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Transcript

What we were asked to do...

  • Asked to explore speech, language and communication between young offenders and professional authority figures
  • Produce a report, leaflet, tool and presentation based on our findings

1 leaflet becomes 2...

  • We decided to create two leaflets based on two age groups (10-15 yrs and 15-17 yrs)
  • 10-15 leaflet could also be useful for 15-17 year old youths depending on their academic ability

Colour Scheme & Features

University of York @Work

June 2014

  • 10-15 leaflet designed to be more visual with literacy skills and engagement in mind
  • Use of abbreviations - explained
  • Simplistic language used, more so in the 10-15 leaflet
  • Eye-catching colour scheme as opposed to black and white

Our Leaflet

  • We were given a leaflet by YOT
  • We were asked to expand upon and develop it to the best of our ability to appeal to young people
  • This is what we came up with...

Why our leaflets may be more effective...

What were our aims for this project?

  • Layout is easy and accessible
  • Consistency is key
  • All relevant information provided
  • Small 'chunked' paragraphs rather than block text
  • Coherent and engaging
  • Tried to relate leaflets to the young people
  • Show an unbiased approach to identifying successful and unsuccessful interventions
  • Explore speech, language and communication skills, citing differences in communication between adults and adults to children

Our Comic Strip

What we observed...

Interventions Observations & Recommendations

  • Decided to come up with a way of using less text to show what happens within a youth court process
  • Comic strip works as a visual aid
  • Use of bright colours for eye catching effectiveness
  • It is designed largely for first time offenders as re-offenders will already know the process

Panel Meetings II - The Good

  • Intervention meetings
  • Panel meetings
  • Out of court disposals (OOCD) meetings
  • ISS meetings
  • We also had talks with Gaynor and Claire

Panel Recommendations I

  • Open questions were frequently used
  • Young person found to be engaged at points
  • Young person reported enjoying sessions provided by the YOT team PSI been working with young person also

What we observed in our two teams...

What we learnt II...

  • Panel meetings varied in terms of formality - one extremely formal, the other being largely informal - we found formal panel to be too hostile and structured
  • Complex terms - some went unexplained despite youths saying they didn't understand
  • We felt the need for the young person to be spoken to more openly
  • Greater informal language required - Jargon such as 'U3 habitation order' - youths won't know what that means
  • Courts team

Panel Meetings I - The Good

  • Interventions team

Interventions Meetings I - The Good

  • Success all depends on the young person and their willingness to comply
  • Patience is a virtue!
  • Some people have seriously tough, harrowing lives which makes you put an awful lot into perspective
  • Firm procedure - youths knew why they were there and what was happening effectively from the outset
  • Wide range of questions asked on various aspects of the youth's life including employment, ambitions, home life and education - gaining a wider picture

Panel Recommendations III

  • YOT worker good at getting young person to put himself in the victim's shoes
  • Great patience from YOT workers
  • Generally, YOT workers provided a relaxed, informal setting for offending youths - but firm!
  • Altered tone and language to suit youths by YOT workers

What we learnt I...

  • More time needed for each panel meeting - real inconsistency - some were 20 minutes, others less than 5 - felt rushed
  • Youths not listened to?
  • Some panels were structured, others were almost chaotic - lots of contradicting and interrupting
  • All cases are completely different and require different skills
  • All YOT workers work in different ways/take different approaches
  • The YOT team communicate well with young people
  • Communicating with the police seems to be something of a struggle

Interventions Recommendations

Panel

Recommendations II

  • Intervention meetings sometimes too relaxed perhaps? Lack of consistency
  • Some YOT workers encouraged open questions - others very limited to closed ones
  • Posture criteria needed? (No folded arms)

Court Observations and Recommendations

  • Awkward silences - keep the flow!
  • We found contrasting YOT worker engagement in panels - some did the talking instead of panel members, others were the opposite (set criteria needed?)
  • Panel meetings often very unequal between the two panel members - one did all the talking, other one said little

Interventions Meetings II - The Good

Interventions Meetings III - The Good

  • YOT provided variety of resources - catered to varying learning styles
  • Abbreviations, acronyms, difficult terms all explained well
  • Open answers very encouraged from youths generally
  • Youths encouraged to be active in their participation within meetings - engagement
  • The use of phrases like "We can do it together" helped create a clear sense of unity - the youth being guided as opposed to enforced
  • Clear plans put into place - meetings scheduled, reparation etc
  • Intervention sessions focused on all aspects of the youth's life such as employment, education bullying issues and so on, not just the crime they had committed

Magistrates

How our experiences can benefit @Work in the future...

  • Must comply with sentencing guideline
  • Aim to issue as few custodial sentences as possible - custodial sentences often used as "a last resort"

Adult Courts

This is shown by:

  • Keep group as a whole and let both sub-groups experience courtroom procedures and interventions sessions
  • Provide more time or opportunities to be able to get more information and to be able to fully understand what goes on with young offenders regarding SLC
  • A more organised timetable - although this may not be possible, having it earlier would help scheduling issues that arose
  • Clear instructions
  • More time to discuss and ask questions
  • 43,601 Youth Offenders sentenced in the UK (2012/13) and only 2780 received custodial sentences
  • Only 13 out of 374 in York received custodial sentences (2012/2013)

Youth Courts II

  • Court setting and environment
  • Formal proceedings - less connected
  • Lesser differentiation of language
  • Defence is often more "procedural" than "parental"
  • Less emphasis on cause and effect (fewer elements of 'parenting')
  • Administrative terminology
  • Differentiation of language - professional terms are often translated and adapted to ensure the young person can understand; magistrates ask the young person for confirmation of understanding

Youth Courts I

Breaches

What we have learnt II...

Thank you very much to you all for your very friendly welcome and for having us!

This has been an experience none of us will forget!

  • Room size - smaller than adult court
  • Room layout - no hierarchical formatting of furniture resulting in a less intimidating environment
  • Parental involvement
  • Avoid custodial sentences - large focus on reformation

Tool Suggestions

  • Court reliant on YOT for reports of young person's attendance, attitude and progress
  • No major difference in approach between first-time offender and young person charged with breaching their reparation terms
  • Focus on prevention of reoffending

Court Recommendations II

  • Effective practice comes from the full commitment of different agencies - it's not a job that a single agency can do
  • An eye opener, insight to really harrowing stories
  • Recognised the importance of Education - highlighted by YOTs work directly with schools

Court Recommendations I

  • Outdoor workshops - more natural environment based tasks
  • Areas to develop interests i.e. farming, gardening?
  • Role play? (Action therapy)
  • Pictionary for youths whereby they draw their idea of a criminal, a good friend, a good role model, a bad friend etc. and identify reasons
  • Graffiti walls?

Youth Courts III

  • Openly communicating with young person in court to encourage them to speak
  • One-to-one meetings with parents to ensure the parent is engaged and understands the consequences of their son/daughter's actions and how they can help ensure that it doesn't happen again
  • Acronyms, terminology, misleading phrases and metaphors to be avoided
  • Discussion between YOT and young person to give the young person a chance to think about what they're going to say in court before they enter the court room, so they're comfortable answering questions and consequently more engaged in the court process
  • Lack of input from young person, often give short yes or no answers
  • Influential involvement of YOT in the court process
  • Consideration of age - differences of approach used by magistrates between different age groups

What we have learnt I...

  • Working with Youth Offenders requires a very holistic approach because there are lots of factors (school, family, friends) that influence their behaviour
  • Encouraged by the clear differences between adult and youth court
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