scholarly journals Black and Minority Ethnic Boys and Custody in England and Wales: Understanding Subjective Experiences through an Analysis of Official Data

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravinder Barn ◽  
Martina Feilzer ◽  
Nick Hardwick
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Official Data ◽  
Minority Ethnic ◽  
Policies And Practices

Recent years have seen a dramatic shift in youth justice outcomes and a fall in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system in England and Wales. However, it appears that children from some backgrounds have not benefited as much as others from this change. There is a wealth of academic literature on processes of criminalisation, policies, and practices of youth justice and the experiences of children, particularly boys, in custody. However, there is little detailed understanding of how these processes, policies, and practices affect children from different backgrounds. This paper examines the most intrusive aspect of youth justice, namely, custodial sentences. Through an examination of the Inspectorate of Prisons’ reports and associated surveys, this paper seeks to explore black and minority ethnic boys’ perceptions of their experiences of custody.

scholarly journals Challenges to providing culturally sensitive drug interventions for black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) groups within UK youth justice systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-181
Author(s):  
Helen Gleeson ◽  
Karen Duke ◽  
Betsy Thom
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Drug Interventions ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Minority Ethnic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how substance use practitioners intervene with ethnically and culturally diverse groups of young people in contact with the youth justice system. Design/methodology/approach Telephone, face-to-face interviews and a focus group were conducted. Data were analysed thematically using a frame-reflective theoretical approach. Findings Practitioners tended to offer individualised interventions to young people in place of culturally specific approaches partly due to a lack of knowledge, training or understanding of diverse cultural needs, and for practical and resource reasons. Research limitations/implications Practitioners reject the official narrative of BAME youth in the justice system as dangerous and in need of control, viewing them instead as vulnerable and in need of support, but report they lack experience, and sufficient resources, in delivering interventions to diverse groups. Originality/value There is little information regarding how practitioners respond to diversity in their daily practice. This paper is an exploration of how diversity is framed and responded to in the context of youth substance use and criminal justice.

scholarly journals Black Boys’ and Young Men’s Experiences with Criminal Justice and Desistance in England and Wales: A Literature Review

Genealogy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Laura Robertson ◽  
John Peter Wainwright
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Justice Systems ◽  
Minority Ethnic

Black boys and young men are over-represented in the youth and adult justice systems in England and Wales. Despite the Lammy Review (2017) into the treatment of and outcomes for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic individuals (BAME) in the criminal justice system, the disproportionate numbers of Black boys and young men at all stages of the system continue to rise. There has been limited qualitative research of Black boys’ and young men’s experiences with the justice system in England and Wales. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on their experiences with sentencing and courts. What is known tends to focus on Black, Asian, and minority ethnic and/or Muslim men’s experiences more generally. A lack of critical understanding of the specific experiences of desistance by young Black men has been criticised in the literature. Set in this context, this review of UK literature focuses on the following questions: (1) What are Black boys’ and young Black men’s experiences with the youth and criminal justice systems in England and Wales? (2) What does research tell us specifically about their experiences with desistance?

“Why Do We Ask Them About Their Gender, If We Then Go on to Do Nothing with It?”

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Eric Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Offending Behavior ◽  
Dominant Discourses

Boys and young men continue to make up 81 percent of the Youth Justice System (YJS) in England and Wales, yet dominant discourses on young people who have been identified as having offended largely neglect to examine the potential role of masculinity in offending and interventions. This article aims to fill the gap of research in this area by exploring the role masculinity may play as understood by practitioners. It concludes that practitioners closely link “localized forms of hegemonic masculinity” to offending behavior of boys and young men.

‘I was flying blind a wee bit’: Professionals’ perspectives on challenges facing communication assistance in the New Zealand youth justice system

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Howard ◽  
Clare McCann ◽  
Margaret Dudley
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
Criminal Charges

Communication assistance is a form of specialist support for witnesses and defendants in justice settings who have been identified as having communication difficulties. This relatively new role in New Zealand is modelled on the role of the intermediary in England and Wales. This research provides a qualitative analysis of professionals’ perspectives (n = 28 participants) on the challenges of communication assistance for young people facing criminal charges in the New Zealand youth justice system. The findings of this study do not question whether or not communication assistance should exist, but rather how it might best function in practice. The overall implications are that more education and guidance for youth justice professionals is needed.

scholarly journals YOT Talk: Examining the communicative influences on children’s engagement with youth justice assessment processes

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082199685
Author(s):  
Stephen Case ◽  
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus ◽  
Ralph Morton
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Staff Training ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Effective Assessment

This article presents an evidence-based analysis of the communicative influences on children’s engagement in the Youth Justice System of England and Wales. The multidisciplinary criminologist–linguist ‘YOT Talk’ project utilized Svalberg’s (2009) dimensions of engagement (cognitive, affective, social; augmented by behavioural) to explore the enablers of, and barriers to, children’s engagement with youth justice assessment processes. A tripartite mixed methodology of observation of assessment interviews, questionnaires with children in the Youth Justice System and youth justice practitioners, and focus groups with practitioners was implemented across three Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales. Analyses synergized methods from conversation analysis and corpus linguistics. Findings inform recommendations for refocusing youth justice assessment and staff training on facilitating children’s communicative engagement (that is, enhancing enablers and removing/minimizing barriers). These findings and recommendations challenge asymmetrical (adult-centric) power dynamics during assessment interviews and challenge perceptions of children’s communicative deficits as irreconcilable barriers to effective assessment.

Human rights and youth justice reform in England and Wales: A systemic analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Cunneen ◽  
Barry Goldson ◽  
Sophie Russell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Systemic Analysis ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines critically the persistently antagonistic relationship – across the past quarter-century – between the provisions of international human rights instruments and the nature and direction of youth justice reform in England and Wales. It introduces the core provisions of the human rights framework that pertain to youth justice and it sketches the nature and direction of policy reform over the 25-year period under scrutiny (1991–2016). To obtain a comprehensive sense of the relationship between human rights and youth justice reform in the jurisdiction, it applies a detailed systemic analysis; beginning at the point at which criminal responsibility is formally imputed and progressing through each stage of the youth justice system, up to the point where the child might ultimately be deprived of her/his liberty. By taking a ‘long-view’ of youth justice reform and by adopting a systemic end-to-end analysis of the human rights–youth justice interface, the article presents an analytical account of both change (policy reforms) and continuity (the enduring nature of human rights violations).

‘It was like more easier’: Rangatahi (Young People) and Their whānau (Family) Talk About Communication Assistance in the New Zealand Youth Justice System

Youth Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147322542092376
Author(s):  
Kelly Howard ◽  
Clare McCann ◽  
Margaret Dudley
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Justice System ◽  
System Communication ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Communication Difficulties

This qualitative study gives voice to rangatahi (young people) and their whānau (families) (n = 10) who have experienced communication assistance in the New Zealand youth justice system. Communication assistance is a form of specialist support for witnesses and defendants who have been identified as having communication difficulties; and is modelled on the role of the intermediary in England and Wales. The findings overall suggest that communication assistance has a valuable and ongoing role to play in the NZ youth justice system, and may be one means of addressing the rights and needs of those with communication difficulties who offend.

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