‘If rich people gave more money to poor people’: Children’s perspectives on reducing offending and implications for social citizenship

Abstract

This paper reports the perspectives of children in contact with five youth offending teams (YOT) in the North of England. Through participatory research four children in custody designed research tools to guide adult researchers undertaking interviews with 46 children in YOT settings and analysed initial findings. Interviews focused on ‘what helps you stop offending’ identified worker engagement with children and their families to build relationships and access to social resources. This reverses standard perspectives and challenges workers to effectively engage. Their aspirations and experiences of rights and responsibilities are explored through a critical lens of lived and social citizenship.