How do we treat a child who kills? A pragmatic consideration of the prosecution of young children

Delmage, Enys, Taylor, Pamela J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3998-6095 and Hales, Heidi 2026. How do we treat a child who kills? A pragmatic consideration of the prosecution of young children. BJPsych Bulletin 10.1192/bjb.2026.10225

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Abstract

Summary: Despite being a rare phenomenon, children who kill galvanise extraordinary amounts of conversation about why they did it, how to deal with them and how to prevent recurrences. The debate quickly becomes polarised and occasionally politicised, often without nuanced consideration of the benefits and costs of proceeding in one direction or another. A scientific approach would begin with the question: ‘what do we actually want the outcomes to be?’, which might assist in relinquishing the less helpful desire for natural justice or revenge and move towards a more evidence-informed and inclusive approach to children who have committed very serious crimes.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Medicine
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Royal College of Psychiatrists
ISSN:	2056-4694
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 March 2026
Date of Acceptance:	23 January 2026
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2026 16:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185666

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