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Watkinson, G, Marshall, D and Kewley, S (2024) ‘If you just look at risk, people look horrific’ Youth Justice Practitioners’ Perspectives of Child First Practice. British Journal of Community Justice, 19 (2). pp. 30-45. ISSN 1475-0279
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Abstract
A Child First approach in youth justice puts children at the centre of service delivery. It aims to create a system that treats ‘children as children’ with a focus on early intervention, collaboration and removing criminogenic stigma. This is seen as a positive policy shift, although it is unclear how effectively it is applied in the risk-centric context of the Youth Justice System. This paper outlines findings from interviews conducted with youth justice practitioners (N = 7) focussing on their experiences of applying Child First within their work. Using Thematic Analysis, we outline the findings from this study against the four tenets of Child First and discuss barriers to implementation. Despite determination to implement Child First, practitioners felt systemic barriers, including the external service involvement and the risk assessment tool, hindered their ability to do so. We recommend that to establish a truly Child First system, greater clarity is needed to apply the principles on the frontline, alongside an understanding of what Child First means beyond the Youth Justice context to apply the principles system wide. Further research is also required to identify variations in the application of Child First on a local level.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 1602 Criminology; 1801 Law |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology K Law > K Law (General) H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV7231 Criminal Justice Administrations |
| Divisions: | Psychology (from Sep 2019) |
| Publisher: | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| SWORD Depositor: | A Symplectic |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2024 08:09 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Oct 2024 12:00 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.48411/wfe6-b179 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23148 |
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