Decolonising Justice for Aboriginal Youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Blagg, Harry; Tulich, Tamara; Williams, Robyn; Mutch, Raewyn; Badry, Dorothy; Stewart, Michelle

doi:10.4324/9780429325526

Cited by 13 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Whilst there have been calls to divert more young people away from any justice system contact and to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 (Blagg and Tulich, 2018; Crofts, 2015), considerable uncertainty remains about how youth justice agencies should approach the task of working with young people (Clancey et al , 2020). This is partly because Australian youth justice systems have developed through a patchwork of local legislation and structures (e.g.…”

Section: Co-producing Trauma-informed Youth Justice In Australia?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For many commentators this highlights the need to respond in ways that better recognise and respond to the specific personal and cultural impacts of adversity and trauma. This includes First Nations young people, for whom personal, familial and community-based cultural trauma is seen as a key driver of over-representation (as a result of the enduring impacts of colonisation: the loss of spiritual, land-based and cultural wealth; kinship disconnection and fractured identity; grief and loss; racism; discrimination; and structural inequality, Blagg and Tulich, 2018).…”

Section: Co-producing Trauma-informed Youth Justice In Australia?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?

Day

Malvaso

Butcher

et al. 2023

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Purpose Recent years have seen significant policy and practice interest in how to best respond to the impact of childhood maltreatment and adversity on young people’s contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, this has resulted in increasing pressure to implement trauma-informed practice, although this is a term that has different meanings for different stakeholders, and little is known about the perspectives of justice-involved young people. This paper aims to review what is currently known about co-production in youth justice and discuss ways in which young people can be meaningfully involved in the development of trauma-informed practice frameworks. Design/methodology/approach A narrative approach is used to present a contextual overview of youth justice in Australia, introduce key concepts underpinning trauma-informed practice and consider the barriers and facilitators of co-production and participatory approaches to the development and implementation of trauma-informed practice. Findings Youth justice in Australia is widely viewed as in urgent need of reform, with broad interest in developing more trauma-informed practice in these systems. Co-production and participatory approaches are fundamental to the reform process and can help to ensure that the views and aspirations of the children for whom these systems are responsible are embedded in efforts to implement trauma-informed practice. Research limitations/implications This paper presents an argument for implementing trauma-informed practice in Australian youth justice that is based on consultation and collaboration with young people. It does not present evidence about the potential effectiveness of such an approach. Practical implications This paper has direct implications for youth justice practice, in terms of both service philosophy, design and delivery. Social implications The work discussed in this paper offers possibilities for new and different ways of responding to youth crime and maintaining community safety. Originality/value Whilst the need to re-imagine youth justice is widely recognised, there are few resources available to support efforts to co-produce trauma-informed practice. This paper synthesises what is known about these approaches and offers some suggestions and possible ways forward.

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Section: Co-producing Trauma-informed Youth Justice In Australia?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Co-producing Trauma-informed Youth Justice In Australia?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?

Day

Malvaso

Butcher

et al. 2023

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“…Alcohol use in pregnancy occurs in both Australian Aboriginal and non-Australian Aboriginal communities; however, certain communities especially those in rural/remote area have high alcohol consumptions (Fitzpatrick et al, 2015). In addition to this, there are complex, cultural, social, economic and behavioural reasons, which have led to Australian Aboriginals being over-represented in the youth justice system (Blagg et al, 2021;Blagg and Tulich, 2018;Bower et al, 2018;Hamilton, 2019;Hamilton et al, 2020c). Blagg et al (2021) highlight the need for a 'declonising' approach, the importance of diversion, community-based cultural programmes and cultural training of custodial officers to support vulnerable youth who are in contact with the mainstream justice system, especially youth with FASD (Blagg et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to this, there are complex, cultural, social, economic and behavioural reasons, which have led to Australian Aboriginals being over-represented in the youth justice system (Blagg et al, 2021;Blagg and Tulich, 2018;Bower et al, 2018;Hamilton, 2019;Hamilton et al, 2020c). Blagg et al (2021) highlight the need for a 'declonising' approach, the importance of diversion, community-based cultural programmes and cultural training of custodial officers to support vulnerable youth who are in contact with the mainstream justice system, especially youth with FASD (Blagg et al, 2021). Given the limited number of health professionals who can diagnose FASD, there is a need to upskill allied health staff, paediatricians, Aboriginal Health Care providers and general practitioners (GP) especially in rural and remote areas, which are areas of need (Reid et al, 2020b;Webster et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This will enable an educated decision, generate a mechanism of change and meet the needs of the given cohort the best (Petrenko and Alto, 2017). Furthermore, as discussed in Hamilton (2019) there appears to be a need for ongoing skills education for detention centre staff to manage those with FASD to provide consistent through-care (Blagg et al, 2021;Hamilton et al, 2019). A recent survey of custodial officers in the WA youth detention centres showed that they lacked the knowledge and training needed for caring both people with FASD and other neurodevelopmental impairments while in custody (Passmore et al, 2018a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Therapeutic Recommendations in the Youth Justice System Cohort Diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Russell¹,

