Youth Justice, Restorative Justice and hate crimes/incidents
This is a guest blog written by Deirdre Leask from Southwark Youth Justice Service.
Southwark Youth Justice Service’s Hate Incident Working Group has been meeting since 2022, developing a six-module programme for case managers and young people involved in hate crimes or incidents. On average, around six young people are referred to us annually for hate-related incidents and we realised we had few resources to work with them (and the people they had harmed) effectively. We spent the first few months researching what works. Time and again, Restorative Justice came up as a changemaker for both harmers and harmed. Why me?’s Safe To Be Handbook (2022) was invaluable, as was the writing of Mark Walters – particularly Hate Crime and Restorative Justice: Exploring Causes, Repairing Harms (2014). In addition, some probation and other Youth Justice Services had developed programmes for perpetrators, as well as the educational charity Show Racism the Red Card – which has great materials.
We then drew up a Theory of Change for the programme: what was our aim and how would we achieve it? We can’t make people change their minds, but we can educate them, help them reflect on themselves and others, work on empathy and talk about the law – and hopefully prevent further offending and further harm. Our programme is based on the Five Protected Characteristics in hate crime legislation – religion, race, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
Our Working Group was diverse and involved a wide range of people over the two years, which kept us thinking, challenging and questioning! A clinical practitioner was essential to help us reflect on our own biases and lived experiences. Our Restorative Justice team has also been fundamental to ‘keeping the harmed in mind’ and working with the harmer, rather than closing them down through judgment and condemnation. We struggled with, but ultimately accepted the following, as a key part of any engagement with harmers:
Identity work, with a strong focus on the perpetrator learning about themselves and accepting themselves. ‘Non-confrontational, non- demonizing engagement…’, however, acceptance does not entail the approval of, or collusion with, the person’s attitudes and behaviour. – Lindsay and Danner, “Accepting the unacceptable: the concept of acceptance in work with the perpetrators of hate crime”
We also struggled with the question of who does this work? Who could be triggered and possibly revictimised by this ‘non-demonising engagement’? Who might be seen as colluding (always my fear, as a white woman working with a white perpetrator of a racist offence)? Finally, we agreed that any hate-related work at the Youth Justice Service would involve some input from the clinical team, as well as input from the Restorative Justice team, working with both harmer and harmed, if possible. Thus, a case manager would never have to work alone.
The programme itself contains six modules:
- Myths and Stereotypes provides history and film clips where people talk about being stereotyped, share facts about Islam, Judaism, trans issues, etc.
- Identity and Culture draws up a Cultural Genogram with our young harmer to look at their own family, their heritage, values, beliefs about others and about difference.
- When Hate Becomes Hurt looks at how thoughts can become words which can harm and how harmful words can become devastating actions – through activities using film clips, stories and pictures.
- The Impact of Hate Crime on Victims is always facilitated by our RJ officer, using restorative questions as well as the voices of people who have been harmed, but beginning to focus on the actual harmed person/people in the current incident. The RJ officer may then deliver more sessions with both harmer and harmed, if the harmed person wants to engage.
- Hate Crime and the Law reinforces awareness of the Protected Characteristics and what the law says, but also looks at hate crime statistics.
- Social Media and Hate Crime focuses on social media, making use of the young person’s own knowledge and experience and questioning possible ‘echo chambers’. Resources include widely spread social media posts and interactive exercises about hate crime, social media and the law.
Please make use of the programme – and send us comments, feedback, criticisms and suggestions. The Southwark Youth Justice Service’s Hate Crime Awareness Programme will always be a work in progress. We learn from experience and from each other!
If you are interested in accessing the modules, please contact Deirdre at Deirdre.Leask@southwark.gov.uk.
