‘He Has Problems; He Is Not the Problem . . .’ A Qualitative Study of Non-Custodial Staff Providing Services for Young Offenders Assessed for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in an Australian Youth Detention Centre
| Date | 01 August 2019 |
| Published date | 01 August 2019 |
| Author | Rochelle Watkins,Sharynne L. Hamilton,Natalie R. Kippin,Hayley M. Passmore,Melissa O’Donnell,Raewyn C. Mutch,Carol Bower,Jacinta Freeman,Bernadette Safe,Tracy Reibel |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225419869839 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1473225419869839
Youth Justice
2019, Vol. 19(2) 137 –157
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225419869839
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‘He Has Problems; He Is Not the
Problem . . .’ A Qualitative Study
of Non-Custodial Staff Providing
Services for Young Offenders
Assessed for Foetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder in an Australian
Youth Detention Centre
Sharynne L. Hamilton , Tracy Reibel,
Rochelle Watkins, Raewyn C. Mutch,
Natalie R. Kippin, Jacinta Freeman ,
Hayley M. Passmore, Bernadette Safe,
Melissa O’Donnell and Carol Bower
Abstract
Little is known about the challenges non-custodial youth detention centre staff face supporting young
people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). We undertook qualitative inquiry to identify and
describe the perspectives of non-custodial staff detention staff regarding the value of an FASD prevalence
study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups and analysed using thematic
network analysis. Staff held few concerns about the prevalence study and its impact on participating young
people; however, they identified barriers related to study processes, and practices and culture within their
workplace, which hindered gaining maximum benefit from the research and its findings.
Keywords
assessments, detention centre, FASD, rehabilitation staff, youth justice
Introduction
The United Nations (1985) Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice, Rule 26.1 espouses that ‘the objective of training and treatment of juveniles placed
in institutions is to provide care, protection, education and vocational skills, with a view
Corresponding author:
Sharynne L. Hamilton, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA
6872, Australia.
Email: Sharynne.Hamilton@telethonkids.org.au
869839YJJ0010.1177/1473225419869839Youth JusticeHamilton et al.
research-article2019
Original Article
138 Youth Justice 19(2)
to assisting them to assume socially constructive and productive roles in society’ (p. 14),
highlighting the importance of the roles a youth detention centre workforce undertake.
Staff are central to nurturing incarcerated young people to move from involvement in
criminal activity towards more life-affirming opportunities and goals.
On any given night around Australia, 980 children and young people are in youth deten-
tion facilities (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). Aboriginal young people
are significantly overrepresented in these facilities, comprising 54 percent of incarcerated
young people nationally, despite only being 3 percent of the population (Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare, 2018). This article describes a qualitative study undertaken with
non-custodial staff as part of a larger study (described in section ‘Methods’) establishing
the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in a youth detention centre. At
the time of the study, the detention centre housed approximately 155 male and female
young people aged 10–18 (Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS), 2015). Of
these young people, 95 per cent were male and more than half were aged between 16 and
17 years, and 75 per cent were Aboriginal young people. Just over half of the young people
(57%) lived in urban areas and 43 per cent were from regional and remote regions (OICS,
2015). While in detention, young people are provided with opportunities to attend school,
vocational training and other personal development and sporting activities (Department of
Justice, 2017). Staff at the detention centre use the Offender Management System (OMS),
an electronic database containing demographic, programme and assessment information
about the young people, to access and share information. These staff perform a vital role in
the care and rehabilitation of young people in detention.
Previous literature
Young people involved with justice systems are often living with numerous conditions
that can affect their social and emotional well-being (Dias et al., 2013). Research has
found, for example, that Australian Aboriginal young people have higher levels of neuro-
cognitive disability (Baldry et al., 2012; Dias et al., 2013) and intellectual disability (Indig
et al., 2011) compared with non-Aboriginal young people involved with the justice sys-
tem. Research has also found that many young people have not had diagnosable condi-
tions previously identified. High numbers of young people involved in justice systems,
for example, were found to have undiagnosed neurodevelopmental and mental health
disorders (Bower et al., 2018; Dias et al., 2013; Garland et al., 2001; Teplin et al., 2002;
Wasserman et al., 2002, 2003). Previously unidentified health problems (Dias et al., 2013;
Kumwenda et al., 2017), cognitive and intellectual disabilities (Dias et al., 2013; Leonard,
2016; Sotiri and Simpson, 2006) and language disorders (Anderson et al., 2016; Kippin
et al., 2018) have also been found among young people in contact with youth justice.
There is also a small but growing body of evidence identifying high prevalence of FASD
in Australian justice populations (Bower et al., 2018; Flannigan et al., 2018).
The availability of data about the potential prevalence of FASD among both Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal children and young people in Australia is limited, and the rate of
young people living with FASD who come before the courts is unknown. However, due
to the high number of Aboriginal young people who end up in prison, FASD has been
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