Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Agency Factors Essay Example for Free

Agency Factors Essay Foster parents are in a tough position. On the one hand they are expected to welcome unfamiliar children into their homes, invest in them emotionally and physically, and help them through a difficult time. On the other hand, this intense investment is supposed to be temporary. When the placement ends, foster parents are expected to disengage in a way that is helpful to the child and everyone else involved. In the hustle and bustle of a placement move, whether the child is going home or moving somewhere else, foster parents feelings of loss are often not given adequate attention. Agency Factors In 1989, Lois Urquhart conducted a study to determine whether foster parents experiences of separation and loss affected their decision to continue fostering children. She surveyed 376 foster homes, 275 of which were licensed and open to children, and 101 of which had been previously-licensed but had closed within the past three years. She found that both groups of families expressed love and affection for their foster children and sadness at their loss. The two groups also felt similar levels of anxiety and uncertainty regarding foster care placements. Urquhart found that although open home respondents more often knew how long a placement would be, both groups rarely knew from the outset a childs length of stay in their homes (p. 203). Urquhart did find two key differences between open and closed foster homes. The first emerged when she asked foster parents how well their agency prepared them for the separation and the grief they would feel at the end of a placement. While 36 percent of foster parents from open homes felt they had been taught skills for coping with a childs removal; only 19 percent of closed homes felt they had been adequately prepared. The other significant difference between open and closed homes had to do with the degree to which they felt their agency supported them before, during, and after separation. Foster parents from open homes felt they were better supported by their agency in every category assessed. Parents from open homes were also provided with information about and contact with former foster children more often than were parents from closed homes. Urquhart concludes that foster parents who are unprepared or unsupported for the separation and loss experience can be considered foster parents at risk of leaving foster care (p. 206). Emotional Factors To continue on in their work after the end of a placement, foster parents need to resolve their grief. One step in this process-expressing the pain associated with the loss-can be especially difficult for some foster parents. In When Foster Children Leave: Helping Foster Parents to Grieve, Susan Edelstein (1981) identifies four obstacles that prevent people from expressing grief over a loss. Foster parents can run up against any or all of these. First, grieving is difficult when the relationship to the lost person was ambivalent or hostile. Foster parents may experience mixed feelings about foster children, especially those who are prone to act out. A second barrier to fully expressing feelings of loss when a child leaves the foster home is the number of other demands placed on foster parents. Usually, there are other foster and biological children still in the home. Foster parents must continue to attend to these children, leaving little opportunity to express themselves. Expectations can be another barrier. It may be an unspoken expectation that foster parents should not get too attached to the children in their homes. Foster parents who express feelings of loss may be considered weak by their agency or other foster parents; they may even have their ability to foster questioned. The final barrier has to do with differences in individual personalities. Some people have a need to always appear confident and independent, and grieving makes them uncomfortable; they view the vulnerability that is part of grief as a sign of weakness. For suggestions for supportingand retainingfoster families, see Support at the End of Placement. References Edelstein, S. (1981). When foster children leave: Helping foster parents to grieve. Child Welfare, 60(7), 467-473. Urquhart, L. (1989). Separation and loss: Assessing the impacts on foster parent retention. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 6(3), 193-209. (c) 1997 Jordan Institute for Families Helping a Child Through a Permanent Separation 1. Help the child face reality. The pain needs to be acknowledged and the grieving process allowed. 2. Encourage the child to express feelings. There can be expressions of reasons for the separation without condemning parents. 3. Tell the truth. You can emphasize that his parents were not able to take care of him without saying, Your mother is an alcoholic. Also, try to deal with the fantasy that children often have that the parents will return. The permanency of the loss needs to be realized. 4. Encourage the child to ask questions. Again, be as truthful in your responses as you can without hurting the child. Never lie to the child, even to spare some pain. 5. Process with the child why the losses occurred. Ask about his ideas of why he has made the moves he has and experienced these losses. 6. Spend time with the child. Any child who has experienced separation feels rejection and guilt. This can interfere with his sense of trust in others and himself. By spending time and talking with the child, a new, trusting relationship can be built between the worker and child during preparation. This, in turn, can lead to other healthy relationships. 7. Encourage information about the past. A childs identity is partly a result of having a past that is continuous. To achieve this continuity, various techniques, such as the Life Book, are valuable. Social, cultural, and developmental information needs to be included in the book and made available to the child. 8. Understand your own feelings. It is difficult to share the pain of separation and to be the one who helps the child face realitysuch as the fact that he may never see his biological or foster parents again. Often, the worker would prefer to avoid the pain and angry feelings. However, if these feelings are not dealt with now, they will recur and may jeopardize placement.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Call To Action :: essays research papers

