This thesis investigates the development of a multi-professional youth justice team in Falkirk,Central Scotland, established following the Scottish Executive (2000) Youth Crime Review. The contribution of the multi-professional team was examined in relation to the potential benefits of having a range of professionals in one team operating in broader partnership arrangements. The extent that these arrangements facilitated implementation of evidence-based practice was also explored. Local strategy was analysed as a constituent of national policy, as Scotland began to develop a youth justice system containing aspects of the `Third Way' corporatist, managerial model evident in England and Wales. The multi-professional youth justice project of Connect was the focus of the thesis, although close multi-agency networks necessitated analysis of wider partnership arrangements. Employing a multi-methods case study approach maximised the available data and provided a rich understanding of the context and processes of local policy development. Interviews with a range of stakeholders in the Falkirk area constituted the primary data source, supported by observation of the working arrangements, document analysis and secondary statistical data. Elements of action research allowed ongoing data to be utilised by Falkirk Council to develop service provision while the research progressed. Findings are examined in relation to the wider theoretical implications of adopting a `what works' agenda in a youth justice system that has, for over thirty years, been predicated on a diversionary welfare principle. The arrangements in Falkirk may provide a model for multiprofessional youth justice work that does not embrace a centralised, punitive agenda. The research indicated that a multi-professional project could make a positive contribution to wider multi-agency arrangements, supporting the government aims of increased partnership working. It also suggested that operational developments, facilitated by practitioners in a bottom-up approach, could implement change capable of delivering services utilised and appreciated by service users, and meeting the standards set by the Scottish Executive. Further research will be necessary to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific partnership arrangements in reducing offending and improving the circumstances of young people. While the individual nature of local authority responses to the Youth Crime Review indicates that a national solution may not be desirable, the findings from Falkirk provide data about those factors that may facilitate or inhibit developments in partnership working, which is now part of the framework of youth justice provision in Scotland. Individual case studies can provide evidence that youth justice practice in Scotland can retain a local, child centred focus. Such evidence may halt further moves towards a `one size fits all' justice model, which predominates in England and Wales.

Using a longitudinal sample of Chinese immigrant families, the current study examined parent-child acculturation discrepancy as an ongoing risk factor for delinquency, through the mediating pathway of parental knowledge of the child’s daily experiences relating to child’s contact with deviant peers. Based on the absolute difference in acculturation levels (tested separately for Chinese and American orientations) between adolescents and parents, one parent in each family was assigned to the “more discrepant” group of parent-child dyads, and the other parent was assigned to the “less discrepant” group of parent-child dyads. To explore possible within-family variations, the mediating pathways were tested separately among the more and less discrepant groups. Within each group, the mediating pathway was further compared between father- and mother-adolescent dyads from different families. Structural equation modeling showed that the proposed mediating pathways were significant only in the more discrepant parent-adolescent dyads. For more discrepant dyads, especially those discrepant in American orientation, a high level of parent-child acculturation discrepancy is related to less parental knowledge, which is related to adolescents having more contact with deviant peers, which in turn leads to more adolescent delinquency. This mediating pathway is significant concurrently, within early and middle adolescence, and longitudinally, from early to middle adolescence. Among the more discrepant dyads, the relationship between parent-child acculturation discrepancy and parental knowledge was stronger for father-adolescent dyads than it was for mother-adolescent dyads. / text

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

The Edmonton Arts and Youth Feasibility Study was conducted as a result of the question being asked "Can a structured art program be run with youth in conflict with the law?" It was a three month, arts-based, targeted prevention program run in an already existing drop-in centre for delinquent youth. This article reports on the qualitative findings of in-depth interviews conducted with the key stakeholders: participating adolescents (aged 14-19 years), lead artists, research assistants, and site directors. Findings suggest that the art curriculum, the strong relationships built, and the gains made were all strengths of the program. These gains include the acquisition of art skills, social skills and an improved ability to problem solve. Findings from this study also suggest the need for future research, including outcome studies and a program evaluation.

The phenomenon of female teenage violence within the last decade has been receiving rapid social interest and concern. The present study is concerned with exploring causes for teenage girl violence. Specifically, this qualitative study seeks to explore and describe teenage girl violence from the experiences and perspectives of girls aged 16 to 19 years of age whom have been in the past arrested and/or incarcerated for violent crimes. Data was collected using a semi-structured interviewing format. Five teenaged girls having current or past involvement with the Child Welfare system were interviewed. Despite the study's limitations, findings indicated several variations on similar common themes. These themes are discussed using three main categories of findings: (1) entrance into the legal system, (2) social aspects and (3) cultural presence. The need for describing and understanding why teenage girls act out violently in the ways they do was evident from the perspective of the girls themselves.

In recent years, youth offending has become the subject of widespread public interest and over the past few decades, various child reform movements have taken place. Child justice reform efforts focus on children’s reintegration into their families and communities and the enhancement of prospects for a crime-free life in the future. It is a system that focuses on holding children responsible through restorative justice approaches. The Child Justice Act (75 of 2008) seeks to achieve this balance by reflecting societal concerns and responding reflectively and proportionately to children in the criminal justice system. The Act is based on restorative justice principles and provides the framework for a criminal justice system specifically geared to deal with youth offenders. Section 2 of the Act makes specific provisions for the diversion of children away from the criminal justice system to suitable reintegrative and rehabilitative diversion programmes. Currently diversion programmes are aimed at the youth, with minimal input required from parents and family members. While much has been written and researched about how dysfunctional families can contribute to children turning to crime, the role of parents and families more generally in preventing repeat offending and misbehaviour is under-researched. There is also a dearth of research on the implementation and outcomes of diversion programmes and more specifically on the role of the family before, during, and after the diversion process. An intriguing issue is how parents of children attending a diversion programme view their child’s offending behaviour, the diversion process itself, their involvement in the process, and ways that can be introduced to improve and/or increase their level of involvement. The study found that the majority of the children benefitted from the programme in terms of positive behaviour change and preventing reoffending. Parents who had supported their children during the course of the programme tended to have better relationships with their children, and were able to sustain the outcomes of the programmes more efficiently. This study concludes by making recommendations in respect of how restorative justice values and principles can be adequately incorporated and enhanced through the participation of all children in conflict with the law in Family Group Conferencing. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.