Sean Creaney

Despite significant interest in the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales’ ‘Child First’ policy framework, it appears difficult to implement within multi-agency ‘high-risk’ panels, as they remain adult-centric, excluding children from being able to safely and meaningfully participate. Public safety concerns and victims’ needs take priority, leaving children relatively powerless. The ‘high-risk’ status assigned to children legitimises their exclusion from the process. This article provides original insight into the complexities of balancing both community protection and ‘Child First’ in policy and practice, problematising the processes of multi-agency approaches for ‘participatory justice’ with children who commit serious offences.

Collaboration is one of the major tenets of Child First justice and yet is proving problematic in its application across the sector, especially where children are compelled through court orders to engage with interventions, creating inevitable power imbalances. In order to facilitate children in genuinely influencing decision-making processes which concern them, their voice needs to be given its proper value. In this article we use the youth justice system of England and Wales to explore the meaning, value and presence of collaboration within youth justice whilst examining the power dynamics at play through the analytical lenses of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach and Bourdieu’s analytical tools. This lends itself to a novel conceptualisation of collaboration within the youth justice space, which is applicable to youth justice contexts internationally, distinguishing between different forms of the concept and examining how much opportunity for influence is actually given to children within their own youth justice journeys.

Research in youth justice is vast and varied, meaning that those seeking to identify ‘good practice’ or ‘evidence’ must navigate multiple studies, large and small, from every jurisdiction and academic discipline. The scholarship has been produced using diverse methodologies and approaches, and although there is an increasing focus on policy impact and practitioner perspectives, its breadth and depth can make this vast literature difficult to access by those interested in an evidence-based approach.

This chapter will cover the what, why, and how of criminology placements and work experience opportunities in youth justice. A principal aim of the knowledge and skills partnership between Edge Hill University, the University of Chester and Cheshire Youth Justice Services is to craft and nurture fruitful opportunities for research and placement opportunities for undergraduate students. Work placements created through the partnership scheme provide valuable opportunities to advance employability skills, helping them to understand the steps required to enter a career in youth justice. This chapter presents insights into the types of practice and research placement opportunities available as part of the Building Professional Skills for Youth Justice (BPSYJ) programme. Conversations with students and alumni have been integrated within the chapter to illustrate the points. ‘Student as Producer’ is also part of the discourse and practice of the partnership arrangement. It is utilised as a guiding principle and applied into practice through work-based learning activities. This has involved viewing students not as passive recipients but as co-creators of knowledge and education. They are active agents, capable of engaging in a reflective scholarship and critical thinking through questioning orthodoxy or challenging the status quo. It is necessary to respect students as equal partners and aim to share power equally through democratising decision-making processes with students and forging collaborative relationships. Within this chapter, the ‘in focus’ case studies presented provide an in-depth illustrative account of how students have been involved directly in the learning process. This section of the chapter is particularly novel, presenting fresh insights into the theory-practice nexus from a unique standpoint (a student perspective!). The BPSYJ programme is principled and progressive. Practitioners working within the youth justice service have provided enriching experiences alongside substantial resource (non-monetary) contributions and built meaningful and supportive professional relationships with students and tutors alike. In providing a credible and persuasive account of the power of work-based learning, this chapter may help to pave the way for other youth offending team/university collaborations in the future to enrich the experiences of students with an interest in youth justice practice. Furthermore, some of the themes presented here may be of relevance to other professions and disciplines, especially interested parties who are jostling with ideas to secure work experience or mobilise research placements for students or bolster forms of critical thinking and reflective practices.

Providing in-depth insight into different types of knowledge and skills partnerships in youth justice, this book illustrates the importance of collaborative working between academics and professionals, drawing on empirical research and practice examples to present expert analysis of knowledge/evidence production and utilisation in youth justice. Original and cutting edge, the focus of this edited collection is on different forms of knowledge exchange (transfer) between professionals and academics in the youth justice context. Authored by experts in the field, each chapter presents a series of case studies showcasing the application of theory/evidence to practice, and shedding light on the challenges professionals experience when seeking to understand complex theory and ‘make sense’ of the vast array of empirical data. Knowledge and Skills Partnerships in Youth Justice will appeal to students researching youth justice and criminal justice systems. The book will also be useful for practitioners of youth justice, as well as policymakers.

