Adultification

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has centred on the concept of adultification bias and its implications for children’s experiences of safeguarding, policing and youth justice. The evidence highlights that adultification most commonly affects black children and other racially minoritised groups, who are more likely to be perceived as older, more resilient and less in need of protection than their white peers.¹

Extensive research has shown that there is an overrepresentation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals in the criminal justice system,² and in the youth justice system.^{3 4} While BAME children only make up 18% of the population of 10-17-year-olds, statistics show that they comprised 58% of those on remand in 2022.⁵ A review by the Children’s Commissioner also found that Black children were six times more likely to be strip searched in comparison to the national average figure.⁶ Evidence suggests that institutional racism has an important role to play in racial disproportionality within the youth justice system.⁷

Adultification is one manifestation of institutional racism contributing to racial disproportionality within the youth justice system.⁸ Children who are viewed through an adultified lens are more likely to be criminalised and less likely to be diverted or safeguarded. This can set in motion a cycle of mistrust and re-contact with the system, undermining efforts to build legitimacy and confidence in policing among communities most affected by racial inequality. For those children, being treated as an adult in situations where they should have been protected as a child often compounds trauma, heightens alienation from support services and entrenches negative outcomes.

This perception can influence the decisions of those working in frontline safeguarding and criminal justice roles, resulting in children being treated as responsible for their actions rather than as victims or individuals in need of care. An HM Inspectorate of Probation report⁹ and research conducted by Listen Up¹⁰ have highlighted that such perceptions can erode the protective responses that the law intends to guarantee for all children.

In a youth justice and policing context, this bias can emerge at multiple stages of contact. It can influence how officers interpret behaviour during initial encounters such as stop and search; how safeguarding concerns are triaged or referred; whether a child is seen as credible when reporting harm; and how decisions are made around the use of force, strip-searches or detention. The 2022 Child Q safeguarding review in Hackney offered a stark example of how adultification can override safeguarding instincts, finding that assumptions about maturity and culpability led to a deeply harmful police intervention against a child.¹² The murder cases of Chris¹² and of child C¹³ also show how perceptions of children being more adult-like than they are can have a detrimental impact on decisions made around their safeguarding. 

Although awareness of adultification has increased rapidly, the empirical research base in the UK remains limited. Much of the current evidence derives from qualitative studies, inspection findings and case reviews rather than longitudinal or quantitative research. These sources nonetheless converge on a shared conclusion: that adultification bias is pervasive and harmful, and that addressing it requires a sustained shift towards child-first, child-centred practice.

Summary resources 

Bitesize learning: Adultification This short guidance, produced by the IOPC introduces the concept of adultification, explaining how bias can lead to children—particularly Black children—being treated as more mature, less vulnerable, or more culpable than they are. It outlines practical steps to recognise and prevent adultification in everyday policing decisions, including during stop and search, use of force, and custody processes.

Adultification  This briefing, released in 2023 by Coram British Association for Adoption and Fostering, provides an overview of adultification within social work and safeguarding, exploring how professional assumptions about children’s maturity and responsibility can lead to missed protection opportunities. It offers clear reflective questions for practitioners and provides links to additional resources and research.

Adultification 7 minute briefing Developed by the Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership in 2023, this succinct seven-minute briefing explains the concept of adultification and its implications for frontline safeguarding and policing practice.

Safeguarding Children who come from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities Published in 2022, this NSPCC Learning resource explores how racial bias, stereotyping and structural inequality can affect safeguarding responses to children from Black, Asian and other minoritised communities. It discusses how adultification can intersect with these dynamics and offers guidance for culturally competent, equitable and child-centred practice.

Research papers

Adultification bias within child protection and safeguarding Published as part of HM Inspectorate of Probation’s Academic Insights in 2022, this paper synthesises existing research on adultification bias and its impact within safeguarding and youth justice.

Pushing forward: Testing learning on Adultification in Child Safeguarding Practices in England Produced by Listen Up research in collaboration with safeguarding professionals, this 2025 report presents findings from practitioner workshops exploring how adultification can be recognised and challenged in child protection settings. It evaluates learning from pilot projects across England and identifies practical tools and reflective models for embedding awareness of adultification in day-to-day practice.

30 Patterns of Harm: A structural Review of Systemic Racism within the London Metropolitan Service This organisational, evidence-led review published in November 2025, concludes that racial harm against Black people is “institutionally defended” within Met culture and systems. The report briefly references adultification in documenting patterns that help explain how Black children are so often viewed through a punitive rather than protective lens.

Forgotten voices: Policing, stop and search and the perspective of Black children This mixed-methods research published in 2022 focuses on trust, safety and experiences of stop and search. It describes how Black children report lower trust, greater fear, and more harmful stop-and-search experiences, aligning with adultification’s impact on credibility and safeguarding responses.

Reviews

IOPC Race discrimination report The IOPC’s 2022 Race Discrimination Report summarises learning from complaints and investigations involving racial discrimination in policing. It highlights the persistence of biased assumptions about Black children and young people, identifying adultification as a contributing factor in how officers assess risk, threat and credibility in encounters involving minors

Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review: Child Q Published in 2022, this independent review examines the strip search of a 15-year-old Black girl (known as Child Q) by Metropolitan Police officers in a school. The report explicitly identifies adultification bias as a key factor influencing professional decisions, finding that the child was treated as an adult and criminal suspect rather than as a child in need of protection. It has since become the most cited case study on adultification in UK policing.

Serious Case review – Chris: Overview Report, August 2018 This 2018 serious case review analyses the death of a young Black boy known as Chris, identifying multiple missed opportunities for safeguarding support. The review highlights how professionals interpreted the child’s behaviour as wilful or mature rather than symptomatic of vulnerability, touching on adultification before increased awareness about the concept.

Serious Case review – Child C  Published by Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children Board in 2021, this Serious Case Review examines the experiences of a Black teenage boy who was criminally exploited, and later became a victim of serious violence. The review found that professionals too often interpreted Child C’s behaviour as “making choices” or being “streetwise,” rather than recognising indicators of coercion and vulnerability. Although the term adultification was not explicitly used, the findings clearly illustrate how such bias led to missed opportunities for protection and support.