In
social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
, the Positive Youth Justice (PYJ) model is an approach to working with children and young people in
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
with the law that focuses on encouraging positive
behaviours and outcomes.
Differing PYJ programs have been used in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Description
PYJ is both
reactionary
In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...
and progressive. It is ''reactionary'' against contemporary risk-based models of youth justice that stigmatize and exclude children by prioritizing the prevention of negative behaviors and outcomes (e.g. offending, re-offending, re-conviction, substance use,
antisocial behaviour
Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...
) that allegedly result from exposure to
risk factors
In epidemiology, a risk factor or determinant is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection.
Due to a lack of harmonization across disciplines, determinant, in its more widely accepted scientific meaning, is often use ...
. This approach portrays children as passive, helpless, risky and dangerous unless adults intervene in their lives using risk-focused responses.
PYJ is ''progressive'' through its focus on promoting positive behaviors and outcomes for children (e.g. access to their
universal rights
Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights.
* Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...
, access to and engagement with support services, opportunities and guidance,
educational attainment Educational attainment is a term commonly used by statisticians to refer to the highest degree of education an individual has completed as defined by the US Census Bureau Glossary.
See also
*Academic achievement
*Academic degree
*Bachelor's degree ...
, employment and training). PYJ seeks to normalize offending behavior by children and to respond through promotional, child-friendly, diversionary and inclusionary interventions.
United Kingdom
The successful application of the PYJ model in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
has been illustrated by the 'Children First, Offenders Second' approach,
a form of PYJ advocating the systemic use of child-friendly and child-appropriate responses grounded in positive prevention, diversion, evidence-based
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...
working, children's participation and engagement, legitimacy an
Responsibilising responsibilisingadults to ensure positive outcomes for children. This body of work has been the primary research output of Professor Kevin Haines and Professor Stephen Case.
United States
In the United States, a form of PYJ is supported by researchers at the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The U.S. model is an effort to blend the science of
adolescent development with the practice principles of positive
youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
development to design interventions for justice-involved youth. The PYJ model encourages youth justice systems to focus on
protective factor
Protective factors are conditions or attributes (skills, strengths, resources, supports or coping strategies) in individuals, families, communities or the larger society that help people deal more effectively with stressful events and mitigate or ...
s as well as
risk factor
In epidemiology, a risk factor or determinant is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection.
Due to a lack of harmonization across disciplines, determinant, in its more widely accepted scientific meaning, is often use ...
s, strengths as well as problems, positive outcomes as well as negative outcomes, and generally to focus on facilitating successful transitions to adulthood for young people. As
promulgated
Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.
After a new law ...
in the U.S., the PYJ model is designed to facilitate youths' acquisition of two key assets (learning/doing and attaching/belonging) in six separate life domains (work, education, relationships,
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
, health, and creativity).
There are important differences between PYJ in the USA and in England and Wales.
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
* Butts, J.A., Bazemore, G. and Meroe, A.S. (2010)
Positive Youth Justice: Framing Justice Interventions Using the Concepts of Positive Youth Development Washington, DC: Coalition for Juvenile Justice.
* Butts, J.A., Mayer, S. and Ruth, G. (2005)
Focusing Juvenile Justice on Positive Youth Development Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.
External links
U.S. model official website
Criminal justice