WHAT IS ‘REALLY’ HAPPENING DURING A YOUTH X JUSTICE EXCHANGE?

During the exchange sessions, there are a lot of things happening that might go unnoticed to an inexperienced observer. However, the different elements in place are essential for the success of your YouthLab. You can see them as ingredients to be adapted to your own context, so take them with a pinch of salt and reflect with your team on what each one might bring to your YouthLab, how it can be brought to life, and which new elements you might want to bring to the mix.

1. Safe space, safe pace

Introduction

A youth x justice exchange follows a deliberate gradual approach. This approach is all about building and playing with the tension and energy of the group. The right kind of tension serves all present (both young people and participants). Too much tension, however, will shut down all opportunities for growth and reflection.

Tension is a friend

In youth x justice exchange, tension is a friend. The tension you are after, does not lead to a destructive fight or conflict. Rather, we mean that it’s ok if it’s uncomfortable, confrontational, emotional or difficult. We learn that a person grows in these moments, as long as they are happening in a safe and controlled space.

A safe and controlled space

A YouthLab facilitator nurtures trust and safety. A facilitator always knows if the tension is still serving members of a group. If it is hurting instead, a facilitator will intervene or adapt the program accordingly. A safe pace is one that nurtures trust and openness; knowing that this takes time and cannot be rushed into.

YouthLab feels like a family to me now. We have fun and trust each other.

Youthlab Experience expert, Netherlands

2. Creative forms: a shared language

Introduction

We use creativity in exchanges as a way to come together. It has a connecting effect, but it is also an accessible way for a young person to position themselves in a different way. They are on stage for a while and can tell what is going on in their own text/rap.

Meet in the middle

A rap, spoken word or poetic text makes it easier for the storyteller to share his vulnerable personal story and easier for the listener to understand. Creativity produces a language “that lies in the middle, which belongs to everyone and can be understood by everyone”. Sometimes a rap also helps to distance yourself from your story because it is difficult to articulate what you feel in real life. Furthermore, the listener can take a step towards the narrator more easily, with empathy and sometimes recognition.

Creativity x Empathy

American philosopher Martha Nussbaum believes that empathy, the capacity to put ourselves in another person’s shoes, is a capacity that is strengthened by our encounter with art. She argues that art can provide us with different outlooks, because art takes us into the world view of someone different to us. Narrative art especially, invites us into the life of someone else, and allows us to look at the world with different eyes. This broadens our own view of the world, changing our way of thinking, and provides us with new perspectives on our own lives. In short, it engages our imagination.

Nussbaum also shows that art has to be a little bit strange, but not too much. It must to some extent match the experience of the spectator, so they are willing to go along with it, but it must also deviate from their experience in particular ways, such that they feel estranged or perplexed. How to strike the right balance between familiarity and estrangement is of course different for each person.

3. Translating between the ‘system’ and ‘lived’ world

Introduction

Everyday experiences of YouthLab participants are exclusively in the roles of ‘young offender’ and ‘justice professional’. This relationship and its roles are reaffirmed with powerful symbols and rituals, such as a courtroom, clothing and language. A youth-x-justice exchange is a unique experience to meet and exchange outside these rigid roles and patterns.

Take your coat off

A high-ranking member of the prosecution told YiP once that she appreciated the exchange because both prosecutors and young people are ‘taking off their coat’. In this quote, the ‘coat’ is a symbol for the often-played and formal roles. Taking that coat off and engaging as ‘yourself’ can feel extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable. Active listening, then, becomes a challenge if you are not yet used to listening in this new role – one where you cannot fall back onto the things you learned in college or in the streets.

I noticed the young trainers speak freely, because the parole officers are not ‘their’ officers.

Parole Officer & Youth x Justice Exchange participant, Netherlands

Translations

YouthLab facilitators speak both the ‘formal’ or ‘system’ language of professionals, and the ‘lived’ or ‘popular’ language of young people. Without interpreting or twisting words, they are able to nudge and clarify with the purpose of growth and reflection. A YouthLab facilitator translates as a friendly mediator, never taking sides – but always sensitive for traumas and personal difficulties.

