‘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.

‘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.

‘It’s really good…why hasn’t it happened earlier?’ Professionals’ perspectives on the benefits of communication assistance in the New Zealand youth justice system

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Howard ◽  
Clare McCann ◽  
Margaret Dudley
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
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 new role in New Zealand is modelled on the role of the intermediary in England and Wales. To date however, there has been no published review or evaluation on how communication assistance is functioning and being viewed by professionals in practice. This study provides a qualitative analysis of professionals’ perspectives (n = 28 participants) on the benefits of communication assistance for young people facing criminal charges in the New Zealand youth justice system. The main finding is that professionals are overwhelmingly in support of this new role. Professionals considered that communication assistance helps put the young person at the centre of youth justice, brings new knowledge and a fresh perspective, and helps the system to function as it ideally should.

“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.

Shared Practice, Learning, and Goals between Police and Young People: A Qualitative Analysis of the National Volunteer Police Cadets

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey DeMarco ◽  
Antonia Bifulco
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Shared Practice

Abstract Engaging all members of the public is of paramount importance to British policing. This assists with demystifying the role of police in society, and also providing a shared vision and partnership between communities and the criminal justice system. The National VPC programme provides the opportunity to achieve this, recruiting diverse young people into a structured programme led by a range of police officers and staff. A series of focus groups were conducted across the country with both cadets and adult leaders to explore the benefits of the cadet programme for both groups—those relevant to policing but also more widely for community cohesion and individual development. Although the benefits to policing were clearly articulated, a range of strengths to the programme were also identified.

scholarly journals Young People’s Knowledge and Understanding of the Youth Justice System in New Zealand: A Community Sample

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Phillippa Dean
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Antisocial Behaviour ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Developmental Level ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Fitness To Stand Trial ◽  
The Impact

<p>New Zealand (NZ) has a separate youth justice system that is designed to be responsive towards the developmental needs of young people that have engaged in antisocial behaviour. It is therefore essential that young people are ‘Fit to Stand Trial’ when legal proceedings are brought against them. A young person can be found legally unfit on the basis of ‘mental impairment’, and whilst this is undefined it largely overlooks the impact a young person's developmental level may have on their engagement with court processes. No research has examined young people’s understanding of the justice system in NZ. However, international research has demonstrated that those 13 years and younger are almost exclusively found unfit to stand trial due to their developmental level, whereas those 16 years and older tend to be found fit to stand trial. The legal capabilities of those aged 14 to 15 years are difficult to predict given the extensive developmental changes occurring around that age. The current research aimed to address three research questions: 1) is there a relationship between age and fitness to stand trial, 2) is there a relationship between IQ and fitness to stand trial, and 3) how does NZ research compare to international literature. Participants aged 13 to 18 were recruited from six schools around NZ (n = 89). They were interviewed using a semi-structured interview tool that was designed for this study to assess young people’s understanding of the justice process and fitness-related abilities. A brief measure of participant IQ was also taken. It was found that fitness-related abilities, such as knowledge and understanding, were positively associated with age and IQ, such that older participants and those with higher IQ scores performed better on this semi-structured interview. Attending a high decile school, and being female was also predictive of better performance. These findings indicate that developmental level—as indicated by age and IQ—impacts young people’s understanding and participation in the justice system. Therefore, the current legislative response to young people who offend does not sufficiently recognise the impact of a young person’s developmental capabilities.</p>

scholarly journals Young People’s Knowledge and Understanding of the Youth Justice System in New Zealand: A Community Sample

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Phillippa Dean
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Antisocial Behaviour ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Developmental Level ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Fitness To Stand Trial ◽  
The Impact

