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Child protection policy and practice has largely ignored young people's experiences of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and peer-on-peer violence. Law enforcement and child protection responses are not integrated, resulting in oversimplified interpretations of young people's victimhood and criminality. As the only research centre in Europe exclusively targeting these problems, The International Centre: Researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking has had direct impact on:
National and international research findings were utilised to raise professional, political and faith-based awareness of the impact of abuse and exploitation on the educational, social and emotional development of children and young people considered to be `at risk'. The impact of the case study lies in its ability to portray, through the use of participatory research methodologies, the experiences of young people who have been the victims of abuse, neglect and human trafficking. Evidence collated indicates that the work has significantly increased national and local awareness and understanding, and led to specific organisational changes in policy and practice.
The University of Huddersfield's School of Education and Professional Development has produced an extensive body of research addressing the experiences and needs of educationally marginalised young people. This work has developed understanding of the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), learners in alternative education and those on low-level vocational programmes. Responding to stakeholder demands for a more nuanced insight into these problems and their possible solutions, research has been disseminated to practitioners, policymakers, voluntary organisations, local authorities and the wider public through conference presentations, keynote addresses and the media, benefiting user communities at local, regional and national levels.
The research addressed the lack of insight from research, policy and practice in relation to adolescents who are neglected within families. Findings have informed policy development at a national level, and were the basis of a guide to good practice, published and circulated widely by the (then) Department for Children Schools and Families ((DCSF), now the Department for Education (DfE)), and a guide for young people to increase their awareness of neglect, published and circulated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). At a local level, researchers worked intensively over 18 months with the whole senior management tier from Children's Services in one local authority to enable understanding and refocusing so that adolescent neglect becomes a legitimate part of practice. Managers went on to enable the shift in practice with their teams, and adolescent neglect has been included in revised safeguarding screening tools approved by the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).
Edinburgh Napier University led on a large quasi-experimental study which evaluated a National Health Service (NHS) Demonstration Project called Healthy Respect. Healthy Respect was a complex public health intervention based on the latest evidence and theory, which combined school sex education with sexual health drop-in clinics in or near to schools, and was supported by large media and branding campaigns. The research was commissioned by the Scottish Government (2006-2010). Our findings were reported directly to Government and the NHS and were synchronized to fit their policy-making cycles. It shaped Government policy and steered service provision in the NHS.
The last three decades have witnessed considerable interest in the position of children and young people acting as witnesses in criminal cases and on how best to facilitate them to give their best evidence and minimise the trauma involved. Governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have introduced a raft of policies and procedures in order to ensure that young witnesses are able to give their best evidence and receive the support they need. Despite these efforts, however, research conducted by Plotnikoff and Woolfson (2004; 2009) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrated a continuing gap between policy and the practice reality of many children's experiences of giving evidence in criminal courts. The small number of Northern Ireland interviews in these studies, however, and evidence of on-going difficulties experienced by young witnesses, pointed to the need for additional research in Northern Ireland to explore the issues further and inform policy and practice in this jurisdiction. The Department of Justice (NI), therefore, commissioned a research team with members from the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast and the NSPCC (Northern Ireland) to undertake research into the views and experiences of young witnesses giving evidence in criminal proceedings in Northern Ireland. This research is presented as an example of impact because its recommendations have influenced the work of two major reviews into the services provided to victims and witnesses of crime in Northern Ireland and, subsequently, the new five year draft strategy for victims and witnesses of crime.
Over 60% of young people in the criminal justice system have speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD), compared to 1% in the general population. SLCD is a contributing factor for reoffending, and researchers at the University of Surrey have developed best practice for mitigating SLCD, allowing successful reintegration of young offenders into society.
This work impacted policy at the national level, with specialist services now available throughout the UK. In addition, successful reintegration of young offenders impacts quality of life for the individuals and has a substantial economic impact at the institutional level.
Research providing novel insights into children's perspectives on families and relationships has had wide impact on policy and practice in Scotland. Through a partnership with ChildLine Scotland, research conducted into children's calls has:
During the 1990s, LSHTM researchers documented a steep rise in HIV prevalence among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in eastern and southern Africa. Subsequent trials in Tanzania and Zimbabwe examined the effectiveness of interventions to reduce HIV incidence among this age group. The results, and subsequent reviews, have substantially influenced the HIV policies of international organisations such as UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO, and HIV programmes in individual African countries. In particular, findings on knowledge and attitude change through sexual health education have been widely implemented.
Collaborative research with practitioners, parents and young people has led to the development of Resilient Therapy (RT) a new approach to building resilience in disadvantaged families. The new RT model has been adopted as part of service provision by 10 local authorities in England, and by local and national charities including the mental health charity Mind in Wales. There is evidence that the model is changing high level national policy debate in the UK. The RT approach has had an international impact and has changed the design, delivery and evaluation of services for young people and families in Crete and Sweden. RT has been commended by the Chief Medical Officer (UK) for its contribution in supporting children. Over 120 community partners and service users were closely involved in the co-production of the research and for many of them this changed their roles in the community as they were central to the production and use of tailored training materials, self-help guides and courses.