A space for love? ‘Care’ and its ethical dimensions in the youth justice professional relationship

• In Event: Contested concepts of 'care' in contemporary juvenile justice

Abstract

Love and ‘care’ are not often associated with professional relationships in the involuntary youth justice context. The child ‘offenders’ in its midst are simultaneously seen as both highly vulnerable and undeserving of compassion. Conceptualised by some as a moral emotion, the presence and quality of care pertains to the ethical dimensions of youth justice practice. Developing scholarship across a range of fields, including probation, social work and youth work, suggests that caring relations and even altruistic love play a critical role in shaping service users’ perceptions of legitimacy and engagement, and outcomes, including desistance from crime. However, this work indicates that anxieties about the ‘dark side’ of care, in which it is oppressive and harmful, and discourses that see care as inappropriate in a justice context, have meant that caring relations are often silenced and discouraged in practice and neglected within research. In particular, ‘caring’ relationships have received scarce attention in the youth justice literature.

This paper draws on the findings of a 12-month ethnographic study on the contours of ‘care’ and its ethical dimensions in professional relationships in youth justice. The project involved 63 interviews with children and professionals in an English youth justice service, extensive observation of practice, and participatory research with young adults. Using the lens of care ethics, which both recognises the value of caring relations and facilitates their moral scrutiny, the paper examines the ways in which ‘care’ was understood, expressed and experienced by practitioners and children. I argue that the professional relationships that unfold in youth justice supervision are manifestations of ‘professional loving care’ (van Heijst, 2011), a concept originating from bio-ethics scholarship. Through outlining the qualities and context of such care, the paper seeks to deepen insight into the moral terrain of youth justice, and the relationship between care, human flourishing and desistance.

Author

• Alexandra Wigzell, University of Nottingham