The criminalisation of young people in response to children’s residential, home-based challenging behaviour remains a persistent problem in the United Kingdom. This article presents research which, through a series of semi-structured interviews and a focus group with professionals from the care and youth justice systems, sought to gain insights into why this might be the case. It was concluded that there is a need to empower residential staff; bring greater objectivity into decision-making processes and raise awareness of how system contact can impact children’s self-perception, and future prospects.
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