Book Review: Acting as an Appropriate Adult: A Good Practice Guide
| Author | Denis Jones |
| DOI | 10.1177/147322540400400112 |
| Published date | 01 April 2004 |
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
salutary lessons about the importance of heeding research, particularly where
interventions have been shown to cause harm, and is a comprehensive resource for the
American evaluation literature, on which many of the ‘what works’principles are based.
The almost exclusive focus on US research and crime problems is also the book’s
main weakness. Youth gangs, for example, pose a far greater problem in America than
in the UK, and, despite the title, much of the book concentrates on serious, violent and
prolific offenders. This is reflected in the proposed ‘comprehensive strategy’, which
contains much which might be either inappropriate or irrelevant (for example tackling
street gangs) to the different nature of youth crime problems in Britain, whereas other
parts of the strategy have, for the past few years, been part of the youth justice system in
England and Wales (for example risk assessment and joined-up working). In conclusion,
the book would be useful to academics, policy makers and practitioners wishing to
know more about what does and does not work with (serious) youth crime, but not as a
potential source of solutions for youth crime problems in England and Wales.
Nacro, Acting as an Appropriate Adult: A Good Practice Guide, 2003, £5,
0-85069-198-2.
Reviewed by: Denis Jones, East Sussex Social Services Department.
There are already several good practice guides for those acting as Appropriate Adults
(AAs), written by Brian Littlechild for BASW, the National Association of Youth
Justice (NAYJ) guide, and a Children’s Legal Centre (CLC) guide. Therefore, a new
addition to the literature needs to be judged on what it offers that the others do not?
Whereas the NAYJ and CLC guides are short, the 76 pages of this Nacro guide go
into much more depth, while the Littlechild book is now getting out of date, and was
concerned with the AA role for adults as well as children and young people. This guide
is totally concerned with young people, and is much more up to date than the others,
incorporating the 2003 revisions to the PACE Codes of Practice. It is also the first
written specifically with Youth Offending Teams in mind.
The publication argues that the AA role is an important and complex one that
YOT’s should undertake thoroughly, and as such is a valuable counter to the trend that
has developed, since the Audit Commission considered that the AA role might be
passed over to volunteers.
The expected ground is well covered, with repeated cross referencing to the Codes
of Practice, and with some useful case examples and a monitoring form in the
Appendix. In all, an excellent publication and an indispensable aid to all those with
direct practice responsibilities, or more distant academic interests, in the role and
function of the Appropriate Adult.
John Pitts, The New Politics of Youth Crime: Discipline or Solidarity?, First
Published in hardback in 2001 by Palgrave. First edition published in paperback
with some revisions in 2003 by Russell House Publishing, Lyme Regis.
Reviewed by: Tony Goodman, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, Middlesex
University.
Youth Justice Vol. 4 No. 1 69
To continue reading
Request your trial