4. Walk in my shoes: an empathic approach

Introduction

A youth x justice exchange is designed for professionals to ‘walk in the shoes and see through the eyes of young people’. A pitfall of young people telling their personal stories is that they are evoking sympathy (feeling sorry or pity for), and not empathy. In the YouthLab , we are striving for moral empathy. That is because while sympathy drives distance, empathy drives connection. Feeling and acting out of empathy allows us to feel with peopleI and connect with them by connecting with feelings within ourselves.

Check out this short animation with Brene Brown about the difference between sympathy and empathy here.

“Instead of asking questions ‘by the book’ (what did you do, why, etc), you are listening because you are attending the session as a human being.”

Parole Officer & Youth x Justice Exchange participant, Netherlands

Moral empathy

Moral empathy, the ‘active’ type of empathy, is different from Cognitive Empathy or Emotional Empathy. Cognitive empathy is knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. Moral empathy is also called ‘perspective-taking’ and is concerned with thought, understanding and intellect. Emotional empathy is when you feel physically along with the other person, as though their emotions were contagious. This type of empathy is concerned with feelings. Moral Empathy, then, is not only knowing and feeling what someone else has been through, but also acting upon that – because you know it will make someone else feel better.

Universal truths

In the stories young people tell professionals, it is the universal truths that we are after. Universal truths are feelings or experiences that are the same for almost everyone and therefore easy to imagine and understand. Being explicit about universal truths will help to evoke moral empathy. Because no matter where you grew up, or how life has treated you, everyone will understand feelings and experiences such as:

• Once you get into something, it is hard to get out of it – even if you know it’s not right for you;
• Wanting to feel respected, and the frustration or hurt if that is not the case;
• Being willing to do everything for your brothers and sisters to be safe and happy;
• How hard it is to ask for help;
• That sometimes things can escalate quickly, without you feeling in control of it;
• The feeling of being misunderstood;
• Playing cooler than you actually feel.

5. Healing through exchange

Introduction

A key part of the YouthLab program are the personal (life) stories of young people. Whereas they may only be telling a fragment during interviews with professionals in the actual exchange, lots of ‘homework’ with the YouthLab team happens prior to a session. Young YouthLab experience experts are invited in tailored storytelling and spoken word exercises to learn how to tell their (life) stories.

Narrative Identities

‘What is your story?’ ‘Why did you commit a crime?’ ‘How did you feel when you committed a crime?’ ‘How do you feel about me?’

These can be big and difficult questions. Young people learn to tell their stories in different ways, sometimes with new eyes. An important objective is to be able to ‘edit’ these stories with the YouthLab team. What are the important elements to tell? What were moments of strength; what stories convey that you are more than your crime?

“Just like a book”

A professional participant told us that she appreciates how the experience experts of YouthLab ‘can flip through their story like a book’. ‘They are able to open the book at a certain chapter, move to another, and then close it again. That takes a lot of skills, and it makes you feel comfortable to ask all those questions.’

You also learn about the ‘good things’ that happened in a young person’s life. There is always so much more to tell than just the crime.

Parole Officer, Youth x Justice Exchange participant, Netherlands

6. Flipping the script, a multitude of scripts

Introduction

When coming in contact with one another, ‘the young offender’ and ‘justice professional’ often have ‘static roles’ that they play. With these static roles go static scripts too: scripts dictate what you are saying and how you are behaving.

The role play triggered me to think in a different way. It feels awkward, but you will definitely remember when a similar situation happens in real life.

Parole Officer – Youth x Justice Exchange participant, Netherlands

From the books

For professionals, this script is often learned ‘from the books’ and protocols. A professionals’ script gets enforced by the inherent unequal power relationships between youth and professionals. And when you are working as a professional for quite some time, it is easy to think that ‘you have seen it all’:

Young people, as well, have often mastered a single and static script. This script is often based on what they have heard from others or strategize to what will serve them best in the judicial process.

