Position Paper 2023

Transdisciplinary Research for Youth Justice – Position Paper 2023 12 3. Taking a transdisciplinary approach Transdisciplinary research, whilst not a new field is recently gathering more momentum as we look to gain from the knowledge of multiple disciplines not just to gain different perspective but to draw on them all to reach new solutions to existing problems (Renn, 2021). As a research process, transdisciplinary research is different from other forms of contact between bodies of knowledge. In essence it transcends the individual disciplines to enable new insights, unconstrained by those that might be imposed within and by disciplinary frameworks. The potential benefits to the approach are considerable, with increased collaborations between disciplines leading to an advancement in our understanding of the interplay between cognitive, social and emotional factors in complex areas (Boix Mansilla, 2010). Multidisciplinarity for instance, looks at a problem from two or more perspectives, to form separate academic narratives and will not necessarily aim for a synthesis. Interdisciplinarity takes this a step further where two or more academic disciplines work to create a synthesised outcome by finding commonalities between them and producing results that can be analysed through a variety of different lenses. The output should meet the research criteria of all disciplines involved and add value to each separate field. Transdisciplinarity adds a third core element to the process, by introducing non-academic knowledge to the discussion. This can come in the form of policy makers, practitioners or any others who can be seen as relevant stakeholders in the finished research output. Transdisciplinary research aims for regular synthesis between the disciplines and ultimately transcends individual disciplines to offer new insights into existing problems that may not have been available without the transdisciplinary process. This can be an effective way to tackle complex, multi- agency issues such as those outlined in this paper (Menken and Keestra, 2016).