Position Paper 2023

Transdisciplinary Research for Youth Justice – Position Paper 2023 22 Neurodisability (including TBI) is highly prevalent among ‘crossover children ’in contact with both child welfare and child justice - an Australian study of 300 crossover children found 48% had a neurodisability (Baidawi & Piquero, 2021). This is also likely to be an underrepresentation as data from case files was used to assess presence of neurodisability, so only those who had received a formal diagnosis were captured. This is a group of children therefore with multiplicative developmental risk factors - high levels of neurodisability combined with disrupted home environments (and frequently backgrounds of abuse or neglect) lead to worse psychosocial outcomes including depression, school dropout, and arrest. Combined with sporadic education and school exclusion, the risk is multiplied further (Atkinson et al., 2015; Kenny et al., 2006). Research centering these experiences as systemic failings, rather than individual issues, is key for the future. 4.4 From a criminology perspective Charlie has explained a variety of system contacts largely appearing to be ineffective (in terms of addressing needs or developing desistance), punitive, based on process rather than relationship. The current youth justice system in England and Wales is moving towards ‘Child First ’justice, which coalesces around the four tenets of: seeing children as children, developing pro-social identity, collaboration (working with rather that to ), and the promotion of diversion (Case and Browning, 2021). Unfortunately, Charlie’s system experiences do not seem to fit with this, which needs all agencies to collaborate in the child’s best interests, building strong relationships and fully involving him in all processes so he can ‘own ’ensuing plans. Charlie is currently placed in a Secure Unit, where practices may be more adult-led and concerned with harm reduction. Without a Child First culture/ethos, Charlie may see little opportunity to exercise agency and influence responses to him. Crucially, a flexible, a non- hierarchical approach is required, involving Charlie in the decision-making (Duke, et al., 2022). An imbalance of power is likely, preventing Charlie from challenging judgments regarding his attitude and behaviour, resulting in the professional being seen as the ‘expert’, with Charlie’s ideas/perspectives not valued equally (Burns, 2019; Deakin, et al., 2020; Smithson, et al., 2020). Charlie has clearly experienced many traumas through his life, often at the hands of those who should have been protective, leading to a range of self-protective ( yet self-destructive) behaviours – for example, truancy after school exclusion and alternative provision registration (leading to further contact with justice-involved peers), running away when feeling threatened which has led ‘sofa surfing ’(effectively homeless), carrying a knife to