The public can be better protected from dangerous and violent
young offenders if adults working with them are trained to
understand the often extreme trauma in their childhoods,
according to Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation.
Youth justice workers will also be more effective if they ‘catch
up’ with fast-changing social media communications which feature
in an increasing proportion of offences. Professionals across the
country need a clear understanding of their powers to monitor
social media use to prevent crimes, which are often now planned
in bedrooms rather than on street corners.
Publishing a report - The Work of Youth Offending Teams
to Protect the Public - Dame Glenys said helping these
damaged young people was very difficult but inspectors had found
that YOTs were “protecting the public well, and also doing good
work to change young people’s lives for the better. However,” she
added, “with some changes and help, they could do better still.”
The changes involve ensuring that ‘trauma-informed’ youth
offending work and sharper understanding of the social media
dimension of offending – both only seen in a small number of YOTs
– become national practice.
Mental health experts told inspectors that many young people
under YOT supervision had experienced post-traumatic stress. Dame
Glenys said: “Most young people who commit serious crimes have
had disturbing and traumatic experiences themselves, during
childhood, and a good number are now in the care of their local
authority. These young people are more likely to get into
difficulties, and offend, and once in trouble they are less
likely than others to trust adults or to respond any help on
offer, unless it takes account of their experiences.”
The report contains summaries by youth justice workers of the
often disturbing stories they heard. These included separation
and estrangement from parents; the death of a parent or main
carer; sexual abuse; severe physical chastisement; and serial
domestic abuse and parental substance misuse. One third of young
people in the 115 cases examined had grown up in a household with
a formal record of domestic abuse.
Dame Glenys added: “We found YOT staff working sensitively and
intuitively with them, but with insufficient formal planning, or
good, up-to-date and well-ordered guidance and support materials.
Given the prevalence of trauma for these young people, there is a
strong case for all YOTs to adopt what is known as
trauma-informed practice.”
Social media was found to be the catalyst for some of the most
serious and violent offences and was leading young people to
commit types of crime in ways that were “inconceivable just a few
years ago.” One youth worker told inspectors: “Our young people
used to hang around on street corners and parks before committing
offences. Now they sit alone in their bedrooms and get into
arguments or plan offences on their phones, tablets or
computers.”
Dame Glenys said: “This is new behaviour. Many of these young
people shun Facebook and other common applications, in favour of
lesser known and, therefore, more private media. We found offence
scenarios inconceivable just a few years ago, with social media
used to both incite and plan crime.” Cases included:
- Arguments and personal abuse starting on social media leading
to physical assaults in the street or on public transport.
- Young people being blackmailed online, using indecent images
that they had previously been pressured to upload.
- Gangs posting video material to appeal for members, to stake
their territory and to issue challenges to other gangs.
YOTs need help to catch up with social media-related crime, Dame
Glenys said. While there were pockets of good work, “there
is not enough relevant and up-to-the minute advice and
information available nationally to help them work with those
whose offending is directly linked and fuelled by social media.
There is also a strong case for monitoring the social media
output of young people who pose a risk to others.”
Inspectors found youth offenders teams in London, where gang
crime was more prevalent, were “more in tune” with the social
media element of offending. The report contains a glossary of
social media ‘codes’ compiled by a police officer in the YOT in
Waltham Forest, north London.
- ENDS
–
Notes to editors
1. The report is
available at www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on
26 October 2017.
2. 152 Youth Offending
Teams supervise young offenders aged from 10 to 18
in England and Wales.
3. The HMI Probation
report follows an inspection in May and June 2017 of
the cases of 115 young people who had committed violent,
sexual and other serious offences.Inspectors visited YOTs in
Cheshire West, Halton & Warrington; Croydon; Hertfordshire;
North Tyneside; Nottinghamshire; and Waltham Forest.
