Scotland in the seventies—Adolescents in care and custody. A survey of adolescent murder in Scotland^*

This survey was undertaken as a pilot within a wider ranging study of the most violent and seriously disturbed adolescents who might be candidates for some form of Youth Treatment Centre or Secure Psychiatric Unit in Scotland.

It covers all murderers over 12 and under 18 years of age convicted in Scotland in the six years following the implementation of the Social Work (Scotland) Act in April, 1971. The cohort of 37 male adolescents is described in terms of contributing factors surrounding the crime and the differentiating factors which point to social or psychiatric morbidity in this particular population. The conflict is examined between the demands of the penal system and the needs of still developing adolescents in the abnormal, restrictive environments to which they are confined.