The main argument is that the failure of scandal-generation in contemporary British youth justice is the failure of certain conditions to ignite a public outcry. These conditions are identified as: (1) the immediate context in which events took place; (2) the lack of the success use of story-telling to portray children in custody as vulnerable and in need of protection; (3) public ambivalence concerning what goes on in correctional institutions; (4) exposure and novelty are essential to scandal and not to be found by repeatedly uncovering the same conditions; (5) the messenger was from within rather than from outside of the youth justice institution; (6) an energetic counter claim on the part of the youth justice system to the initial claims-maker; and (7) successful scandals generally emerge when an institution is on the verge of breakdown, which was not the case with the contemporary British youth justice system. In making this argument, the authors point out that scandals do not simply happen, they are created. While a scandal has not taken place in relation to the British youth justice system, the authors argue that it may still be possible to create one. An example is offered of the child care field’s deliberate and successful attempt to draw public attention to policy failure and to bring about improvement. The techniques used by the child care field can be and should be applied to the field of youth justice. Notes, references