Bruce, member of the YouthLab, and Susanne, a participating prosecutor, explain in this short movie how they were stuck in their scripts:

Bruce: “It used to be like a cat and mouse game. Because I am playing the ‘bad guy’ and for me, they are the evil ones.”

Susanne: “The pitfall is when you think you already know exactly what this boy will be like.”

A multitude of scripts

However, these static scripts hinder meaningful contact. The YouthLab is to inspire professionals to work with a multitude of scripts; one that is tailored for a multitude of relationships, with young people for whom not one story is the same despite their many similarities.

Tailoring each and every contact takes effort and practice. In a youth x justice exchange, professionals receive tips and practical tools to start tailoring scripts in their professional lives.

7. Empowering relationships of trust

Introduction

A YouthLab facilitator holds a crucial role in the program. It is not a role anyone can easily take over or replace, as his main strength is the long-term relationships of trust with the young people. Young in Prison mostly meets the youngsters whilst they are still in detention and these relationships often last for many years beyond as YouthLab participants.

A big brother or sister

We asked the experience experts of the YouthLab how they perceive the YouthLab facilitators. ‘Like a big brother’ is an answer often heard: ‘It is someone who is not judging you, but can be honest and strict with you as well. He knows me well and I know he wants what is best for me.’

Long-term commitment

A YouthLab facilitator – and the experience experts are committing for a long term to the YouthLab. It is only with this long-term and intensive commitment (with weekly contact) that lasting relationships of trust are built and can add value to an exchange.

According to facilitators, the youngsters “know we have their backs, and will never leave them behind”.

“We know what they have been through, what their strong and weak moments are. We are there to help them be the best version – most impactful on the professionals.”

YouthLab faciliator, Netherlands

Read more about the profile and role of a YouthLab facilitator here.

8. Who am I to you? New relational perspectives

Introduction

A prosecutor who joined a youth x justice exchnage once said: This exchange humbles me. It reminds me of the power I have, that my decisions mean a lot to someone else’s life. I want to constantly remind myself of this.

This short testimonial is existential in nature: it reminds someone of who they are in relation to a young person. Other professional groups, however, have other take-aways from the exchanges.

Existential vs instrumental

For parole officers, for example, we heard less existential take-aways. Their responses are much more instrumental and action-oriented in turn: I now have a better understanding of the things I can do differently and we can do together.

Value propositions

The existential and instrumental take-aways represent very different values for participants, and make sense looking at the role they play in the judicial process. The YouthLab has a deep understanding of values for different professional groups and adjusts the design of the session accordingly.

9. Valuing youth’s experiences

Introduction

A YouthLab experience expert gets paid for training justice professionals. Although this isn’t or – or should not be – the main motivation for a young person to join the program, it plays an important role in reaffirming the agency and value of experience and stories they share.

Value in reimbursing, value in listening

We reaffirm the agency and value of young people by:

1. Paying a fee for their participating in the YouthLab program,
2. Assuring that they will be taken seriously during the exchanges
3. Emphasizing that policy-makers or justice professionals will put their insights and learnings in practice.

This combination is important in emphasizing that their stories, experiences and vulnerability is valuable.

Now that you understand what a Youthlab entails, including the principles and values, it is time to get practical. 

The original exchange is a three-hour session that includes the preparation of youngsters and exchange with professionails. This model was tailored by each implementing partner according to their needs.

In addition, during the EU YouthLab project, many exchange sessions had to happen online due to COVID-19 restrictions. In order to counter the fatigue of the digital space, exchanges were broken down in multiple shorter sessions.

Below you will find the models of youth x justice exchange sessions that you can use as an inspiration for your own program. Remember that you might have to adapt them to your context, based on the  needs of the youngsters and professionals. 

The exchange usually lasts three hours and they focus on improving participants’ communication (skills) and empathic approach in their line of work. It is done so by:

• listening to young people’s life stories
• engaging with each other in (short) assignments.

By bringing these two parties together in a facilitated safe space, they are challenged – but also invited to “take off their coat” and open up as a professional/youngster to connect.

Below you can download the Session Overview and Session Outline.