Call to Action Improve nations balloting but leave control to locals Author Unknown   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SUMMARY: A Call to Action is an article from the Houston Chronicle on Thursday, February 20, 2001 informing the nation on the controversial issue of the nations ballots system. The article begins with the announcement of next month’s Census Bureau release of the population’s data. This means that all the voting boundaries are going to be redrawn and reconfigured. It continues to talk about the amazingly close and controversial presidential election on November 7th. Difficulties erupted all over the state of Florida and throughout the United States in which the reliability and accuracy of the balloting system is questioned. Fortunately, because of the controversial ballots and ballot systems there have been numerous groups and committees organized to study and improve our out of date voting system. It says that several people in Congress are working on multiple bills being created to establish nation wide standards for ballot-counting systems. The article states, â€Å" One U.S. House lawmaker, Beaumont Democrat Nick Lampson, wants national standards for voting machines and poll closing times.† The author agrees with Lampson in that the voting machines have multiple flaws, one being the problematic punch card ballots. But he also thinks that the press would throw a fit if there was a national closing time at the polls just for the sake of avoiding early winning announcements. The National Association of Secretaries of State’s task force on election standards suggests leaving the enforcement issue to locals but have the government pay for voting machines. They also recommend â€Å"†¦more voter education, improved training for poll workers and maintaining up-to-date voter rolls†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . In the end the author feels that the communities should take on the responsibilities for reformation instead of an all-in-one government plan. He closes by reminding the reader that the nation’s President is elected through the Electora l College and the communities should supervise the voting procedure. OPINION: I agree with the author’s view on improving the voting system. I believe something needs to be done at least by the next election. In the election of 2000, Florida happened to be the center of the maelstrom. I find it hard to believe that any state that has had problems in the past with voting irregularities would continue to use the same flawed ballot system. Florida continues using a system year after year that allows people to vote twice on one ballot for the same political office, or that makes the results questionable because the paper might not be punched through enough for the machines to compute the votes?

Monday, January 13, 2020

Global and International Business Contexts Essay

Introduction This report has been written by the Boston Consulting Group and uses Porter’s national diamond analysis model to evaluate the attractiveness of investment opportunities in the Tunisian wine industry. Also discussed are two key management issues that need to be taken into account before developing operations in Tunisia followed by recommendations on two strategies for entry into the Tunisian wine industry market. In terms of background to this report, it should be noted that the global market for wine industry is changing significantly with substantial differences in the structure of the wine industry around the world. For instance, there are 232,900 wine producers in France but the top 10 brands control only 4% of the market. In contrast, four firms control over 75% of the Australian wine market. Hence there is a marked difference in industry structure when comparing the â€Å"New World† producers (e.g. Australia, Chile, United States) to the â€Å"Old World† fir ms. These structural differences are driven by institutional diversity and contrasting patterns of historical development in countries. However, they are also driven by the competitive strategies employed by particular firms which are determining factors discussed in Porter’s Diamond model. Porter’s diamond model allows an analysis of why some industries within nations are more competitive than others and takes into account the home base of a business (Tunisia) as one element that plays an important part in  successfully achieving competitive advantage in the global market. (See insert 1.1) Part 1: Porter’s National Diamond Analysis Porter’s national diamond analysis model has four main determinants, which are factor conditions, related and supporting industries, demand conditions as well as strategy, structure and rivalry. Factor Conditions Factor conditions are those factors that can be utilised by companies inherently found within a nation which might provide competitive advantage such as human resources, material resources, knowledge resources, capital resources and infrastructure. These factor conditions can be built upon by companies to improve their competitiveness. Factor conditions could be divided into two resources as home grown resources and highly specialised resources. As Michael Porter described, the home grown resources are important and in the case of Tunisia includes the natural resource of a climate well suited to wine growing, plenty of sunshine, fertile soil as well as limited pollution which all aid the industry of grape planting. Political and historical factors through Tunisia’s history such as the romans, French occupation which resulted in over 