Publications

“Relationship-based work with children in the youth justice system”, with Kirstine Szifris in Wigzell, A., Paterson-Young, C., & Bateman, T. (Eds.). (2024). Desistance and Children. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

This chapter explores relationship-based work with young people in contact with the criminal justice system. After offering a discussion on the meaning of desistance and its application in youth justice, the authors focus on the relationship between the adult professional and the child, considering the opportunities and barriers for creating a trusting relationship in a position of power that is framed by statutory responsibilities. In particular, the chapter discusses the balance needed between the expectations of risk-management with its accompanying paperwork and the long-term relationship-based Child First approach now available in youth justice practice.

“How do ACEs and Contextual Safeguarding fit together? Using the Tightrope to explain”, LinkedIn blog Jan 2019

This post was in response to a colleague’s question asking how these popular frameworks and discourse might work together. The analogy of the Tightrope can apply to both. While this blog doesn’t mention the toolkit, the cards within the toolkit do include “factors” that range from the individual to the family, peer group, school, community and political contexts.

“Balancing positive engagement and transparent risk analysis with volatile youth: Introducing the Tightrope Tool”, Howard League What is Justice? Working Papers 18/2015

This paper presents a tool that encourages the engagement of the young person in the analysis of their risks, strengths and needs and in the planning of actions based on a balanced and transparent holistic assessment. It will introduce the analogy of the Tightrope, outline how it fits with current assessment frameworks to support an integrated approach and considers the role of the practitioner to apply a person-centred, strength-based approach with the tool. This paper will outline why an integrated and interactive holistic tool for volatile youth would be of benefit to both young people and professionals from various disciplines and concludes with an invitation to experienced practitioners to trial the tool in wider practice.

“Why Don’t We Listen? Parents of high-level offenders asked for help before their child’s first offence”, Backstop Support Ltd blog, June 2014

This paper also drew on some of the wider thesis (Vlugter, 2009) and provides data that indicates that a large majority of parents of ‘high end’offenders had called for help before their child’s first recorded offence. The help was often sought from statutory services but with negative results. This paper considers how professionals can support families earlier and more effectively.

“Parenting Orders: The Parents Attend Yet the Kids Still Offend”, Youth Justice 2012 12: 118, August 2012

This article draws from a wider thesis completed at Bedfordshire University (Vlugter, 2009 ‘Too Little, Too Late: Parenting Orders as a form of crime prevention’). It presents results from an empirical case study that involved 148 cases and examines the circumstances of parents attending programmes, their attendance and the young people’s recorded offending before and after the intervention, considering the type of intervention and number of sessions attended.

“Too Little Too Late - Parenting Orders as a form of crime prevention”, Vlugter, R 2009 - thesis with University of Bedfordshire

The development of Youth Justice in the UK since the early 1990s has been informed by the belief that the family plays a key role in youth offending. In 1998 the parenting order was introduced, based on the assumption that interventions to improve parenting will have a positive effect upon offending. The availability of the order was extended in 2005, reflecting the view that parents who do not undertake parenting support are being wilfully negligent of their responsibilities and must be made to take the help offered. In this thesis the assumptions justifying the parenting order and its extensions are questioned. Evidence suggests that although parenting is influential, it is one of many factors associated with the onset of or desistence from offending. Furthermore, as this thesis highlights, parents likely to receive parenting orders are often experiencing several personal and environmental ‘stressors’, creating high levels of need. These situational pressures and high level of need, this thesis argues, are likely to make it difficult for them to be effective in their role, or to gain long term benefit from attending a parenting programme. Furthermore, many parents have histories of unsuccessfully seeking assistance from ‘helping agencies’, refuting the assumption of wilful neglect. This thesis considers the advantages and limitations of parenting work as a form of crime prevention and specifically looks at the use of the parenting order. An argument is presented for a wider, more holistic approach to parenting work than that offered by the parenting order as a form of crime prevention and for providing assistance to families earlier.

“Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.” Edith Warton