Children groomed into criminality from the age of six in deprived areas, report finds

Children are being groomed into criminality from the age of six in deprived areas where “there is an endless supply” of youths to serve the drugs trade, a report published on Wednesday finds.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust study notes that single mothers are being drawn into the sex industry to make ends meet, while others have faced criminal charges for stealing nappies and baby milk, according to The Irish Times.

Drawing on interviews with people living in some of the poorest communities, including Ballymun and Darndale in Dublin and parts of Limerick city, the report examines links between poverty and the criminal justice system from the perspective of those with “important expertise”.

While noting that poverty and criminality “do not need to go hand in hand”, it nonetheless says deprivation and associated traumas “can increase exposure to the conditions in which criminalisation becomes more likely”.

Economic stress is compounded by “school exclusion, unmet mental health and neurodevelopmental needs, trauma, housing instability, care experience, substance use, lack of youth infrastructure, and the criminalisation of survival and coping strategies,” says the report, entitled From Punishment to Prevention: Poverty, Inequality and Pathways into the Irish Criminal Justice System, The Irish Times reports.

One young person interviewed for the report recalls stealing to fit in with their peers. “I used to never have money to get stuff in the shops... it made me end up, I end up having to take it out of the shops myself... because I felt like I was left out, and the only alternative I had was to go and actually take it.”

Young men recalled being drawn into the drugs trade because it offered recognition and status.