600 caves being created for wine aging and a recent flourish in the Tunisian wine industry after the 1980’s has left Tunisia with a number of cooperatives and engineers all with specialist skills in wine production where modern techniques are being used creating innovation, technical progress and competitive advantage. The relative low cost of employment and salary levels in Tunisia compared to European countries brings with it a further home grown Tunisian competitive advantage together with an increasingly skilled base of employees who have worked in the wine industry. (http://www.tunisieindustrie.nat) Salary Per hour rate In Tunisia: 48-hour workweek: 1.538 DT per hr – Equates to 53p (in British pounds) per hour 40-hour workweek: 1.584 DT (http://www.tunisieindustrie.nat) Demand Conditions This is the demand for products in the home market which can be influenced by three factors; the mix of customer’s needs, the scope of domestic demand and growth and how the needs of domestic market translate into the global market. Whilst the annual domestic wine consumption per person in Tunisia is only 8/9 litres compared to an average of 60 litres a year in France, a domestic wine industry is likely to encourage greater levels of demand at  home from loyal customers to increasing levels of tourists (Ariaoui, 2007). Also consumer attitudes and behaviour play a role in domestic wine consumption because wine plays a very different role in European culture as compared to American, Australian culture or even Tunisian culture. In Europe wine remains part of everyday life and consumers often drink it along with the daily meal. Financial incentives offered by the Tunisian authorities have further helped to support the domestic wine industry making it more attractive to foreign i nvestors. As in new world producers, these investments in the Tunisian wine industry have helped encourage innovation enabling Tunisian wine growers to enhance the consistency and the quality of their wines by reducing operating costs through the increasing use of machinery to harvest the grapes crops. Tunisia can also learn from the New World which has more extensive and well-developed markets for its grapes, making it easier for wineries to find multiple avenues for sourcing production. Related and Supporting Industries At present, Tunisia make wines ranging from average to high levels of quality and they export their products to the whole world including famous brand names such as Carignan, Mourvà ¨dre and Muscat of Alexandria. The Tunisia government has supported their domestic wine industry through the construction of railways and roads (national infrastructure) to enhance the innovation and technological development in wine making which in turn is benefiting other related and supporting industries such as transport, holiday and leisure industry, technology and machinery. Taxes at 18% on wine consumption in Tunisia also provide an important income for the Tunisian treasury and so restrictions are unlikely in the future as in such nations as the US, Chile, and South Africa and should ensure continued support from the Tunisian government. Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry The structure and management systems of firms in different countries can potentially affe ct competitiveness and how well a company is able to use its existing organisational structure whether it is hierarchal or flat, against current and potential competitive companies. It is very important that the Tunisian wine industry pays close attention to its industry and company structures and strategies to ensure it is suitable for expansion into the global market. Porter argues that domestic rivalry which involves company structures and the need to pursue competitive within a country like Tunisia  could help provide the wine industry with a basis for achieving global leadership. Structural differences including institutional differences in wine production countries vary considerably and are often influenced by regulatory agencies such as in France, for instance which employs very strict regulations that constrain production so that producers can only designate sparkling wine as â€Å"Champagne† if they produce it using three grape varieties grown in the region with the same name unlike Australia which has a very loose regulatory structure allowing winemakers to source grapes from diverse geographic regions within the country. Different levels of subsidies have led to structural differences globally in wine making such as European governments who often subsidise their small farmers who grow grapes whereas subsidies tend to be lower or nonexistent in most New World nations. In addition, capital markets and corporate ownership patterns differ between geographic regions where typically Europe tends to have many more privately held firms in contrast to most of the largest winemakers in the United States and Australia who have become publicly traded corporations. Land ownership and historical patterns of development represent another major factor explaining the structural differences between global wine production areas. For example in the Old World, winemaking has been organised around family farms for centuries. and the land has remained in family ownership for generations. However currently, Tunisian landowners appear to be able to exert power in particular locations where high-quality land is scarce. This appears to be a problem where most producers are small, and good new acreage in Tunisia is extremely scarce but it is worth noting that grapes now cover more than 10,000 hectares of land in Tunisia compared to around 100 hectares in 1889 and wine production ranks third in Tunisian agriculture just behind olive oil and wheat production (Ariaoui, 2007). Finally, the competitive strategies of firms can affect industry structure such as the United States and Australia where publicly traded firms are much more prevalent. These firms have altered the industry structure and competitive landscape through their acquisition strategies, consumer branding and advertising strategies, capital investment plans, and technology initiatives. Consolidation of the wine Industry began to increase over the past decade, particularly among the New World producers with the consolidation of some premium wineries merging with direct rivals such as Rosemount creating some major global producers.  