This article examines the problematic reductionism and decontextualising nature of hegemonic youth justice intervention evaluation and offers a way ahead for a realistic, context-sensitive approach to intervention evaluation in the youth justice field. It opens by considering how the development of risk-based youth justice interventions in England and Wales flowed from and fed into the modernisation and resultant partiality of the ‘evidence-base’, which shaped youth justice practice. It then moves to a critical review of the emergence and continued influence of risk-based interventions and the ‘What Works’ intervention evaluation framework in youth justice. In the closing discussion, this article envisages the potential of taking a realist approach to the evaluation of youth justice interventions to mitigate the limitations of current approaches to intervention selection and the evaluation of their ‘effectiveness’.
However, as will be discussed in the next section, full time mature students have shown themselves to be a resilient group in terms of enrolment in HE, largely maintaining their proportion of the student population. This is in direct contrast to part-time mature students, whose numbers have declined considerably. It is also evident that much has changed in terms of age-related policy in the UK, in recent decades, with age becoming a protected characteristic in the Equality Act (Her Majesty's Government, 2010). The demands of the economy are directly affected by an increasing amount of people living into very old age (Thane, 2005). With people living longer, healthier lives, the structure of employment was altered to be more age-neutral in design, to ward against age-discrimination, so that people could prolong their working lives (Her Majesty's Government, 2010). Raising the age of retirement (Her Majesty's Government, 2007) has been seen to be necessary for the economy, to ensure that there would be state pensions for future generations. So, in theory, age discrimination legislation should mean that the increased economic demands will be met by giving people the rights to prolong their working lives and, subsequently, extend their contributions into the public purse.Aside from funding the national pension scheme, it is evident that people approaching retirement, and those beyond retirement age, are eager to actively engage in employment (Department for Work and Pensions, 2017) and education (University of the Third Age, 2014). The changes in the Discrimination Act meant, amongst other things, that a person was guarded against discrimination in terms of their age, both in employment and in the provision of services. It seems appropriate, therefore, to consider that this legislation should have had an impact on HE provision, creating an environment where age has less of an influence on students' experiences, especially in terms of barriers. Although mature students are not specifically mentioned in the scope of WP, in the Government's recent white paper on HE , the commitment to equal access and support for all still appears to be evident. As Jo Johnson states (Her Majesty's Government, 2016, p. 6):'everyone with the potential to succeed in higher education, irrespective of their background, can choose from a wide range of high quality universities, access relevant in information to make the right choices, and benefit from excellent teaching that helps prepare them for the future'.So mature students still appear to want to enrol in HE and are still being encouraged to apply, if they have potential. It is also clear that the full time route is becoming the most common way for mature students to participate in HE, as full-time applications remain consistent, whilst part-time applications for mature students dramatically decline. What remains unclear is what might happen in terms of the rates of drop out, because of this.Firstly, it is important to understand if age discrimination legislation has actually changed the
Purpose This study aims to examine the extent to which “What Works” reviews in youth justice enable understanding of the features of effectiveness (what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why?) specified in the Effects–Mechanisms–Moderators–Implementation–Economic cost (EMMIE) framework. Design/methodology/approach The EMMIE framework examined findings within a sample of “What Works” style reviews of preventative youth justice intervention effectiveness. Findings “What Works” style reviews of evaluations of preventative youth justice interventions often omit the requisite details required to examine all of the necessary elements of effectiveness contained within the EMMIE framework. While effectiveness measures were typically provided, the dominant evaluation evidence-base struggles to consider moderators of effect, mechanisms of change, implementation differences and cost-effectiveness. Therefore, “What Works” samples cannot facilitate sufficient understanding of “what works for whom, in what circumstances and why?”. The authors argue that Realist Synthesis can fill this gap and shed light on the contexts that shape the mechanisms through which youth justice interventions work. Originality/value The authors extended the approach adopted by an earlier review of effectiveness reviews (Tompson et al., 2020), considering more recent reviews of the effectiveness of preventative interventions using the EMMIE framework. Unlike previous reviews, the authors prioritised the utility of the EMMIE framework for assessing the factors affecting the effectiveness of preventative interventions in youth justice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.