Using an identity lens: constructive working with children in the criminal justice system

Today, Nacro has published Using an identity lens: Constructive working with children in the criminal justice system.
Research has shown that identity, and how you feel about yourself, can be key to moving forward with life and away from crime. Working with the University of Salford, Youth Offending Teams and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, this toolkit has been developed to promote a constructive, identity-focused approach to ultimately help divert children away from progressing further through the criminal justice system. Using the principles of the Nacro-led Beyond Youth Custody programme, this toolkit outlines how these can be applied to working with children before custody to support them towards positive outcomes and prevent further offending and includes sections on:

Understanding the importance of identity

Helping children develop their pro-social identity

Tools to help you work constructively

Whilst this toolkit has been aimed primarily at practitioners working with children in Youth Offending Teams, we believe it should be applied when working with young adults and young people in different settings. The aim is to provide an approach which can be embedded over time and shape current practices, encouraging practitioners to think about how they can use an identity lens to better promote positive outcomes which, in turn, prevents offending.