During my postgraduate research on young people and the criminal justice system, I developed a particularly close bond with one young man who, these days, would be described as a prolific and persistent offender. He had already served time in approved school, detention centre and borstal. It occurred to me that we could potentially be a winning team on a project to reduce young offending and to support young people on the wrong side of the tracks.
Our very different backgrounds and experience made us a watertight combination. He was convinced that his street credibility and my professional knowledge had some chance of turning young lives around. I applied for modest resources for a three-year experimental project, but no prospective funder saw any merit in his role in the plan. Yet without him, I had little chance at all. Eventually, I gave up and his criminality persisted – to this day.
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