Creativity is a key element of the YouthLab program and in the youth x justice exchanges. Several activities are adopted to facilitate an open and safe environment, in which both experienced experts and justice professionals feel compelled to actively participate.

You can bring other exercises into your YouthLab, adapting them to the context and topics of each session.

Below are some of the exercises adopted by partners:

Quiz Ice-breaker

This quiz focuses on the perceptions that society has of young people based on several quotes about the educational level of youth. These quotes come from an education manual and belong to different historical periods. The objective of the quiz is to guess the period to which each quote belongs. The writing style is standardized to keep the content only, which allows participants to realize that the perception of the educational level of young people has not changed much over the years: contemporary young people are usually considered to be less well educated than the previous generation.

This allows us to draw attention to this recurrent bias that any person can reproduce in their reactions to the behaviors of young people. This exercise can be replicated with any images, stereotypes or attitudes that are associated with the “deviant” behaviors of youth through different historical periods.

Auto-biographic exercise

The auto-biographic exercise can be proposed at the beginning of a training cycle to facilitate the introduction of the various participants and serve as an ice-breaker, and/or at the beginning of each session to encourage participants’ involvement. The exercise can also be adapted to match the focus theme and format of each session – either in-person or online.

The autobiographical exercise begins with the facilitator inviting participants to take a few moments of meditation in order to recall a significant event in their lives. The specific question should be related in some way to the topic that will be covered during the session. For example: a moment in your childhood/adolescence where you felt the protagonist, or a moment where you felt in danger, or an object that is relevant to you.

Participants should always be reassured by the facilitator that they will not have to share their thoughts or memories with other participants if they do not want to; they will just have to meditate, recall the specific moment/thing and choose a key word that represents this memory.

If the session is in-perso, the trainer asks the participants to write down a keyword on a post-it sticker and to stick it to the flip chart. When all participants have completed this task, the trainer reads the key words out loud one by one and, after each keyword, invites the participant who has written it down to take the floor to explain or comment on it – if they wish to. After that, the person can introduce themselves.

If the session is online, the trainer asks the participants to write the keywords into the chat of the video-conferencing platform or in a digital interactive whiteboard. When all participants have written their keywords, the trainer calls them one by one to comment on it and to introduce themselves. The trainer creates thereby a map of the participants’ contributions, experiences and reflections during the interactive session. At the end of the exercise, the trainer takes a screenshot of the virtual white board. This material could be made available to the participants and/or be stored in a shared place.

Normally the facilitator starts communicating their keyword and should be the first to speak to set a template for others to follow. These types of exercises can be dense with emotion, so it is important that the group understands that it is in a safe space, in order to feel free to express themselves safely.

Brainstorming on problems & resources in the juvenile criminal justice system

According to the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice,

“Child-friendly justice” refers to justice systems which guarantee the respect and the effective implementation of all children’s rights at the highest attainable level, bearing in mind the principles listed below and giving due consideration to the child’s level of maturity and understanding and the circumstances of the case.[…]”

In this exercise, each Child-friendly justice principle is briefly explained and discussed with participants, who are asked to contribute with personal experiences that are connected with this specific principle. The principles are: accessible, age appropriate, speedy, diligent, adapted to and focused on the needs and rights of the child, respecting the rights of the child including the rights to due process, to participate in and to understand the proceedings, to respect for private and family life and to integrity and dignity

These personal stories could be gathered and used during the training sessions as an example when explaining-child friendly justice to other professionals, collected in a publication or used to inspire the screenplay of the role-playing.

Role Playing I

In this exercise, a hypothetical case is shared with participants. For instance, it could be an arrest by the police, a hearing at the court, or an interview with the social worker. To divide the roles, each participants’ name is written on a card. Then cards are drawn randomly and each participant is given a role. The role playing could be recorded so that it can be used as training material during the courses, soliciting a discussion among participants. This exercise should bring out a number of critical issues in the system and awareness in participants.

Example of case:

Subject: Andrea Rossi, born in Pisa on 7 July 2003, detained on pre-trial custody – preliminary hearing in front of the judge. Present also Andrea’s defendant, the social worker , Andrea’s educator at the detention center, and Andrea’s mother.

