Behaviour management approach ‘increases criminalisation of children in care’
Fiona Simpson
Friday, March 17, 2023
Local authorities should move away from a “one size fits all” approach to tackling behavioural issues involving children in care, which can include calling police into residential settings, research recommends.
A paper, led by Manchester Metropolitan University and published in the journal Youth Justice, seeks to find alternative solutions to “the unnecessary criminalisation of some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society”, according to its authors.
-
What have police and crime commissioners done for young people?
-
Factors behind the sharp growth in deprivation of liberty orders
Analysis of 36 local protocols which were created in response to the government’s non-statutory 2018 National Protocol on Reducing Unnecessary Criminalisation of Looked-after Children and Care Leavers, reveals concerns over an excessive use of police involvement with children in care and an approach to record keeping that often “fails to contextualise” a child’s care background.
It finds that children in residential care are disproportionately likely to receive a criminal caution or conviction.
The report also warns that over-reliance on police in children’s care settings may “normalise” involvement with the legal system for some children.
The analysis by a team from Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University, Liverpool John Moores University and University of Bristol, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, also highlights “significant differences between the scope and content of individual protocols”, and a lack of consideration of the gender and ethnicity of children.
Just one in six local protocols analysed in the study make specific reference to gender and one in nine make reference to ethnicity, both factors that affect the risk of criminalisation of young people, according to the report.
Researchers are calling on the government to make it a statutory duty on local authorities to prevent unnecessary criminalisation in care.
Lead author Dr Katie Hunter said: “To make a difference, local authorities must develop protocols that recognise the distinct needs of specific groups of children in care and care leavers and move beyond a reliance on ‘one size fits all’.
“At best this contradicts the spirit of reducing criminalisation and at worst, could result in more children being criminalised in the long term."
