying knives or wanting to appear a certain way, likely masculine and intimidating. The College of Policing also recognise another reason for knife carrying is to facilitate other crimes, where the knife is being carried to be actively used,45 which can be linked in support to the findings previously mentioned from Brennan‘s study where young people are carrying as part of an organised criminal peer group, where they are also likely pressured to commit crimes.46 The UK Police similarly identify that knife carrying in children can be a sign of child criminal exploitation,47 which involves children carrying due to gang involvement where they are being encouraged and exploited to commit crimes. The College of Policing also recognise risk factors such as gender, age, adverse childhood experiences, education48. These risk factors are a reminder that although gender is recognised, the reasons for young people carrying a knife are influenced by other factors also.
Statistics behind knife carrying
For a broader view on why children are carrying knives, the Youth Endowment Fund produce and evaluate statistics on young people and knife carrying.49 They found the children who carry are more likely to be vulnerable,50 which may mean targeted approaches are more effective. It was found that 45% of children who carried weapons did not feel safe at home, and that the children who carried knives were more likely to feel safe in places other children would not, like parks and open spaces.51 This suggests targeting home life and community spaces could be valuable, where the multi - agency approach previously mentioned detailing a collaboration between services would be best. The Youth Endowment Fund also found the majority of children who were carrying had seen violent content and promotion of weapons among young people on social media, as well as a good proportion of the children who were not carrying.52 This suggests social media could be a key factor in knife carrying among young people, pushing stories and media representations of violence and knife crime to children, adding to fear, or even desensitizing and normalising this for them. The effect of social media on children can be divided by gender, where algorithms are often tailored to its users and will be showing boys different and targeted content, potentially promoting masculinity and violence. This is evidenced from a study detailed in The Guardian which details how TikTok’s algorithm can and will target and feed young people harmful content based on gender and age.53
Fear
The BBC article ‘Young people are scared, even those carrying knives’ supports the assertion that children are carrying out of fear of youth violence in general.54 Although this article focuses on children in the West Midlands, this may reflect what children are feeling nationally.55 This article highlights how some children do not have much confidence in the effects that changes to laws surrounding knives may bring, such as certain knives becoming illegal to own.56 This may support that a distrust of the police causes knife carrying, but also a wider distrust of the justice system and those in charge. More locally in South Yorkshire, it is identified that young boys aged 11 to 14 are more likely to carry knives due fear or for social status.57
A campaign was launched this year to encourage awareness and inform on the devastation of knife crime to help prevention and was targeted at young boys showing there are gendered approaches which recognise the gender disparity in knife crime58. These articles support the concept of fear as a motivation for knife carrying, as well as the desire to appear to peers as tough or masculine.
Consequences
Another interesting area of young people’s perspective is how they perceive the consequences of carrying a knife. In the report from Gray et al, there are two perspectives relating to consequences; the consequences children feel of not carrying a knife when they feel vulnerable and at risk of violence, and the actual legal repercussions and risks of carrying a knife.59 In this report, the authors highlight that young people ’lack consequential thinking’,60 meaning they are not as likely to consider or place importance in the long-term legal risks. This means an effective way to prevent knife carrying could be to place focus on properly educating and communicating the legal consequences to children. There has recently been an event like this, ‘Caught to Court’ in Westminster Magistrates Court, which has received positive feedback from students and helped them to understand the consequences of carrying a knife and why they should not.61 This demonstrates that education, especially in an interactive and informative way, can be helpful in prevention.62
Societal factors - what shapes these perceptions?
When we examine what shapes the ideas that drive young people to carry weapons, it is necessary to look at our wider society. The Youth Justice Board ’Knife Crime Insights Pack’ cites how the pandemic impacted young peoples’ development.63 This was a substantial change for everyone in society, so it is interesting to see how it affected young people. The article "Child violent crime suspects 'getting younger’’’ from BBC News discusses how schoolteachers have recognised a negative impact on the language skills of children after the pandemic.64 It is also highlighted that due to lack of engagement within education, linked to the disruption caused by the pandemic, children struggle to articulate themselves, which can manifest into bad behaviour as an alternative outlet, which then leads to increased exclusions.65 The solution to the behaviour and youth violence problem the schoolteachers suggest is intervening as early as possible, with a focus on supporting the speech and language skills of children.66 This further supports the idea that education can be a powerful tool in preventing youth crime, where an effort to engage children and expand their skills, helps them personally and keeps them in school. This article also highlights how teachers can notice changes in children and can be an effective way to discover which children may need more targeted intervention.
