Best practice when working with young people
This blog is written by our Youth Justice Lead, Leah Robinson and has been inspired by our Youth Justice project and Good Practice Guide for Youth Justice Services.
Here are five key things to consider when working with young people in the restorative field:
- Making the offer of Restorative Justice
- Offences without a direct victim
- Letters of explanation
- Trauma-informed practice
- Data collection recording
Making the offer of Restorative Justice
When making the offer of Restorative Justice, we would recommend staff offer each type of intervention individually, focusing on one at a time in order to ensure clarity and allow a full discussion of each option. This will ensure that the people impacted by the harm can choose the right restorative intervention for themselves.
A practical means of doing this could be through creating a flowchart or pyramid of the types of processes that can be offered. For example, starting with a face-to-face meeting and shuttle mediation at the top of the pyramid and working through it level by level, with indirect processes such as letters of explanation at the end. This will allow the participant to make their decision based on informed consent.
Offences without a direct victim
We have encountered both practitioners and services referring to certain offences as ‘victimless’. This implies that no one was harmed by the offence, either directly or indirectly and thereby denies family members, people in the community or anyone else who may have been indirectly affected the opportunity to engage in a restorative process. As an alternative, we would recommend using the term ‘offence without a direct victim’, in order to allow all those affected by crime and conflict the chance to engage in a restorative intervention if they wish to do so.
Letters of explanation
A letter-based restorative intervention should be referred to as a letter of explanation, rather than a letter of apology, as this better encapsulates the restorative process whereby an apology is not an essential requirement. There should also be a distinction between a letter of explanation as a victim awareness activity and a restorative intervention, the latter being a victim-led process. This means that standard restorative procedures should be followed, meaning no one would receive a letter if they do not want to or without prior warning and preparation.
Trauma-informed practice
Trauma-informed practice involves working with a young person while taking account of their life experiences. This can include their socio-economic background, family history, peer relationships and previous experiences of being a victim of crime themselves.
Working in a way which is participant-informed means there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. This is true for both trauma-informed practice and restorative practices. The principles of both practices are mutually beneficial and often cross over.
Combining the two ways of working allows for a neutral, targeted approach that benefits all parties involved and contributes to the overall goal of repairing the harm caused, preventing reoffending and finding a way to move forward that meets the needs of all those involved. Therefore, working with young people in a way that is both in line with trauma-informed and restorative practices means working in a way that is best for the young person.
Data collection and recording
There is currently no national standard for data collection and recording. In order to best understand and analyse data we would recommend recording it at the end of the young person’s order or contact with the service rather than the beginning, so that it documents the number of actual restorative interventions which took place. This will ensure that all restorative processes are documented.
It would be beneficial to review data on Restorative Justice interventions quarterly to ascertain how and where referrals are being made. This will enable practitioners to acknowledge areas of good practice while continuously striving for improvement. We would recommend having a standardised spreadsheet for collating the quarterly summary data to ensure the same data is collected every quarter. This will enable better data analysis in order to assess the extent to which the service is operating restoratively, the number and breakdown of restorative processes as well as any ongoing work with victims of crime.
It is also important to record data according to the requirements from the Youth Justice Board’s Key Performance Indicators, the tenth of which is focused on victims of crime and Restorative Justice following recommendations from a restorative consultation process we conducted.
Conclusion
Restorative Justice can be transformative for harm that has been caused by young people. However, it is vital that amendments are made and considerations taken to the needs of young people specifically, including learning styles and differences, as well as any special educational needs or disabilities. Young people often experience crime as both harmed and harmer, which necessitates a restorative, trauma-informed and child first approach. While these principles were developed as part of our work with young people, they are applicable to the wider restorative sector and should be considered when working restoratively with anyone affected by crime.
If you are interested in learning more about our Youth Justice project or reading the reports we have published as part of it, please visit the project page on our website here.