In England and Wales the politicisation of crime and criminal justice policy in general, and youth crime and youth justice policy in particular, has given rise to a USA-inspired ‘new punitiveness’. Penal expansion and substantial growth in the population of child prisoners has consolidated. This article subjects child imprisonment to critical analysis by referring to: the damage and harm that it imposes; its spectacular failings in terms of youth crime prevention and community safety; and the enormous burden that it imposes on the public purse. Ultimately, there can be no rational justification for child imprisonment on the scale currently evident in England and Wales and, on this basis, a case is made for its abolition.
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