Other generic models and principles

Background

Other models and principles, while not confined to children, have clear applications and have proved influential. Common important features across these models/principles are individuality, building upon strengths, and ensuring that the child has a voice.

Summary of the evidence

The Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model

The RNR model now includes 15 principles, grouped into: (i) overarching principles; (ii) core RNR principles and key clinical issues; and (iii) organisational principles. The risk principle is about matching service intensity to the likelihood of offending, with minimal or even no intervention being sufficient when the likelihood is low; the need principle states that relevant criminogenic needs should be the focus of targeted interventions, with the goal of moving these needs in the direction of becoming strengths; while the responsivity principle specifies that interventions should be tailored, among other things, to the child’s strengths, motivations, preferences, personality, age, gender, ethnicity and cultural identifications.  There is overlap with the relationship-based practice framework through the organisational staffing principle which characterises quality relationships as respectful, caring, enthusiastic and collaborative.

Find out more about the RNR model

Desistance research

Desistance research has developed over recent decades, highlighting the importance of individuality – since the process of moving away from offending behaviour is different for each child – and the need to focus upon working with children, the development of relationships, and building upon their strengths and protective factors. Desistance theories draw attention to the significance of social and situational contexts. Protective factors have been identified at the individual, family, community and society levels, recognising the importance of considering the child in the context of their lives and the society they live in. The term ‘assisted desistance’ has been used to describe the role that youth justice teams (YJTs) and other agencies can play, recognising that while children can be supported to desist from crime,  there are too many factors at play for an agency to ‘cause’ desistance.

In a 2017 study, shifts towards offending-free lifestyles were sometimes described by children in terms of maturation, while others focused on the power of specific relationships – with a partner or child for example – and the way in which they acted as a catalyst for sets of changes to be made or embraced. Feedback from participants also underlined how pivotal individual workers could be in these changes. In another study, the desisters in the sample were all involved in some form of education, training and employment (a ‘hook for change’) and had at the same time started to repair family relationships. They were confident about their chances of desistance and about the other non-offending aspects of their lives (for example, family, job and new friends). The desisting young people also discussed the importance of shedding the identity of ‘offender’ in the process of desistance and in developing new, prosocial and ‘normal’ identities.

Interventions that focus on positive opportunities and outcomes are consistent with the best knowledge about promoting desistance from offending. The strongest prosocial forces in a child’s life include supportive, trusting, and caring relationships with adults and peers; engagement and competence in academic, vocational, and recreational activities; self-worth, including confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of personal value; socio-emotional skills, such as decision-making, conflict resolution, stress management, and compassion; and a sense of empowerment through helping behaviours, leadership skills, and community engagement.

Find out more about desistance general practice principles

Trauma-informed practice

Justice-involved children have higher levels of adversity and trauma compared to children in the general population, and there has been an increased emphasis on trauma-informed responses and practice. Such practice is rooted in desistance and strengths-based models, with the child at the centre of the process, allowing their voice to be heard and enabling them to move forward at a sustainable pace. As set out in the figure below, five key principles underpin trauma-informed services and trauma-specific interventions.

For example, in Wales there has been an increase in adverse childhood experience (ACE) and trauma-informed awareness and practice, exemplified through Enhanced Case Management (ECM). An evaluation of ECM found a number of benefits to the approach, including a more comprehensive understanding of the child, effective collaboration across agencies, the delivery of meaningful and developmentally-appropriate interventions and the provision of services that can be hard to secure for some children. Children developed positive relationships with their YOT worker and professionals from other agencies, more confidence to reach out to services using their own volition, improved emotional-regulation, greater self-worth and a positive future orientation.

Procedural justice

Aligning to the four key principles of procedural justice – voice, neutrality, respect and trust – children themselves have reported that they value being listened to and given a chance to ‘tell their story’, with practitioners taking the time to recognise them as individuals, understanding their specific needs and expectations.

Find out more about procedural justice

The importance of ‘voice’ is similarly reflected in the Lundy model of child participation, developed by academic Laura Lundy and providing a way of conceptualising a child’s right to participation, as laid down in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The four elements of the model have a rational chronological order: space, voice, audience, influence.

Last updated: 10 March 2023