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Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?

Andrew Day (School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia)
Catia Malvaso (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, School of Psychology and the School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia)
Luke Butcher (Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia)
Joanne O'Connor (Youth Justice Assessment and Intervention Services, Department of Human Services, Adelaide, Australia)
Katherine McLachlan (Flinders Criminology, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia)

Safer Communities

ISSN: 1757-8043

Article publication date: 19 January 2023

Issue publication date: 27 March 2023

1587

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Dr Catia Malvaso is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE200100679). This research was also supported by funding from the South Australian Department of Human Services, Communities and Justice, Research and Service Development Partnership Grant.

The content of this paper does not necessarily reflect the view of funders or government partners.

Citation

Day, A., Malvaso, C., Butcher, L., O'Connor, J. and McLachlan, K. (2023), "Co-producing trauma-informed youth justice in Australia?", Safer Communities, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 106-120. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-08-2022-0030

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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