Trying to turn away the tide, as the Conservatives seek to do, is neither progressive nor will it be effective.Although many individual offenders have not integrated into society, it is unlikely that those individuals will not have been known to public agencies such as the police, social work departments, education authorities or the hearings system—all the agencies that will work together in community justice authorities.Information from the Scottish Prison Service report, "Young People in Custody in Scotland, An Occasional Paper", showed us that 76.2 per cent of all young people in custody had a history of regular truancy; 43.6 per cent had attended special schools; over 9 per cent had reported previous contact...