Promoting shifts in personal narratives and providing structures of support: transitions of incarcerated children in England and Wales

Tim Bateman
,
Neal Hazel

Institute of Applied Social Research (IASR)

Research Output:

Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding

Chapter

Peer-review

Open access

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

Recidivism rates for children leaving custody in England and Wales have remained stubbornly high, despite intense policy interest and some promising short-term initiatives. In this chapter, it is argued that the major challenge to improved outcomes has been the widespread failure of service providers to adopt lessons from research. This failure, we maintain, has been due to the lack of a conceptual understanding of how resettlement intervention effects positive change in children, leading to confusion as to service aims and what good practice looks like. Based on the existing knowledge base, from a six-year study titled, Beyond Youth Custody, it was concluded that effective resettlement should be reconceptualized as personal and practical support, that facilitates a shift in the child’s personal narrative from pro-criminal to pro-social. Five characteristics for practice necessary to promote this shift are identified, which are compared to the Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:

Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding

Chapter

Peer-review

Original language

English

Publication milestones

Published - 31/08/2018

Publication status

Published - 31/08/2018

Place of publication

New York

Publisher

Springer, Japan, India, Australia, Germany, United States, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, China, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, France, Singapore