In terms of industrial structure, Tunisia, as yet is a small but relatively high cost producer of wine in comparison but now successfully exports millions of litres of wine annually to Europe, Russia and the US with two thirds of its wine production being controlled by the UCCCV (Union Centrale des Coopà ©ratives Viticoles) and is looking for global partners to exploit and develop Tunisian wine production opportunities. Part 2: Contemporary Management issues Leadership Style It is undisputable that many of the global wine producing companies who used to dominate the market are now experiencing a decline in market share. There are several reasons that can be used to explain such a decline including leadership style. The appropriate leadership styles are those that can enable the manager to interact closely both with the employees and the customers and as a facilitator whose major role is to bring together and create an organisational culture that is streamlined a geared towards meeting the goals and mission of the organisation. If the Tunisian Wine Industry is keen to expand, its management team should know that leading others is not a simple task. As a people manager, a leader has to treat everyone as equal regardless of their title or position and maintain a pleasant demeanor (Ljungholm, 2014). It is about focusing on gaining trust and commitment rather than enforcing fear and compliance. To be able to lead well, leaders need to be guided by appropriate leadership theories. Some of the theories proposed include supportive leadership model and transformative leadership model. These models should enable the Tunisian wine industry to adapt new environment easily and are described below. Supportive leadership model Supportive leadership model, is where the manager supports every stakeholder emotionally and professionally in an attempt to ensure that he or she performs optimally. It also focuses in forging and creating collaborating and binding relationships among employees (Mahalinga Shiva, & Suar, 2012). The workplace is often made up of people from diverse backgrounds, with varying needs and wants and it calls for patience, understanding and proper leadership skills. The supportive model believes that influencing people to do something is more productive and sustainable than barking orders and instructions to people (Hutchinson &  Jackson, 2013). A leader should always keep in mind that as a manager, he or she has to â€Å"Treat everyone as equal regardless of their title or position and remember to smile a lot and always maintain a pleasant demeanor.â €  The leader should focus on gaining trust and commitment rather than fear and compliance (Hutchinson & Jackson, 2013). This cannot be achieved without deliberately motivating the people to become better. Motivating them requires that you first understand their training and development needs. The leader should learn to foster warm relationships amongst the Tunisian employees to understand them and identify ways in which interpersonal relationships can be improved for a more fulfilling work experience. Transformative leadership model The second most important model is transformational leadership theory or model. This is a new model that was formed in around 1970s following the realisation that there was need of greater flexibility in employment. The current employment conditions have changed significantly and this model is particularly relevant to the Tunisian wine industry which is relatively new as an industry (1980’s onwards) and because most of the Tunisians of employable age are from the millennial generation. One thing to note about this new generation is that it is educated and culturally more mixed than any generation before them. In the US this typically means they are job-hoppers who hate officialdom and mistrust traditional hierarchies (Goudreau, 2013). This group of employees, according to Forbes, is willing to sacrifice pay for increased vacation time and the ability to work outside the office. According to the study conducted by Forbes, one of the ways of motivating this generation is that they want employers who offer flexibility or rather alternative work arrangement. The transformational leadership is characterised by a lot of motivation as under this leadership model, the leader is expected to provide constructive feedback, encourage employees to exert effort and to think creatively about complex problems (Xueli, Lin & Mian, 2014). Transformational leadership is based on what is called lead, learn and grow model.. A leader can implement transformational leadership by keeping track of the impact of his action, engaging in formal evaluation at the right time (Abbasi, & Zamani-Miandashti, 2013). A leader must also be willing and able to learn on an ongoing basis and should realise that learning is never complete. That is why under transformational leadership, no one is an expert (Watts, &  Corrie, 2013). Unlike in most European wine producing areas the problem with most leaders there, is that they tend to believe that they are qualified or that they are expert, whereas in Tunisia producers are looking for expertise outside of the country and seem willing to learn. Tunisia wine production has an opportunity to analyse and create and take into account the appropriate leadership style for the wine industry and country that will be maximise competitive advantage before wine production operations can be developed in the country. Part 2: Continued Contemporary Management issues Knowledge and Change Management Rapid changes in business and technology and increasing competitions means organisations have