Citation

Pleysier S, Kilkelly U. Youth Justice 2023; 23(3): 263-268.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, National Association for Youth Justice, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/14732254231208323

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

As editors of Youth Justice, we recently welcomed the growing number of manuscripts that we receive and the journal's increasingly wide and diverse reach, with contributions from authors from different geographical and disciplinary backgrounds (Kilkelly and Pleysier, 2023b: 5). More recently, we commended to contributing authors an approach to youth justice that is rights-based, highlighting the importance to youth justice research of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Kilkelly and Pleysier, 2023a: 139). In this editorial, we build on these approaches to advocate for research that is consistent with the rights of the child (Lundy and McEvoy, 2012) and in particular, research that takes account, in various ways, of the perspectives and experiences of children in conflict with the law.


Perhaps more than elsewhere, researchers in this field are aware that empirical research with youth justice-involved children and young people can offer opportunities for participation to those that are often voiceless and powerless within these systems (Smithson and Jones, 2020: 349). Indeed, true participation in research with justice-involved children and youth has a potential to democratize the research process 'valuing lived expertise and challenging power dynamics and social injustices' (Smithson and Jones, 2020: 350; Smithson and Gray, 2021; Smithson et al., 2021). However, true participation in research is something that can 'be both inspiring and daunting'. It is considered inspiring 'because of the meaningful collaboration it fosters with community co-researchers', and daunting 'due to its many challenges, from ethical to relational' (Smithson and Jones, 2020: 350).

Language: en