Background information: Andrea is a 17 years old boy, he is at his second arrest for theft. His family history is complex: Andrea lived with his mother and two younger brothers (4 and 7 years old) until he was 15 years old. The parents are separated and the father lost his parental authority following complaints of mistreatment against both the mother and the children. Following different orders of the Juvenile Court, the social services proceed with Andrea’s placement in a community. All attempts are unsuccessful and Andrea returns to his mother. However, she is not able to manage the problems of the boy who presents a picture of immaturity combined with the use of substances (cannabinoids, cocaine and alcohol). In this framework, the boy starts committing small crimes and ends up involved in the robbery of a supermarket. The boy is caught in flagrante delicto with two other boys (one of whom was already an adult). At the time Andrea was visibly altered by substance abuse. Andrea’s first offense, which occurred in 2019, saw him involved, again with three other peers, in the theft of a motorcycle. The boy is currently detained, awaiting trial, in a Detention Center. The decision was determined by the previous unsuccessful placements in the community, the need to remove Andrea from the peer group and also to remove him from his family, currently unable to take care of him properly. Andrea proves to be very self aware in addressing all aspects of his life, from substance abuse, to family experiences, sexual identity, and the reason for his arrest. Not only does he not appear to be oppositional but in fact, from the very first interview, he expresses a clear request for help.

Role playing II

Part of the training program is dedicated to learning about police interviewing techniques and non-violent communication. The choice of the subject of communication between the police and the youth allows the participants (lawyers, magistrates and social workers) to have sufficient distance from their own role, while addressing the communication techniques in a concrete and practical way.

After a theoretical presentation, the professionals are divided into groups and invited to perform a scene with the youth to practice the listening techniques learned. In each group, one person is responsible for observing the play and describing the different listening styles and their effect on the communication dynamic.

Analyzing creative writing

Depending on their interests and creative orientations, young facilitators are invited to express themselves about their experiences with justice professionals in different ways. For some youth, the most comfortable means of expression is writing. These writings can then be shared with professionals during training sessions. Youth facilitators are responsible for leading the discussion by giving the floor to participants to read the different parts of the story and asking questions to check their understanding of the youth’s perspective in each situation or interaction described. All participants are invited to contribute to the discussion. When the youth feel more comfortable telling their stories orally, they can record a text that will be analyzed in the same way as the written materials.

Another type of creative support used is photographs. You can use photographs that have been taken by young people in detention during a previous project. These photographs are selected by the youth facilitators based on the messages they wish to convey to the participants.They are then presented to the participants by one of the youths, who uses them as a support to explain the aspects that seem important in the experience during detention. Through the photos, some youngsters will for example underline the importance of leisure time shared with the educators, the learning of domestic chores, the value of being in contact with nature, etc.

Working with a common tool

Using project management tools such as SWOT analysis, and problem and solution trees, participants and youth are asked to work in groups to analyze the most important problems in youth work and their effects on communication between youth and professionals.

In the case of the problem and solution tree, the starting point is the identification of a central problem (the tree trunk), after which the participants discuss and define its causes (the roots) and consequences (the leaves). Once this brainstorming and classification of information is completed, each team reflects on the solutions to be provided to improve key aspects of the youth experience with justice. Each group presents its analysis to the rest of the participants.

The final product is the common reflections of the young people and those of the professionals, making it possible to bring together the points of view and to synthesize the lessons learned during the previous sessions.

A successful Youthlab takes a lot of coordination and skills. It is normal to be faced with challenges and doubts along the way. In this section, you can rely on the experience and lessons learned from partners to have a head start in your program and be ready for the challenges.

Navigating the inherent power difference between previously detained youth and justice professionals

The training is presented as an opportunity to question the roles of each actor during the judicial procedures, to take distance from those roles and to analyze their effects on the interaction between youth and justice professionals. The absence of legal implications is usually enough to create an atmosphere that is less focused on the distribution of power and more on shared reflection and perspective taking.

