Where has all the youth crime gone? youth justice in an age of austerity

Youth justice under the Coalition government in England and Wales has been characterised by considerable gains — falling youth crime, increased diversion and substantial reductions in child imprisonment — that would generally be associated with a progressive agenda. Focusing on youth justice policy in England and Wales, this article suggests that the tensions implicit in a government of the new right delivering outcomes that demonstrate an increased tolerance to children who offend can be explained by the logic of austerity. That same logic brings with it other policy measures that are potentially less compatible with children's well-being

Only available to a selected few? Is it feasible to rely on a volunteer workforce for complex intervention delivery?

yesThis paper recounts the process of undertaking a randomised controlled trial which was designed to examine the effectiveness of an intervention for socially isolated older people aged 75 years and over. It describes the reasons for early cessation of the study and raises the implications of this outcome for policy, practice and research. The intervention under investigation was designed to alleviate loneliness and foster companionship. It involves participants being linked with a small group of others through a teleconferencing system with each group being facilitated by trained volunteers. There was a requirement to recruit and train a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 60 volunteers over 1 year to facilitate 20 friendship groups to meet the number of older people required to be recruited to the study. Problems with recruiting and retaining the volunteer workforce by the voluntary sector organisation, who were commissioned to do so, led to the study closing even though older people were recruited in sufficient numbers. The paper draws upon analysis of various data sources from the study to identify the potential reasons. The discussion raises considerations regarding the extent of infrastructure required to deliver community services to vulnerable user groups at scale, identifies some of the issues that need to be addressed if such volunteer-initiated services are to be successful and informs future research programmes in this area.Public Health Research programme (PHR 09/3004/01). Commissioned by NIHR

Neuroscience and family policy:what becomes of the parent?

This article discusses the findings of a study tracing the incorporation of claims about infant brain development into English family policy as part of the longer term development of a ‘parent training’, early intervention agenda. The main focus is on the ways in which the deployment of neuroscientific discourse in family policy creates the basis for a new governmental oversight of parents. We argue that advocacy of ‘early intervention’, in particular that which deploys the authority of ‘the neuroscience’, places parents at the centre of the policy stage but simultaneously demotes and marginalises them. So we ask, what becomes of the parent when politically and culturally, the child is spoken of as infinitely and permanently neurologically vulnerable to parental influence? In particular, the policy focus on parental emotions and their impact on infant brain development indicates that this represents a biologisation of ‘therapeutic’ governance

Applying a healthcare model to Huntington's disease: the key worker approach

This paper follows on from an overview of the literature and current policy for Huntington’s disease (HD) published by the BJNN (Wilson et al. 2014). The previous paper highlighted a paucity of knowledge in terms of best practice available for those commissioning services to draw upon when planning care of those with HD. This discussion paper draws on this literature base and findings from a recent longitudinal research study from Wilson’s (2013) unpublished PhD thesis (available online at http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/3487/) to suggest a model of care, which may provide some guidance

Employment of ex-prisoners with mental health problems, a realistic evaluation protocol

Background Offenders with a mental illness are routinely excluded from vocational services due to their mental health. Employment has shown to be very important in improving mental health, reducing recidivism, and connecting people to society. This study examines the effectiveness of an established intervention which is relatively untested in this population, Individual Placement and Support (IPS), to help offenders with mental health problems into competitive employment. The overall research question is whether IPS is effective in gaining and sustaining competitive employment for offenders with a Severe Mental Illness (SMI). The context is an English criminal justice setting across different populations. The study will also measure non-vocational outcomes such as recidivism, mental health and social stability. Methods/Design A Realistic Evaluation (RE) design will address the questions “What works, for whom, and in what circumstances?” This study includes pre and post comparisons for a cohort of approximately 20 people taking part in IPS, and a similar number of controls, over a one year period. The RE also consists of interviews with practitioners and offenders in order to understand how IPS works and develops within the criminal justice system (CJS). By applying this framework the research can go from discovering whether IPS works, to how and why (or why not) IPS works. This is achieved by examining where the intervention is occurring (Context (C)), the mechanisms (M) that create particular behaviours, and how the outcomes (O) from the intervention all come together (CMOs). Employment outcomes will also be examined for all participants. Discussion By applying RE the research will permit inferences to be drawn about how and why (or why not) IPS works, by examining context, mechanisms and outcomes. IPS has never been implemented within the CJS in the United Kingdom. As a result, this evaluative research will not only provide a novel insight into the core research areas, but also how the intervention can be improved for others in the future

The Big Society and the Conjunction of Crises: Justifying Welfare Reform and Undermining Social Housing

The idea of the “Big Society” can be seen as culmination of a long-standing debate about the regulation of welfare. Situating the concept within governance theory, the article considers how the UK coalition government has justified a radical restructuring of welfare provision, and considers its implications for housing provision. Although drawing on earlier modernization processes, the article contends that the genesis for welfare reform was based on an analysis that the government was forced to respond to a unique conjunction of crises: in morality, the state, ideology and economics. The government has therefore embarked upon a programme, which has served to undermine the legitimacy of the social housing sector (most notably in England), with detrimental consequences for residents and raising significant dilemmas for those working in the housing sector

The police, sex work, and Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009

This article considers the origins and aims of Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 and the offence of paying for the sexual services of a prostitute who has been subject to exploitative conduct; this offence is one of ‘strict liability’. Section 14 was implemented on 1 April 2010 and using the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the authors have attempted to show the number of times Section 14 has been used by the police in England and Wales since the Act became law; how the Act has been used and the outcome of the use of this section

Are interventions supporting separated parents father inclusive? Insights and challenges from a review of programme implementation and impact

This paper reviews divorce-related parenting programmes, assessing the extent to which fathers are included and whether father inclusion influences outcomes. The paper also discusses limitations of the research evidence and implications for future intervention and evaluation design. Thirteen programmes met the criteria in the review period 2005–2012 but only four had been evaluated using randomized control trials or with independent measures from mothers and fathers. Analysis of these four programmes shows modest evidence of reduced couple-conflict, improved coparenting and some evidence of improved child outcomes. Key issues raised are the need for improving the quantity and quality of demographic data about fathers; the importance of incorporating analysis by gender of parent into evaluation design and the value of developing and routinely using father-related indicators to measure programme impact on men’s parenting, fathering and co-parental relationships