The current state of disproportionality
Violence has devastating impacts on children and families. While children from all backgrounds can face violence, children from certain ethnic backgrounds are less safe.
The majority of children in the youth justice system, and involved in violence, are White. However, relative to their share of the population, some minority ethnic groups – and Black children in particular – are over-represented, while other groups – e.g. those from Asian backgrounds – are under-represented.
• Children from certain ethnic groups – especially Black children and young people - are disproportionately likely to be victims of violence. Relative to their share of the population, Black children and young people are six times as likely to be victims of homicide.
• Children from certain ethnic groups are disproportionately likely to be represented in the criminal justice system and to become involved in violence, including as victims. For example, while Black children aged 10–17 make up 6% of the population, in 2023/24, they represented 10% of arrests, 15% of stop and searches and 24% of the monthly youth custody population. They are also five times more likely to be sentenced to custody for homicide and are more likely to self-report being involved in assault both as victims and perpetrators.
• This does not mean that violence is only relevant to (or mostly caused by) people from minority ethnic backgrounds. White children make up 71% of 10–17-year-olds who are stopped and searched, 76% of those arrested and 72% of those cautioned or convicted for an offence. There are also other significantly over-represented groups, such as children growing up in poverty and children in care, which intersect with racial disproportionality.
Broad ethnic groupings can mask important underlying differences; to create change we need to understand this detail. For instance, although often categorised as ‘White’, children from Gypsy or Irish Traveller backgrounds are significantly over-represented in the criminal justice system. 10-17-year-olds from Black Caribbean backgrounds are significantly more over-represented in arrests, than children from Black African backgrounds.
Racial disproportionality has been getting worse over the last decade. While the total number of children involved in the justice system from all backgrounds has been falling, the proportion who are from Black or Mixed ethnic backgrounds has increased over the last 10 years. Despite small improvements in the last few years, disproportionality in homicide rates has stayed consistently higher than it was 10 years ago.