to adapt the best training and education to enable them continue to stay on top of their games. The complexity, relative newness and competitiveness of the Tunisian wine industry environment requires that Tunisian companies will have to continuously raise the bar on their effectiveness to compete globally. Top performance increasingly demands excellence in all areas, including leadership, strategy, productivity, and adaptation to change, process improvement, and capability enhancement on knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies, trust and motivation. An organisation in the wine industry should ensure that all levels of employees are given the opportunity to continue to improve by acquiring new skills through training. Much of the improvements needed in business to meet the demands of changing markets and economic conditions can only result from well-implemented organisational change measured against increased technological excellence and operational efficiency as well as productivity. Kotter (2011) defines change management as the utilisation of basic structures and tools to control any organizational change effort. Change management’s goal is to minimise the distractions and impacts of the change. Organisational change is incredibly complex and one of the key skills for managers is to understand the nature of change and to prepare themselves to lead and manage change in their unique organisational contexts. Where there is a lack of knowledge in the Tunisian wine business in terms of management strategies to deal with changing markets and economic conditions, Tunisia will need to look at their alliance business partners and those business  sectors in Tunisia that are successful in order to transfer and recruit the necessary management skills to succeed. Part 3: Market entry strategy – Strategy No 1 Formulating a mode of entry is very important factor that a company or industry intending to expand into a new market should bear in mind and predicts whether the company will turn out to be successful or not. The entry mode, according to International Business Publications (2009), is important in protecting the company from facing challenges such as legal, registration and even cultural challenges. In selecting the entry mode, the company should put into consideration the cost of doing business in destination country, and determine which entry mode will help in cutting down those costs and at the same time will ensure that the Tunisian wine industry gets maximum profits and also the largest market share in the target nation. In terms of advantages and based on the market situation, this paper proposes that the Tunisian Wine Industry should adopt cross-border strategic alliances to take advantage of a number of benefits compared with the export strategies. For example it creates different synergies in the domestic and foreign markets. In addition, it promotes production alliances, which help each of the allied firms to reduce production costs both in their domestic plants as well as their foreign plants. As far as distribution costs is concerned, the cross-border marketing, which is a product of cross-border strategic alliance, reduces the allied firms’ distribution costs in their foreign market (Qiu, 2006). Compared to other entry mode methods, cross-border strategic alliances create different synergies in the domestic and foreign markets (Qiu, 2006). Some of the synergies include production cost synergies and distribution costs synergies. These synergies will help the Tunisian wine industry to reduce the production and distribution costs and hence increase profits. In terms of disadvantages, cross-border strategic alliances can sometimes lead to a loss of control of individual wine production and their related services. Members of Tunisian wine production may well find that they can become restricted and unable to take decisions by themselves without first referring to the alliance partners. In addition, the complexity of making business alliances work is high and could further complicate business  structures, exacerbate cultural differences and have detrimental effects on intercompany working relationships. Part 3: Market entry strategy – Strategy No 2 Alternatively, the Tunisian Wine Industry may enter into new market through what is called licensing. Licensing mode of market entry allows foreign firms, either exclusively or non-exclusively to manufacture a licensed product in a certain market under specific condition and for this reason is particularly relevant to the situation faced by the Tunisian wine industry. A licensor in the home country makes limited rights or resources available to the licensee in the foreign country in which he or she is to do the business. This includes any resources may like patents, technology trademarks, managerial skills that can make it possible for the licensee to manufacture and sell in the foreign country a similar product to the one the licensor has already been producing and supplying in his home country. This enables the licensor to have several shares in similar companies without necessarily having to open a new branch in other countries. The licensor is usually paid on basis of one time payments, mechanical fees and royalty payments usually calculated as a percentage of sales resultant thereafter. The decision of making an international license agreement depend on the respect that foreign government show for intellectual property. The licensee should be able to cooperate with the licensor to avoid unhealthy completion in the market. In terms of advantages, licensing is a flexible agreement and can be adjusted any time to suit the conveniences of the both parties. However, this mode of entry can be disadvantageous to the licensee, as parts of the profits have to be shared to the licensor on these terms. Recovering the initial profit and getting reasonable profits can take a relatively longer period of time. Again it can also result in the loss of control over manufacturing