Student Voice and Participation in Schools and Secure Settings for Young People
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Criminology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Caroline Lanskey (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Lanskey C
(2011)
Promise or Compromise? Education for Young People in Secure Institutions in England
in Youth Justice
Lanskey C
(2010)
Citizenship Education in Secure Institutions
in Educação, Sociedade & Culturas
Lanskey C
(2010)
International Encyclopedia of Education
Lanskey C
(2021)
The Palgrave International Handbook of Youth Imprisonment
Lanskey, C.
(2019)
Children and Their Education in Secure Accommodation
Lanskey, C.
(2016)
Formal and informal learning in custodial settings for young people
in Prison Service Journal
Lanskey, C.
(2019)
Children and Their Education in Secure Accommodation
| Description | Through the analysis of approaches to student consultation and participation in schools and secure settings the research identified: 1) the comparatively under-developed engagement of young people's voices in secure settings both within and outside educational classes. 2) that in some Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions, there were regular consultative meetings with young people and involvement of a minority of young people in recruitment of new staff. 3) that formal processes for listening to young people's views in some Young Offender Institutions were minimal and sometimes limited to complaints boxes. 4) that earlier negative experiences of student consultation in schools (when their views are not acted upon) can lead to disengagement with consultation opportunities provided by the secure setting. 5) that power differentials within secure settings can inhibit young people's confidence to express their views 6) some young people perceived their label as an offender or criminal limited the extent to which staff in the secure setting took their views seriously 7) good relationships between young people and staff in secure settings and a dialogic approach to the management of secure settings were linked to the most successful practices. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings will be useful for managers and staff in secure settings who have responsibility for establishing more comprehensive and inclusive methods of consultating young people. They signal some of the structural, historical and social barriers that can prevent young people from openly expressing their views as well as approaches and the type of relationship that are more likely to encourage the active engagement of young people in consultation and participation activities. |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | This was a post-doctoral fellowship and from a professional perspective it facilitated the establishment of a Knowledge-Exchange network with practitioners e.g. Ofsted inspectors, Education, Training and Employment workers in the youth justice sector, education and other staff at custodial establishments for young people e.g. YMYOI Wetherby and formerly HMYOI Warren Hill. Discussions with practitioners raised the profile of how to consult young people in secure settings in and beyond educational classes in ways that were meaningful to them. Subsequently I was asked to lead a research project for HMPPS Historic Child Abuse Team which included consideration of the extent to which the voices of young people in custody were taken seriously in cases of child abuse. This report informed the submission by HMPPS HCAT team to the UK's Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | Contribution to and citation in Parliamentary Briefing (POSTbrief) on Education of Young People Leaving Custody |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Contribution to Parliamentary Briefing (POSTbrief) on Education of Young People Leaving Custody |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to review and contribute to a parliamentary briefing (POSTbrief) on the Education of Young People Leaving Custody. This generated further conversations with the Parliamentary Briefing Office about my research on education and youth justice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Promise or compromise? : education for young people in the criminal justice system in England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In 2010 local authorities take over responsibility for the education of young people in Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres in England. The local authority where the young person resides (the 'home authority') is required to promote the fulfilment of the young person's learning potential during their time in a secure institution and on their return to the community. The 'host authority' where the relevant secure institution is situated is required to plan, commission and fund educational provision in the institution according to a framework established by the new central body, the Young People's Learning Agency. The motivation behind the legislation is to align education for young people in custody with the mainstream sector in order to improve the continuity of their educational experience. The recent legislative changes provide a timely opportunity for reflection on the positioning of education for young people in the criminal justice system in England and in particular on the education of young people in secure institutions. Drawing on examples from recent policy and research in secure institutions for young people, this paper argues that, while the new legislation offers potential for improvement, interpretations of education have become overly narrow in criminal justice policy and practice and that further consideration needs to be given to the impact of current penal agenda which limit the conceptual reach of educational provision, its policies and its capacity to deliver. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1290/ |
| Description | Reflections on the education of young people in custody in England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to Open University ICCCR (International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research) academics and students engaged in school and criminological research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/icccr/events.shtml |