Reflection In Youth Justice Support Elmis Case Study

Introduction

The reflection is referred to review, analysis and evaluation of experiences based on concepts of learning and experiences (Phoenix, 2016). The reflection in supporting people in the Youth Justice Sector is important because through analysis of the experiences the aspects and skills which are to be improved for better youth support can be identified along with strength and weakness of the professionals working can be determined (Pereira and Trotter, 2017). In this study, Elmi who is 14 years old is currently found to be arrested for the first time in attempting to sell class B drugs. Apart from Elmi, his two friends of similar age are found to be arrested due to the possession and selling of the drugs. Elmi is Somalian in origin and the family is found to quite religious as they every Friday visit the mosque for prayers. In this study, reflection in practice regarding unconscious bias, communication skill, multi-agency working and legal framework are to be described in relation to the case study.

Unconscious bias

The unconscious bias is referred to social stereotypes regarding certain groups which are raised out of conscious awareness of an individual (Fadus et al., 2020). In the current case study, while working to support Elmi, I think I created an unconscious bias to determine the risk he has of executing further crime. This is because I considered him to be at high risk of performing further crime by keeping in mind my beliefs about the fact that few Somalian people in the UK are acting as potential criminals in selling class B drugs. I ignored to analyse how much risk Elmi personally shows to be involved in such further crime by examining his social environment and family condition. It indicates that I led my personal beliefs and values to influence my decision which is not appropriate. This is because unconscious bias in youth justice leads to negatively affect decisions to be taken with respect to youth in offering them support for their further development (Heisterkamp, 2019). Thus, my unconscious bias may lead Elmi to face consequences of community support which is not required by him leading to face proceedings that would waste his time and energy. However, I was able to control one my unconscious bias regarding Elmi in the sense that I did not discriminate him on the grounds of his religion. The discrimination towards any religion often leads an individual to show vulnerable and harmful activity or avoidance to communicate with the people out of grudge (Paterson-Young et al., 2019). However, even though I personally have a grudge towards people belonging from Islam as I consider the religion to be vulnerable and support terrorism I avoided to show any discrimination of not attending support to Elmi irrespective of the person belonging from Islamic religion.

Communication Skills

The presence of effective communication skill is important in youth justice practice as it allows to determine the reason of the negative actions executed by the youth along with instructing them regarding the way to engage with youth offending team to effectively complete their referral order with success (Snow et al., 2018). In the practice, I developed problems with identifying ways in which communication is to be established with Elmi so that he effectively understand and engage with youth offending team services to ensure accomplishment of successful referral orders. This is evident as I tried to politely and compassionately communicate with Elmi to make him comply with the actions I am explaining to him but found that he avoided focusing on the instructions. I consulted with my supervisor regarding the condition and the person asked me to determine if Elmi has proper education to understand English to be found out. This is because lack of understanding of languages often leads individual unable to understand instructions making them show non-compliance towards the orders being asked to be performed (Snow and Woodward, 2017).

On analysing Elmi’s language ability, I found that he has less knowledge about English and mainly understand Arabic. This led me to understand the reason behind his lack of focus in execution activities as instructed by me. Thus, I hired a translator who communicated the instructions previously provided by in Arabic to which it was seen that Elmi immediately executed the actions I have previously asked him to perform without any delay. In youth justice, communication is to be performed with calmness and patience with use of simple words. This is because the programs often present in the youth justice to be provided are aimed at GCSE levels which are not easily understood by youth due to their lower learning (Ugwudike and Morgan, 2019). Thus, I used simple languages to debunk the services to be provided to Elmi to ensure he has an understanding of the support to be provided to him.

Multi-agency Working

The multi-agency working is essential in youth justice as it helps to address wide range of youth risk factors and contribute arrangement of broader resources to promote improved social outcome of the youth (Pamment, 2019). The sharing of role and responsibilities of support based on the expertise of each agency is to be done for success of multi-agency working (Souhami, 2019). This is because without it people in the agencies are unable to play roles within their expertise in different aspect of youth justice field to deliver effective support (Pycroft and Gough, 2019). The information was already known to me and therefore I always ensured roles and responsibilities that are within my expertise are allocated to me in the agency to ensure effective support delivery to youth like Elmi. The presence of effective communication between agencies in successful multi-agency working is required because interaction allows discussing progress of responsibilities executed by each one of them (Gallard et al., 2018). However, lack of communication makes agency care workers fail to determine the way each other can be assisted to deliver quality support to the youth for preventing recidivism and incarceration (Monson, 2020). The information was already known to me and thus I always informed my progress at work regarding Elmi with other agency workers to ensure we can discuss how we further are to progress collaboratively to arrange better support for Elmi.

During multi-agency working, I found that I lacked the skill of conflict resolution. This is evident as I found to develop conflict with other workers in the agencies due to difference in attitudes which in turn raises problem at work. The conflict resolution is important in multi-agency working because conflicting attitudes may raise non-compliance and non-collaboration of agencies in performing duties leading to create problem in reaching the common goal of support (Winstone, 2019). I also expressed hindered problem-solving skills as I showed incompetence to develop solution on my own for the problems which raises the conflict.

Legal Framework

The legal framework is required to be followed in youth justice so that no violation of federals laws and policies are faced as well as ethical support is provided to all individuals (Bessant and Watts, 2019). The legal framework of youth justice informs that the crime committed by youth is to be investigated similarly like crime committed by an adult (Conroy, 2018). This is to ensure no discrimination and inappropriate preferences are provided to the youth due to the person being juvenile. The fact is known to me but my lack of control towards my personal beliefs and customs led me to deliver unfair support. This is evident as while I was investigating Elmi’s case I tried to make him look guiltier for the crime of selling class B drugs so that he is punished for his deeds out of being a Somalian and not being a youth. This is because I have personal grudge regarding Somalian individuals in the UK who are currently acting as prime crime racket.

The section 37 (1) of Crime and Disorder Act 1998 informs that key aim of the youth justice system is to act responsibly to prevent offending of any child or youth people (legislation.gov.uk, 1998). The legal action is effectively understood by me and thus when Elmi’s case was provided to me I ensured proper preventive measures are determined for him to ensure he no longer involves in selling or purchasing restricted drugs. The legal framework in the Safeguarding of Children policy mentions that proper safeguarding of individuals is to be ensured to promote proportionality empowerment and protection of youth and children (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk, 2019). However, lack of safeguarding as per legal framework for youth led them to get exposed to harm in the society and perform inappropriate criminal offence (Abrams et al. 2018; Case and Haines, 2018). In my practice, I always ensured proper safeguarding of Emli is ensured

Conclusion

The discussion led me to learn that I have the strength to form compassionate and empathetic communication with youth. I also have the strength to abide by legal framework that promoted safeguarding, empowerment and proportionality of youth support services. I was successfully able to develop communication of sharing roles and responsibilities along with progress at work in multi-agency working. However, I have weakness in developing active listening skills in communication. I have weakness in understanding the way unconscious bias can be controlled, conflict resolution and problem-solving skill in multi-agency working and way to deliver fair and equal support to youth as per legal framework.

In future, I am going to access communication training from experienced professionals and discuss key skills with my supervisor to determine the reason for non-compliance of any youth in interaction. Moreover, I am going to improve my problem-solving and conflict resolution skills by reading and analysing various case studies of multi-agency working and team working for youth justice. I would more intricately follow guidelines for legal framework regarding Youth Justice Services and develop control on my personal attitudes and beliefs to avoid any form of conscious or unconscious bias to be shown in support or assessing offence by the youth.

References

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