Young people and police making “Marginal Gains”: climbing fells, building relationships and changing police safeguarding practice
| Pages | 217-227 |
| Date | 05 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-01-2019-0001 |
| Published date | 05 September 2019 |
| Author | Fiona Jane Factor,Elizabeth Lillian Ackerley |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Children/youth,Parents,Education,Early childhood education,Home culture,Social/physical development |
Young people and police making
“Marginal Gains”: climbing fells, building
relationships and changing police
safeguarding practice
Fiona Jane Factor and Elizabeth Lillian Ackerley
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to describe a youth work model of participatory research
practice which utilise s a range of methods within no n-traditional resear ch settings, highlighti ng
the importance of trust, risk-taking and the creation of mutually respectful and non-hierarchical
relationships. The pap er suggests that such meth ods enable the developme nt of new insights into
previously intractable challenges when working with adolescents needing a safeguarding response
from professionals.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper reflects on the challenges and successes of a project which
brought police office rs and young people togeth er to develop solutions to i mproving safeguardi ng
responses to young people affected by sexual violence and related forms of harm in adolescence. In
particular, this paper focuses on a residential held in October 2016 in the Lake District involving 7 officers
and 15 young people.
Findings –Despite a number of ethical challenges throughout the project, this paper makes the
case that potentially high-risk participatory research projects can be supported and managed by university
research centres. However, for these to be successful, staff need to work in trauma-informed ways, and
possess high-level expertise in group work facilitation. Transparency, honesty, constancy and a range
of different and creative activities, including mental and physical challenges, all contributed to the success
of the project.
Originality/value –By detailing the empirical steps taken to develop, support and realise this project, this
paper advances a youth work model of participatory research practice, filling an important gap within the
methodological literature on participatory work with young people affected by sexual violence.
Keywords Participation, Safeguarding, Police practice, Youngpeople, Child sexual exploitation,Youth work
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Children’s and young people’s r ight to express their views, be heard and e xert agency
in matters affecting their lives is enshrined in Article 12 of the 1989 United Nations
Convention on the Rig hts of the Child (UN, 1989 ), alongside their rig ht to protection fro m
harm, including s exual exploitatio n (Articles 31 and 35 ). Despite commitm ents to involving
young people both in policy making and practice development (HM Government, 2018),
multiple studies document the difficulty of achieving this in practice (Tisdall, 2013; Brodie et al.,
2016; Lefevre et al., 2018). Recognised by participants and stakeholders as a successful
participatory project, this paper describes the process undertaken to bring together
police officers and young people affected by sexual violence and related forms of harm in
adolescence to co-create solutions to improving professionals’safeguarding responses
to young people.
Received 7 January 2019
Revised 24 April 2019
24 May 2019
Accepted 28 June 2019
The authors are incredibly grateful
to the young people and police
officers who took part in the
project for their commitment,
enthusiasm and creativity. The
authors wish to thank Abi
Billinghurst and Joanne Walker
and the rest of the CSE and
Policing Knowledge Hub team,
without whom this project would
not have been possible, and
Isabelle Brodie for her insightful
comments on an early draft of
this article.
Fiona Jane Factor is based at
the School of Applied Social
Studies, University of
Bedfordshire, Luton, UK.
Elizabeth Lillian Ackerley is
based at the Department of
Geography, University of
Manchester, Manchester, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JCS-01-2019-0001 VOL. 14 NO. 3 2019, pp. 217-227, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
j
PAG E 21 7
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