The Guardian also discusses the findings where children who have been permanently excluded over suspension ’are twice as likely to commit serious violence’ than their peers who had been ’on the same path’ but not excluded.67 This is notable in the context of a 16% increase in permanent exclusions in the academic year 2023 – 2024 compared to the previous year.68 The most recent data voices ’Permanent exclusions have also decreased since autumn term 2023/24 but remain higher than the pre-pandemic autumn term’.69 Permanent exclusions are still said to be mainly caused by persistent disruptive behaviour70.
This could mean that the most vulnerable children may be sent towards a path of youth violence if they are receiving exclusions instead of support.
Role models online
The discussion of the role of social media in youth crime also includes exposure to toxic masculinity delivered to boys from online personalities. This issue was recently discussed by MPs and published in Hansard. They highlighted the impact of negative role models as an issue, particularly for young boys71. In this debate, a speech from Sir Gareth Southgate was mentioned,72 who spoke about how crucial positive role models are for young boys to help turn them away from toxic online personalities73.
The Youth Endowment Fund highlights how positive role models through mentoring can help reduce youth violence, and how support can be tailored to specific issues, for example to knife crime.74 However, they also highlight that this is a costly intervention and not necessarily the most impactful with mixed findings.75 This shows how role models can have a negative effect on young people but they also can be used as a positive tool of prevention, especially when targeting characteristics such as gender to make this more effective. Therefore, boys being able to relate to the men online through gender can be turned into a positive thing.
The Youth Justice Board also highlights how knife violence statistics have seen a decrease in the UK, despite the media telling us the ‘knife crime is an epidemic’,76 which suggests the changes identified have been working. This may further support that there the media plays a part in pushing crime and knife violence on young people. From the stories on the news to the fights in schools, children can access it all online and it is feeding their fear according to The Guardian.77
Solution
All this evidence makes it apparent that funding needs to be spread to many areas to effectively reduce youth knife crime. The themes from this research are of what society are young boys are living in, and how it affects them, fear of becoming a victim, wanting to adhere to masculine gender norms pushed by peers and online spaces, a lack of space for them in their homes or their community, and even a lack of support from their schools. The funding should target these areas to make sure children feel supported from many sectors.
The approaches in place and suggestions
The Youth Justice Board has voiced that ‘Initiatives that do work are social skills training, mentoring and tailored support with education, housing and employment’.78 This strengthens the idea that investing into these areas is a more effective use of funding, building a space for young people in society.
The government multi-agency approach to serious youth violence recognises that ’the extent and impact of serious youth violence is much more far reaching than many adults realise‘, where ’carrying a knife is the norm for some children‘.79 This approach also recognises the importance of prioritising the vulnerable and at-risk children.80 It was found where there was a true collaboration between children, families, communities and services, was the most effective approach.81 This further shows the effectiveness of an approach where services and institutions work together and the benefits of targeting vulnerable young people.
In the Labour manifesto, they state they ‘aim to halve knife crime in a decade’, with ‘knife carrying triggering rapid intervention and tough consequences’, which includes referrals to Youth Offending Teams and penalties in place.82 They also aim put a specific focus on early intervention,83 which involves the introduction of Young Futures Hubs which brings ’community-focused services under one roof’, for young people at risk to help and prevent them going down a path of violence and crime.84 Again, this shows the importance of supporting the vulnerable and at-risk children, which may include boys.
The future
Schools may be the best place for early intervention, the earlier the better and with a focus on speech and language skills as suggested by the teachers in the BBC article ‘Child violent crime suspects ‘getting younger’’.85 As schools have substantial contact with children, they also may be best at spotting, targeting and supporting the children who are most vulnerable as they seem more likely statistically to fall into youth violence.