<p>New Zealand (NZ) has a separate youth justice system that is designed to be responsive towards the developmental needs of young people that have engaged in antisocial behaviour. It is therefore essential that young people are ‘Fit to Stand Trial’ when legal proceedings are brought against them. A young person can be found legally unfit on the basis of ‘mental impairment’, and whilst this is undefined it largely overlooks the impact a young person's developmental level may have on their engagement with court processes. No research has examined young people’s understanding of the justice system in NZ. However, international research has demonstrated that those 13 years and younger are almost exclusively found unfit to stand trial due to their developmental level, whereas those 16 years and older tend to be found fit to stand trial. The legal capabilities of those aged 14 to 15 years are difficult to predict given the extensive developmental changes occurring around that age. The current research aimed to address three research questions: 1) is there a relationship between age and fitness to stand trial, 2) is there a relationship between IQ and fitness to stand trial, and 3) how does NZ research compare to international literature. Participants aged 13 to 18 were recruited from six schools around NZ (n = 89). They were interviewed using a semi-structured interview tool that was designed for this study to assess young people’s understanding of the justice process and fitness-related abilities. A brief measure of participant IQ was also taken. It was found that fitness-related abilities, such as knowledge and understanding, were positively associated with age and IQ, such that older participants and those with higher IQ scores performed better on this semi-structured interview. Attending a high decile school, and being female was also predictive of better performance. These findings indicate that developmental level—as indicated by age and IQ—impacts young people’s understanding and participation in the justice system. Therefore, the current legislative response to young people who offend does not sufficiently recognise the impact of a young person’s developmental capabilities.</p>

scholarly journals Are there lessons to be learned from the youth justice system?

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Becroft
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Youth Justice

It has been almost 20 years since the introduction of the ground-breaking Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 (CYPF Act). When introduced the act revolutionised New Zealand youth justice practices (Watt, 2003). It was responding to significant perceived problems with the existing system, including: • too many young people being brought before the courts; • too much reliance on an institutionalised, residential approach (often criminalising behaviour which was really the result of care and protection deficits); and • insufficient opportunity for family and cultural input.

Tough talk: Youth offenders’ perceptions of communicating in the Youth Justice system in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A Lount ◽  
Linda Hand ◽  
Suzanne C Purdy ◽  
Alan France
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Youth Offenders ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Communication Partner ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
Communication Breakdowns

Youth Justice procedures rely heavily on oral language. International research suggests young people in the Youth Justice system have poorer language skills than their non-offending peers, which has implications for their participation in Youth Justice processes and rehabilitation programmes. Most research of youth offenders’ communication skills focuses on standardised assessments and quantitative measures, with little known of young people’s perceptions of communicating within the highly verbally mediated Youth Justice setting. This exploratory study used semi-structured interviews of eight males, of unknown language-skill status, from one Youth Justice residence in New Zealand. Results suggested the young people felt they had no control or ‘voice’ in court, or with adults whose roles, or with whom, they were not familiar. Communicating in court was an area of significant difficulty for nearly all the participants; they reported feeling unable to say what they wanted or understand what was going on. Confidence and participation varied with some participants lacking the confidence to use communication strategies in court, whereas others would ‘just say what they wanted’. The relationship with their communication partner, especially trust and familiarity, was very important to facilitate communication, and most young people could identify strategies that could help communication breakdowns, although not all reported using them. To facilitate full participation and access to court processes and Youth Justice programmes, the communication barriers identified in this study should be considered in any intervention or support developed for young people who offend.

scholarly journals Holding the Child (and Practitioner) in Mind? Youth Justice Practitioners’ Experiences Supervising Young People Displaying Sexually Harmful Behavior

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 2055-2081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Myles-Wright ◽  
Claire Nee
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Vulnerable Group ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Relationship Problem ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Harmful Behavior ◽  
Future Practice

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of youth justice practitioners supervising young people (below 18 years old) displaying sexually harmful behavior within the Youth Justice System (YJS) in the United Kingdom, as little is currently known about the challenges faced when working with this vulnerable group. Five practitioners from two Youth Offending Services (YOS) participated in individual semistructured interviews, which were subjected to thematic analysis while also analyzing the performative function of language used. The analysis identified an overarching theme of “systemic unease,” which contained two subthemes surrounding “unease with the self, and wider YOS personnel” and “unease working with partner agencies.” The findings illuminate critical issues regarding future practice with this underresearched group of young people within the broader context of youth justice, which require further exploration and investigation. The “dual relationship problem” involving tension between risk management and therapeutic alliance is explored in relation to this group. The moral acquaintance model and the model of dynamic adaptation are suggested as helpful approaches to support practitioners and multi-agency professionals going forward in this area.

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