Scottish politics has been dominated by the Scottish National Party for almost two decades. An interesting aspect of their policy platform is their Nordic-progressive approach to youth justice. Those under 18 who have committed a crime bear less responsibility for their actions. In other words, instead of punishing young offenders, politicians try to understand and deal with the root causes of crime. This preventive approach tends to result in lower crime rates among youth, according to academic research. However, according to Russell Findlay this approach is invalid.
The fresh settled leader of the Scottish Conservatives wrote a couple of weeks ago about the “soft-touch” approach of the SNP in the Scottish Daily Express, denouncing SNP’s policies. Findlay argues that seeing violent youth as victims is just wrong. He mentions the importance of punishing these law violators in order to let them take responsibility for their own actions and to decrease the youth crime rates. One outstanding point in Findlay’s argument is that he thinks it is a great idea to imprison younger people and to hold them accountable for their crimes. However, Findlay is simplistic in his analysis, isn’t it a little bit too easy? Are you really solving the problem by doing this?
I don’t think so. Findlay’s way of ‘helping’ youth and decreasing youth crime rates is just a flailing protest against the current SNP government in Holyrood, while Findlay’s alternative is completely inadequate. Research from the University of Boston showed that youth crime is often caused by poverty, inequality, high levels of unemployment, and by poor mental health. Creating policy that focuses on the improvement of these factors for the current youth should help decrease the crime rates among them. I strongly believe in the “soft-touch” policies of the SNP and in the importance of understanding why people act this way rather than just punishing them.
Findlay’s conservative approach just points the finger towards others and their mistakes without understanding the deeper causes of the problem. If Findlay and his conservative perspective want to appeal younger voters, they need to show some more empathy towards young Scots. Thinking in boxes by punishing young people when they actually need attention and should have their demands addressed. Listen to people’s stories, it’s not that hard.
“Scottish Conservatives – Ardrossan – geograph.org.uk – 6155405” by Ian Rainey is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.