There are different types of knowledge relevant and applicable to the youth justice context that can be developed or acquired through engagement in academic study/scholarship and mastered through professional practice. Evidence-based practice, defined in different ways, is informed and guided by empirical research, theoretical insights, young people’s narratives and professional knowledge/expertise (Baker et al., 2011). The focus of this edited collection is on forms of knowledge exchange (transfer) between professionals and academics in the youth justice context. The phrase ‘Knowledge and Skills Partnerships’ is invoked, and covers a spectrum of meanings, employed as an umbrella term that encompasses the exchange and transfer of knowledge between stakeholders and translation of theory/evidence into practice. This emphasis on the construction and dissemination of knowledge in youth justice was the theme of an event on Wednesday 8 June 2022. Dr Jayne Price, Dr Sean Creaney and Gareth Jones chaired a one-day online conference¹ about ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’ between youth justice practice and academia. The event was hosted by Cheshire Youth Justice Services, Edge Hill University and the University of Chester, and focused on knowledge/evidence production and utilisation in youth justice practice. The catalyst for the event was HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (2021:6) report on Cheshire Youth Justice Services: We were impressed with the [Youth Justice Service] YJS’s use of evidence and academic research to inform and develop practice and services. This is some of the strongest we have seen.The inspectorate alluded to the benefits of a well-established knowledge and skills partnership and how evidence is used to inform practice. It was heartening to see such value placed on research-informed and evidence-based practice, highlighted in the final inspection report that was then published online (HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2021). It is important to emphasise the opportunity which this conference and book presents of drawing together other expertise in this area. This includes creating a space to disseminate achievements (including proactive knowledge exchange strategies), engage academic/practice experts and heighten the importance of knowledge and skills partnerships by creating a space for professionals to reflect upon their own beliefs and values, including principles that underpin meaningful knowledge exchange activity. Understanding the environments within which practitioners operate is of paramount importance, (re)attaching value to ‘knowledge from practice, or practice wisdom’ (Gibson, Vaswani and Dyer, 2024), when seeking to nurture the development of evidence-based policy and practice within organisations.

Knowledge and skills partnerships between academics and practitioners can be a useful mechanism to apply criminological theory or research evidence into practice. Partnerships of this nature between stakeholders can provide fertile ground to collaborate on initiatives, ‘test out’ new and mutually beneficial areas of interest, co-design resources or bespoke guiding frameworks and/or open-up research opportunities for scholars and practice-focused academics alike. The Knowledge and Skills Partnership (KSP) between Edge Hill University, University of Chester and Cheshire Youth Justice Services is a case in point. Through consultancy, evaluation work and training or coaching activities, empirical evidence and criminological theories can be applied in practice and used to inform or influence policy developments across and within multi-agency child and youth justice services. This has been achieved through co-founding a Research Group to operationalise a commitment to research informed practice, and in so doing, identifying and promoting progressive and principled ways of working. Here, members of the group (practitioners, volunteers and academics) share insights into the use of theory and contribute to discussions around the development and efficacy of approaches to practice. As part of the KSP, practitioners and researchers have co-designed a relationship-based practice framework and identified key principles necessary to help create and sustain meaningful partnerships between children and professionals. Alongside incorporating key features of this framework into their work with children in or on the cusp of the justice system, practitioners within the research group have consulted with academics and are in the early stages of developing a bespoke model of children’s participation. This has led to in-house and external presentations around participatory rights-based practices. The KSP has also facilitated opportunities for academics to support practitioners and young people during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research has led to changes in orthodox ways of working, for example recognising the value of relationship-based practice and the social prescribing of more creative/participatory interventions. As the chapter reveals, despite local, regional and national lockdowns, professionals continued to offer diverse and creative interventions. Conversations with youth justice practitioners have been integrated within the chapter to illustrate the enablers, barriers, challenges and opportunities for the development of KSPs in youth justice.

The Child First Participation agenda in England marks a paradigm shift in youth justice. This solidifies a commitment to democratising decision-making processes with children. Drawing on interviews with children and professionals, this article explores the enablers and constraints to Child First participation in youth justice services, including how risk-oriented practices, managerialism and neo-liberal mechanisms constrain positive relationships with children. In this article, Bourdieu’s concept of ‘symbolic violence’ is used to explore systemic problems when engaging children in co-producing youth justice interventions. The article suggests how participatory practices can provide freedom from symbolic violence for both children and practitioners.