‘It was like more easier’: Rangatahi (Young People) and Their whānau (Family) Talk About Communication Assistance in the New Zealand Youth Justice System
| Author | Clare McCann,Margaret Dudley,Kelly Howard |
| Published date | 01 August 2021 |
| Date | 01 August 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225420923763 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1473225420923763
Youth Justice
2021, Vol. 21(2) 210 –229
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225420923763
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‘It was like more easier’: Rangatahi
(Young People) and Their whānau
(Family) Talk About Communication
Assistance in the New Zealand
Youth Justice System
Kelly Howard , Clare McCann
and Margaret Dudley
Abstract
This qualitative study gives voice to rangatahi (young people) and their whānau (families) (n = 10) who
have experienced communication assistance in the New Zealand youth justice system. Communication
assistance is a form of specialist support for witnesses and defendants who have been identified as having
communication difficulties; and is modelled on the role of the intermediary in England and Wales. The
findings overall suggest that communication assistance has a valuable and ongoing role to play in the NZ
youth justice system, and may be one means of addressing the rights and needs of those with communication
difficulties who offend.
Keywords
children’s rights, communication assistance, defendant, Evidence Act, family group conference,
intermediaries, Talking Mat, vulnerable, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
youth justice
Introduction
There is now a large and growing body of academic literature highlighting the over-
representation of communication difficulties in young people who offend (see Anderson
et al., 2016 for a review). An oft-quoted statistic is that at least 60 per cent of young people
who offend have communication difficulties compared to 5 per cent–7 per cent of the
general population (Bryan et al., 2015; Hughes et al., 2012; Law et al., 2000; Lount et al.,
2017). This is a significant problem currently facing youth justice systems around the
Corresponding author:
Kelly Howard, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
Email: kelly.howard@auckland.ac.nz
923763YJJ0010.1177/1473225420923763Youth JusticeHoward et al.
research-article2020
Original Article
Howard et al. 211
world (Snow, 2019). Children’s rights, including fair process and just outcomes are com-
promised in the face of unaddressed communication difficulties. One possible remedy
being utilised in the New Zealand (NZ) youth justice system is communication assistance:
specialist one on one communication support in youth justice processes (Howard et al.,
2020b). This article presents the findings from a small NZ-based qualitative study (n = 10)
which interviewed young people and their families who had received communication
assistance. The Māori or Indigenous terms in NZ for young people and their families are
rangatahi and whānau and will be used throughout the article.
Communication difficulties in young people who offend: A brief overview
The communication difficulties of young people who offend have been written about
extensively (Anderson et al., 2016; Snow, 2019). There exists a large and convincing
body of research that consistently shows that young people who offend score poorly on
language measures, score more poorly than non-offending comparison groups and are
more likely to meet criteria for a language impairment than the general population
(Anderson et al., 2016; Snow, 2019). Research indicates that young people who offend
score more poorly on tests of receptive than expressive language skills, and have par-
ticular difficulties understanding abstract language and producing narratives (Bryan,
2004; Humber and Snow, 2001; Snow and Powell, 2005, 2008). These are all key skills
for participation in youth justice processes (Snow and Powell, 2012). The origins of
such difficulties are varied and may include intellectual disability, Foetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, head injury and/or other factors that are
known to affect a child’s language development such as parental education, maternal
depression, social disadvantage, abuse and neglect (Law et al., 2003; Paul and Norbury,
2012; Sohr-Preston & Scaramella, 2006; Tomblin et al., 1991). Studies have consist-
ently found that these communication difficulties are likely to go undetected and
untreated (Snow and Powell, 2004, 2012). This is partly because young people become
skilled at masking their difficulties and partly because communication difficulties are
difficult to identify and may instead present as laziness, rudeness or bad behaviour.
Parents and other individuals involved throughout a child’s life (such as teachers and
healthcare professionals) may furthermore lack awareness and knowledge of communi-
cation difficulties as a potential issue.
Children’s rights in justice settings
Children’s rights (which apply to all individuals under the age of 18) are protected inter-
nationally by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The
UNCRC sets out the rights that all children are entitled to enjoy across every area of life
(see Tobin, 2019 for a comprehensive commentary). In justice settings, children are con-
sidered to have the same due process and fair trial rights as adults, including the right to
participate in and understand the criminal process (Article 40 and Article 12, and General
Comment No. 12; United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2009). In
upholding these rights however, a child’s age and evolving capacities must be taken into
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