Identifying Child Criminal Exploitation

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Abstract

Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is recognized as a form of abuse in UK policy and involves older criminals coercing young people to commit crimes. Although the phenomenon is most commonly associated with gang membership and the trafficking on drugs, research has indicated that CCE involves a wider variety of income generating offenses and can involve adult family members and non-familial criminal groups. The study utilizes a mixed method approach. This paper uses police data from the UK and US to explore how early signs of CCE present in official records and behaviors. These data will be supplemented by interviews with adults reflecting on their juvenile offending behaviors to understand the processes involved in exploitation. Findings suggest that police data can play a key role in identifying early vulnerability to CCE and will consider how this information could be used for early intervention and diversion programs.

Author

• Sally-Ann Ashton, Prairie View A&M University