Further Reading
[20] Youth Justice Statistics, ‘Youth justice Statistics 2023 to 2024’ (GOV.UK, 30 January 2025) <https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024> accessed 10 December 2025
[21] Dorcas Gwata Antonio Ventriglio Peter Hughes Martin Deahl, ‘Structural inequalities, knife crime: A qualitative study’ (2024) 70(4) Abstract <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640231221092> accessed 10 December 2025
[22] Youth Justice Statistics, ‘Youth justice Statistics 2023 to 2024’ (GOV.UK, 30 January 2025)<https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024> accessed 10 December 2025
[23] Youth Justice Statistics, ’Youth justice Statistics 2023 to 2024’ (GOV.UK, 30 January 2025)<https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024/youth-justice-statistics-2023-to-2024> accessed 10 December 2025
[24] Ana Figueira, Emma Alleyne, Jane Wood, ‘Fear and Masculinity as Motivational Narratives for Knife-Related Crime: A Systematic Review of the Literature’ (2024) 25(5) <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380241266206> accessed 10 December 2025
[25] Ana Figueira, Emma Alleyne, Jane Wood, ‘Fear and Masculinity as Motivational Narratives for Knife-Related Crime: A Systematic Review of the Literature’ (2024) 25(5) Abstract <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380241266206> accessed 10 December 2025
[26] Ana Figueira, Emma Alleyne, Jane Wood, ‘Fear and Masculinity as Motivational Narratives for Knife-Related Crime: A Systematic Review of the Literature’ (2024) 25(5) <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380241266206> accessed 10 December 2025
[27] Laura Bailey, Vincent Harinam, Barak Ariel, ‘Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records’ (2020) Abstract <https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242621> accessed 10 December 2025
[28] Ian R Brennan, ’Violence, worry and trust in the emergence of weapon-carrying’ (2021) 20(4) Abstract <token=wge85pEM6hEAAAAA%3AeQ0hxEXhE3VLaeoF_3UbdRa1P7lCuUcHBYpOghtl4XU4AxlBuFiK0JmhSQKCHE71ewFTuPxarQ> accessed 10 December 2025
[29] Brendan King, John Swain, ’The characteristics of street codes and competing performances of masculinity on an inner-city housing estate’ (24 April 2022) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2022.2065910#abstract> accessed 10 December 2025
[30] Brendan King, John Swain, ’The characteristics of street codes and competing performances of masculinity on an inner-city housing estate’ (24 April 2022) Theoretical orientation <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2022.2065910#abstract> accessed 10 December 2025
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[35, 36,37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42] HM Inspectorate of Probation, ‘Adversity and trauma‘ (HM Inspectorate of Probation, (10 March 2023) <https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/our-research/evidence-base-youth-justice/specific-areas-of-delivery/adversity-and-trauma/> accessed 10 December 2025
[43] Dr Aase Villadsen, Dr Nicolás Libuy, Professor Emla Fitzsimons, ‘Adverse and positive childhood experiences and their associations with children’s involvement in violence: analyses of data from the Millennium Cohort Study‘ (Youth Endowment Fund, January 2025) Gender differences 162-163 <https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FinalReport_ACEsPCEs_MCS.pdf> accessed 10 December 2025
[44,45] Abigail McNeill and Levin Wheller, ’Understanding the causes of knife crime’ (1 January 2019) <https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/knife-crime-evidence-briefing/understanding-causes-knife-crime> accessed 10 December 2025
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[53] Sally Weale, ’ Social media algorithms ‘amplifying misogynistic content’’ The Guardian (London, 6 February 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/06/social-media-algorithms-amplifying-misogynistic-content> accessed 10 December 2025
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[61, 62] Sian Wharton-Goodman, ‘Making justice real: how hands-on learning helped students understand knife crime‘ (GOV.UK, 20 October 2025) <https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2025/10/20/making-justice-real-how-hands-on-learning-helped-students-understand-knife-crime/> accessed 10 December 2025
[63] Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, ’Youth Justice Board publishes knife crime insights pack’ (GOV.UK, 5 February 2025) <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/youth-justice-board-publishes-knife-crime-insights-pack> accessed 10 December 2025
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[71, 72] House of Commons, ‘Knife Crime: Children and Young People’, HC Deb 20 March 2025, vol 764 <https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-03-20/debates/E8E0359F-BC0E-45A8-9399-8CAA6877D774/KnifeCrimeChildrenAndYoungPeople> accessed 10 December 2025
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[79, 80, 81] Ofsted, Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation, ‘Multi-agency responses to serious youth violence: working together to support and protect children ‘ (GOV.UK, 20 November 2024) <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/multi-agency-responses-to-serious-youth-violence-working-together-to-support-and-protect-children/multi-agency-responses-to-serious-youth-violence-working-together-to-support-and-protect-children#executive-summary>
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