In order to further strengthen the power balance, you can have as a requirement for the youngsters’ participation that their judicial proceeding is finalized. That way they feel confident and free to speak and exchange with justice professionals without any fear of retaliation.

Creating the right mindset for the youth trainers to facilitate open, meaningful, person-to-person dialogue

This mindset is usually part of the training preparation sessions and other follow-up meetings – and that is why they are so important. The youth should be trained properly in order to interact with justice professionals. Peer-support, methodological skills, knowledge in terms of legislation, practices and learning from peer-experiences helps building self-confidence and self-awareness. This provides youth with many opportunities to practice this open mode of communication both with each other and with the moderator. Contact between youth and ongoing support is crucial to facilitating and maintaining this openness.

FInally, making it clear to youth trainers that they are an added value to the program due to their experience is important, while ensuring that they are not required to share their story with anyone.

Creating the right mindset for the justice professionals to facilitate open, meaningful, person-to-person dialogue

When the exchange offer is disseminated, the programme with the goals and approaches is included. The professionals who register are thus informed in advance, which can also create a selection bias: the participants who are most likely to register are also those who are to some extent aware of the issues.

Once the exchanges start, participants are reminded of the objectives of the sessions, that is to say the constructive criticism of the juvenile justice system. The youth are then introduced as junior trainers. It is shared that the youngsters were in contact with the justice system in the past, overcame these problems and afterwards undertook a specific training to be part of the program. Thanks to this, they now provide justice professionals with a very relevant perspective of the justice system.

Establishing clear boundaries that help safeguard the youngsters against undue pressure to share personal information

The youth’s experience is crucial for this program as they gained a particular perspective of the justice system. During the exchange sessions, the young trainers provide observations and analysis drawn from their experiences and reflect together on issues that are important to them. However, the scope of the training is not the analysis of their story. It should be clearly stated in the ground rules that questions about the concrete offenses are not encouraged as they are not useful for the purpose of the workshop. Instead, the focus should be on the improvement of the skills and attitude of professionals working in the youth justice system and how they relate to the youth involved in criminal proceedings.

Protecting the well-being and boundaries of individuals when strong emotions arise

It is especially important to discuss the youth’s boundaries on a regular basis, depending on each activity planned. The preparation of activities as a group allows the youth to distance themselves from their experiences and engage instead in an objective analysis of the justice system and its functioning.Likewise, the debrief moments are an opportunity to reflect on the sessions and the emotions it elicited, and how they can be managed in the future.

During the training, it is explained that one of the objectives is to understand what creates the communication blocks between youth and professionals. This leads to an examination of the limits of the system, those of the young people and those of the professionals. Here, it is important to emphasize that the purpose is not criticizing specific individuals, but the functioning and internal dynamics of the system.

Despite precautions, it happened once that a young participant got frustrated during the training. The participants responded in a professional, caring and understanding way. It is important to trust those whose job is to support young people through moments of crisis.

Youthlab Coordinator, Belgium

Nevertheless, in general, the emotions that tend to emerge are more likely to be empathy, a sense of nostalgia, or a commitment to helping youth in conflict with the law.

In addition to the training sessions, it is essential to also consider the own emotional, social, professional, and environmental conditions of the youth as they participate in the project. Depending on their age and the situation they are in, their circumstances can change rapidly, which requires a level of flexibility in participation, but also continuous follow-up based on a relationship of trust.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that involving young people in such an emotionally demanding initiative tends to blur the lines between project supervision and personal involvement for project coordinators. When a young person with a difficult past is recruited, the present is often also delicate. As part of this personal involvement, care must be taken to maintain fluid communication, ongoing support, and a willingness/availability to be flexible, to listen, and to support when needed – even outside of project activities.

Approaching subjects that can create a significant power imbalance

Topics such as remorse can arise, however the discussion should focus more on the quality and adequacy of the youth support services than on youth’s behavior. The goal is to identify communication and support approaches that help to appropriately manage the situation of a young person in conflict with the law, while making them feel heard, understood and respected.

When past behaviors are discussed, it is from the point of view of identifying the needs of young people at key moments in their development and how to best support them.