I might be in the UK, but became aware of play:groundNYC, an adventure playground on Governors Island, New York, through an article in The Atlantic, (oh the advantages of the …
The delinquent child is still a child.
He is a child who has not given up yet but does not know who he is.
A punitive sentence could adversely influence his future sense of himself and his behaviour.
Because it is society that has failed him and made him behave this way.
The Court should not condemn the criminal, but the social structure.