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Widespread criticism of the youth justice system in England and Wales has resulted in calls for it to adopt a restorative paradigm. This paper seeks to review the historical development of youth justice in neighbouring Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The historical development of youth justice in Scotland and Northern Ireland is reviewed with a view to learning lessons from these two very different models, compared to the current model in England and Wales.

It is argued that those tasked with reforming the system in England and Wales must understand the underlying political, cultural and social contexts in which alternative models have developed and satisfactorily resolve the conflicting needs and rights of the offender versus those of the victim, community and wider public.

Transfer of policy and practice from other jurisdictions requires careful consideration of their political, cultural and social contexts but England and Wales may benefit greatly from adopting restorative practices similar to those in Northern Ireland. However, successful implementation will depend on political will and institutional infrastructure.

A continuing challenge in the design of effective interventions to prevent adolescents’ alcohol misuse is understanding adolescent drinking behaviour. Although previous research has indicated a number of factors that might predict drinking behaviour, there has been less qualitative exploration of adolescents’ own views. The purpose of this paper is to gain a further understanding of adolescents’ views towards alcohol use and the types of environment in which adolescents drink alcohol.

A qualitative design was employed with eight focus groups conducted in groups of 3–5 with 27 adolescents (12 girls and 15 boys) aged between 12 and 14.

Thematic analysis identified overarching themes evident across groups suggesting key influences on adolescent drinking behaviour are “social norms”, “enjoyment of alcohol”, “images” and “creation of drinking spaces”.

This research highlights the importance of environments, parents, friends and peers in understanding adolescent’s alcohol use.

The implications of this research suggest that interventions should consider targeting peer groups.

These themes highlight the importance of more socially based interventions.

This paper explores adolescents’ own views of their drinking behaviours.