and marketing of goods and export to other countries. A further risk to the Tunisian wine industry to take into account when considering this strat egy is that the foreign licensee may sell similar competitive wine products after the licensing agreement has expired. Recommendations To Board of Directors To conclude, when entering into a new market, there are many existing factors  to keep in mind. Porter’s national diamond model can help potential investors by allowing them to understand the macro environment in the Tunisian wine industry. Generally speaking, factor condition, demand condition, related and supporting industries and rivalry could encourage the entering activities. It is worth noting that the past high cost performance of Tunisian wine could also become a strong competitive advantage by restricting new entrants into the Tunisian wine producing market. As for recommendations, Tunisia offers the advantages of a natural wine producing climate and fertile soils, a relatively low cost of employment, significant financial incentives and investment in the countries’ infrastructure by the Tunisian government and unrestricted company structures and land ownership. The limitations of Tunisian wine industry relate to the relatively higher costs of wine production in Tunisia, increase in licensing opportunities across the wine industry and cross border alliances which can complicate international working relationships and introduce some uncertainty in the future as licensees from other countries continue to exploit Tunisian wine production opportunities resulting in possible delays in the release of profits available to international investing businesses. Appendices: Appendix 1 Insert 1.1 – Porters National Diamond Analysis Model References: Ariaoui Jamal, (Web) A Guided Tour of Tunisia’s Wine road, Magharebia, 2007 Rugman, A. & Collinson, S. (2012). International Business. (6th ed.), Pearson: Prentice Hall Dicken, P. (2011). Global Shift. 6th ed. Sage Hill, C. (2009) International Business, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill Peng, M. & Meyer, K. (2009) International Business, Cengage Learning Porter, M. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93. Porter, M. (1990). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Harvard Business Review, March-April. Peng, M. (2014) Global Business, 3rd International Edition, South-Western Cengage Learning Xueli, W., Lin, M., & Mian, Z. (2014). Transformational Leadership and Agency Workers’ Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Effect of Organizational Justice and Job Characteristics. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 42(1), 25-36. Goudreau, J., 2013, 7 Surprising Ways to Motivate Millennial Workers. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/03/07/7-surprising-ways-to-motivate-millennial-workers/ Ingrid B. (2006). Facilitating to Lead. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0-7879-7731-4 Watts, M, & Corrie, S 2013, ‘Growing the ‘I’ and the ‘We’ in Transformational Leadership: The LEAD, LEARN & GROW Model’, Coaching Psychologist, 9, 2, pp. 86-99, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. LJUNGHOLM, D 2014, ‘The Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership In Public Administration’, Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice, 6, 1, pp. 110-115, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. SHENG-MIN, L, & JIAN-QIAO, L 2013, ‘Transformational Leadership and Speaking Up: Power Distance And Structural Distance As Moderators’, Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journa l, 41, 10, pp. 1747-1756, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Abbasi, E, & Zamani-Miandashti, N 2013, ‘The role of transformational leadership, organizational culture and organizational learning in improving the performance of Iranian agricultural faculties’, Higher Education, 66, 4, pp. 505-519, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Mahalinga Shiva, M, & Suar, D 2012, ‘Transformational Leadership, Organizational Culture, Organizational Effectiveness, and Programme Outcomes in Non-Governmental Organizations’, Voluntas: International Journal Of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, 23, 3, pp. 684-710, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Hutchinson, M, & Jackson, D 2013, ‘Transformational leadership in nursing: towards a more critical interpretation’, Nursing Inquiry, 20, 1, pp. 11-22, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2014. Qiu, L. D. (2006). Cross-Borde r Strategic Alliances and Foreign Market Entry. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Retrieved from: http://www.etsg.org/ETSG2006/papers/Qiu.pdf

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Government Youth Offending

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5619 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Introduction The purpose of this dissertation is to see if the government policy for youth offending has reduced the amount of youth offenders and also if governments strategies are affective in order to tackle youth offending. Chapter 1 Define youth offending; what are youth offending and what crimes are classified as youth offending and what the major of youth crime activity is taken place. The change of crime in youths before and now. What is youth offending and what policies are used to deal with criminal activity youth offender. What types of crime are considered as offending for youth? Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Government Youth Offending | Criminology Dissertations" essay for you Create order What is Youth Offending?, Who Are Youth Offenders? Youth is considered in the criminal justice system a young person or child age from 10-17 as stated by the Youth justice board .A child or young person who breaks the Law and is guilty is classified as a youth offender. Youth crime can consist of different types of criminal actively such as anti- social behaviour, theft, assault and even murder. This is similar to adult crime as breaking the Law is considered as a criminal offence no matter the age. Youth crime can be proven to harm and be dangerous to the community. It could damage the future of the youth by having a life of crime. According to the House office Youth crime harms communities, creates a culture of fear and damages the lives of some of our most vulnerable young people (www.homeoffice.gov.uk) .The impact of youth crime has caused a disturbance within society which has resulted in policies changing quite often in order to overcome youth crime. Out of the youth justice system young could be a different margin for example from seventeen to twenty-one in general terms is classified as young In many countries crime committed by young people and children has become a major battle of politicians. Many politicians believe that youth offenders should be prepared to receive the punishment for the crime they have committed. According to (Simon,2000) politicians across the political spectrum have demanded that if a young offenders are prepared to do the crime they should also be prepared to do the time and that in some cases they should do this time in the same place as adults (Pitts,J. (2003).) The government have become aware of youth offending and are taking it much more seriously the previously. Punishment has been considered is the main way youths should suffer the same as adults for the actions. Young people and crime have many similarities with the adult offenders. Both adult and youth may have a balance between punishment, rehabilitation and deterrence and that between the rights and responsibilities (including the victims) of offender. ( Pitts,J. (2003). p71) there are different types of sentences from discharges to custody and fines depending on the offence. The England and Wales criminal justice system identifies young people aged between ten and seventeen are classified as youth and are dealt with in a different justice system which is called the youth justice system. Youth offenders have its own courts, custodial institutions, professional personnel and in many cases sentences ( Kirton, D. (2005)) This has become the main part in the youth justice system as children and young peoples mentality and understanding are different to adults so therefore children and young people may not be fully aware and fully at fault for the offence. Youth justice system is a system created so treatment is the main priority of young people and children who are suffering from welfare and other problems as educational, poverty and drugs etc. The youth justice system would consider that the evidence regarding the youth offender and decided what is the best punishment or treatment need which is going to benefit the youth. This is done mainly to prevent the youth from offending again by tackling the problems before it could mean the youth is less likely to offend again. Some organisations consider twenty one year olds or even up to twenty five or thirty as young but according to the youth justice system over seventeen years of age is considered full responsible for the offence so the criminal justice system would deal with the case of over seventeen people. The youth justice believe that youths aged from ten to seventeen are not in the full state of mind compared to an adult for example if a ten year old was to kill someone they would not be liable for a first degree murder due to they cannot distinguish between right and wrong. some groups believe that youths who commit a offence should have the same punishments as adults and others believe that youths at ages from ten to seventeen cannot full be responsible for the action (Jamie bugler case two ten years old killed a child younger then them) Youth policies in the justice system regarding youth offending are mainly set by the government which have installed the youth justice board during the years of 1998 and 1999. Policies were set before by the government and still are mainly but the youth justice board is there to make sure organisations who are trying to prevent youth offending are doing their jobs. Policies such as the Crime and Disorder act in 1998 which was a policy set by the government to create multi-agency panels in order to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Standards had to be achieved as it was consider as the biggest shake up in the youth justice system according to Jack straw (Pitts,J. (2003). P88). Policies could benefit for and against for example policies regarding social, economical, health and welfare were seen as the main policies for organisations who worked for youth offenders to apply such as the Treatment of youth offenders. Then policies regarding tougher punishments were put in to action now a more multi-agency with treatment and also punishment depending on evidence policy is present. Were it would be considered by a panel which would decided what would be the best method for the youth offender not to re-offend. The main policies regarding youth offenders are introduced by the government s rules and regulations for youth organisations, new legislations and Laws. The youth justice system was introduced policies in force were changing quite often as punishment was the main type of sentence but due to children and adults having their differences (mental, economical, knowledge). Duty of care for children and young people should be considered as from research according to Derek Kirton it could be said that many youth offenders suffer from poor welfare, economical issues, family, health and educational problems. Accoutring to the Home office statistics levels of youth offenders you have these problems are quite high. Punishment may not be considered the best method to help youths in welfare problems. As a result of this future policies changed in order to prevent youth offending by offering treatment instead of punishment. Policies may change depending on research and results as improvement may not be visible. The youth justice system