Co‐creating youth justice practice with young people: Tackling power dynamics and enabling transformative action

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Developing creative methodologies: using lyric writing to capture young peoples’ experiences of the youth offending services during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The sessions built upon the young peoples’ skills and the artist was vital in building their confidence in lyric writing (Smithson and Jones, 2021). The artist encouraged the young people with their skill and aspiration and built upon this by advising how to write in third person and develop their style.…”

“…Each YOS could provide data for young people who had suitable devices and when restrictions allowed, gatekeepers facilitated access for young people to complete the session at local authority facilities. Similar to previous studies, at times there were issues with young people not attending sessions, the project team sought to maintain contact with them and provide further opportunities to attend sessions (similarly to Smithson and Jones, 2021 study) this had some success.…”

“…The research has highlighted criminological issues of labelling, social construction of crime, political economy, gender and crime and provided a space for participants to articulate damaging representations of themselves within modern cultures. Music-based activities have been used with children and young people in lots of domains and services with success, for example, those who are homeless (Kelly, 2017), hard-to-reach (Millar et al , 2020) and involved within the YJS (Smithson and Jones, 2021), with noted benefits to health and well-being of those who participate (Daykin et al , 2017).…”

“…By engaging them using music and lyric writing, the research could generate deeper and more authentic responses from the young people that might have otherwise been obtained within a more formal setting of interview with a researcher or YOS workers. This is important, as such an approach seeks to reduce the stigmatising power imbalances keenly felt by young people throughout their lives, not least when involved in statutory services (Deakin et al , 2020; Smithson and Jones, 2021).…”

Identity, culture and belonging: Educating young children for a changing world. TonyEaudeNew York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. 240 pp. $120.00 (hardcover). ISBN: 9781350097803

“…This book should be considered by an international audience in relation to those working across diverse academic disciplines, whereby furthering intersectionality as dialogical lens in analysing interconnecting social constructs of oppression in the development of identity. It is an invaluable tool of inquiry in further implementing culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogies that facilitate the healthy transition for children and youth into adulthood (Smithson & Jones, 2021).…”