Voices of resilience : female experiences in and out of youth justice residence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2019
DOI
Open Access Location
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Publisher
Massey University
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Abstract
This project critically examines the notion that young women
experience being admitted to a youth justice residence as turning point
in their lives as well as their experiences of transition back to the
community. Residential care has the potential to be a fundamental
agent of change for serious female youth offenders. Retrospectively,
understanding the experiences and knowledge of female young people
who have been through the youth justice residential care system is
essential in order for professionals working in this field to be able to
respond to their needs and engage in purposeful and meaningful
interventions. Understanding the way females transition back to the
community from residence provides information about how the
system supports young women to transition into young
adult/adulthood and build on the change they created while they were
in residence.
The retrospective lens that was used for this project will draw on the
experiences of former female residents of youth justice residential care
and their transition back into the community. Prospective participants
were recruited using key informants, Facebook and snowball sampling
methods. A small group of participants were interviewed about their
experiences, knowledge, issues and solutions for the youth justice
system in New Zealand. Data collection was carried out utilising semistructured
interviews applying a descriptive interview approach, with
a total of six interviews that were completed, transcribed and
approved for use by the research participants. The thematic analysis
that was used to analyse the data helped to create the key themes to
present the findings and discussion chapters. The key findings from
that data that was discussed further include the findings that
contribute to the knowledge about female youth offenders and their
life experiences that led to their involvement in the youth justice system; how their sense of self developed throughout their time in the
system; the impact and support the youth justice residence provided
for young women; the experiences of transition back to the community
and the support that was provided during this process; and lastly the
implications these findings have for social work practice within the
system as a whole, for youth justice residence, and for transition
services. The participant experiences highlight how the youth justice
system responds to its responsibility to successfully develop the wellbeing
of young women to create lives they are proud of.
Description
Keywords
Female juvenile delinquents, New Zealand, Juvenile detention homes, Young women, Attitudes