Looked after children and offending: an exploration of risk, resilience and the role of social cognition

Schofield, Gillian, Biggart, Laura ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1233-9787, Ward, Emma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-3215 and Larsson, Birgit (2015) Looked after children and offending: an exploration of risk, resilience and the role of social cognition. Children and Youth Services Review, 51. 125–133. ISSN 0190-7409

[thumbnail of CaYSR_Schofield_etal] Microsoft Word (CaYSR_Schofield_etal) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (268kB)

Abstract

There have been serious concerns in the UK about the number of young people who are looked after in state care but are also young offenders. The relationship between the care system and offending is complex, since there are shared risk factors, in particular histories of poor parenting, abuse and neglect. This article reports on a mixed methods study. It focuses on findings regarding a sample of 100 young people (age 14-19), using data from file searches, psychological measures and narrative interviews. The sample was made up of three sub-samples - looked after young people who had offended, looked after young people who had not offended and young people who had offended but were not looked after. This paper presents the study’s findings in relation to the characteristics and pathways of these groups. It emphasises the range and interaction of individual, family and education and activity risk and resilience factors. In particular, it highlights the role of social cognition deficits in increasing the risk of offending for young people in state care.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: care,offending,risk,resilience,social cognition
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Social Work
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Child Protection & Family Support
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Business and Local Government Data Research Centre
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 17 Feb 2015 14:16
Last Modified: 14 Jun 2023 12:04
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/52278
DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.01.024

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item