Tan²,

Pestell³

et al. 2021

Youth Justice

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Patches Paediatrics is a specialised private multidisciplinary service in Western Australia (WA), offering a range of developmental diagnostic assessments such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Many FASD assessments occur in children and youth who are engaged with the justice system in WA and the Northern Territory (NT). There are currently no studies outlining the types of clinical recommendations and management strategies made or implemented by clinicians for this clinical population within Australia. This study outlines therapeutic recommendations made as part of the youth justice FASD diagnostic process within Patches Paediatrics to ultimately refine recommendations to inform therapeutic strategies. This was a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study of those aged 10 years to 17 years 11 months (N = 64) who were diagnosed with FASD within Patches Paediatrics; and referred from the youth justice system in WA and the NT between January 2017 and February 2019. Information on FASD recommendations was gathered by reviewing participants’ source documents, such as FASD diagnostic reports. ‘FASD recommendations’ categories were divided into subdomains: medical, mental health, developmental, lifestyle, future goals and others. In the various categories of recommendations, the most prominent were referral for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding (75%) followed by education support (67.2%), occupational therapy (56.3%), and drug and alcohol services (45.3%). Significant correlations between impaired neurocognitive domains and recommendations were also observed. Similarly, there were significant correlations between comorbidities and recommendations. Our study highlighted gaps in recommendations for those with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rural communities and access to NDIS, therapeutic rehabilitation programmes as well as community work programmes. Other gaps included making adequate recommendations for speech/language therapy, education support, life skills advice and staff/clinician education. This study was the first to describe therapeutic recommendations for the youth cohort assessed by Patches Paediatrics in WA and the NT. It also showed significant correlations between the neurocognitive/comorbidity profile and clinical recommendations. This highlights areas within the recommendations that can be individualised as well as ways to improve community integration. A discussion of limitations and suggestions for future research is also provided.

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Neuropsychological profiles of adolescents sentenced to detention in Western Australia with and without prenatal alcohol exposure

Kerry,

Tan,

Panton

et al. 2024

Criminal Behav Ment Health

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Background/AimsYouth with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) are under‐recognised in the justice system, warranting improved identification. This study aimed to compare neuropsychological profiles of adolescents, with and without PAE and identify neuropsychological tasks predictive of PAE‐group membership. It was hypothesised that participants with PAE would score significantly lower on neuropsychological tests.MethodsParticipants included 85 young people sentenced to detention (mean 15.7 years, 78 males), 46 with PAE. A one‐way‐multivariate analysis of variance tested differences in neuropsychological functioning between PAE/No‐PAE groups, while logistic regression determined tests predictive of PAE.ResultsNo statistically significant difference in test scores emerged between groups, and regression was not indicative of any models predictive of PAE‐group membership. Neuropsychological profiles were characterised by both strengths and weaknesses, with lower verbal and mathematical skills.Conclusion(s)While no statistically significant differences were found between the groups, the results provided a unique insight into the neurocognitive profile of Australian youth in detention. Routine screening assessments were recommended for young people sentenced to detention.

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Decolonising Justice for Aboriginal Youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?

Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?

Therapeutic Recommendations in the Youth Justice System Cohort Diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Neuropsychological profiles of adolescents sentenced to detention in Western Australia with and without prenatal alcohol exposure

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