is a system that is created to deal with young people who have offended as it is believed that the young should be treated differently for the offence as young people are not fully aware and knowledgeable as an adult. This system was first introduced in the nineteenth century as pressure from groups by the media, religious, and welfare believed that children are less aware of the offences they commit then an adult. Before the youth justice system was developed young people and children were no different to adults as youths would also be sentenced to the adult jail. After a short period of time when there was no differences for youths and adults, industrial schools were introduced for seven to fourteen year olds convicted of vagrancy( Pitts,J 2003).) as Newborn 1995 stated .these industrial schools were to keep youths out of adult prisons due to the level of corruption and brutality in the adult prisons. Youths and children would stay in the industrial school like it was a jail just for young people and children. The system for youths started to change even more as industrial schools started to expand and more children and young people were held there. As a result of this pressures from political groups due to the increasing level of crimes among youths was getting out of control and media and many off the public became aware of this. Informal social controls and the drunkenness, vice, violence and crime to which gave rise (Pitts,J 2003). It became a major scare as many believed that the justice system and other groups cannot control this crisis. As this crisis was mainly for social controls the media, police and politicians main priority was to control and to remove the crisis. As the level of crime was rising the method of the industrial schools should how unstable the policies and strategies were. it shows that the strategies and the policies of punishment is clearly not working as crime is escalating . During this time punishment was tough unlike today where children and young people have they own justice system and are not as tough on punishment as it was around two centuries ago. Then youths and children were punished similar as how adults were .The social controls were out of hand and it was decided by the government to create committees which would concentrate on the treatment (Pitts,J 2003)of the youth offender instead of punishment. The government created two committees which were Gladstone committee and the Lushingto committee (Pitts,J 2003) these committees were created to be lesstough on youths offenders as they believed that treatment instead of punishment would reduce crime. This may perhaps be that what the government wants to do deal with the problem before it occurs for example a child or young person may offend due to problems at home or even educational problems as a result the committees would try to help children or young people over come this problem as if not treated then a youth may be in a condition where they are not fully aware of offending (need example to back me up) custody was also introduced by the government as the offender could be confined. Treatment was also only offered if there was enough evidence to support the fact that the child was affected by any of the following sciences consisting of paediatrics, child psychology, criminology and penology. This was a newer form of youth justice introduced by the youth justice system, but responsibility was held by the juvenile courts according to (Pitts,J 2003). Chapter 2 Historical context of youth offending, what were the previous strategies and how were they implemented? What are the current strategies (ones that are used now) and what strategies are being considered for the future. What are the objectives of the strategies? The Youth Justice System. What it is, how it is used, the benefits and the weakness of the system. What are the objectives of the governments youth justice strategies. What objectives have been achieved and what are the aims of the government to achieve the target. Have the government met the objectives if so how The aim of the youth justice system is to reduce this major problem of youth crime by building safer communities and to tackle the problem of social exclusion (Home Office, 2008). Social exclusion has led individuals and groups to suffer as it has partitioned them to participate with society activities due to their socioeconomic factors. Chapter 3 What and How effective are the current strategies in place to deal with youth offenders.figures that show Yots etc are working , Talk about organisations such Yots, parenting schemes and other methods used by the government .. The positives and negatives, such as cost etc. what they are doing to try and achieve their aim. Talk about some youth programmes set up in order to reduce crime. Yots mainly but look at other services . In order to tackle youth crime the government introduced the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 where Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) where introduced. These teams are multi-agency bodies with the primary aim of preventing offending by children and young people. Their aim is also to prevent young people from re-offending in which support is given to them by the YOTs (Bateman et al, 2005). One of the areas covered by youth offending teams is to tackle anti-social behaviour which includes harassment of residents or passers-by verbal abuse, criminal damage, vandalism, noise nuisance, graffiti, engaging in threatening behaviour in, large groups, smoking or drinking alcohol under age, substance misuse, joy-riding, begging, prostitution, kerb-crawling, throwing missiles, assault and vehicle-related nuisance (YJB, 2005 pg 5). The old youth justice, proved by the Audit Commission (1996) caused high levels of crime such as vandalism, thefts and burglaries. This system was confirmed to be inefficient and expensive as it resulted to a little being done to tackle youth crime and showed high levels of re-offending. The Audit Commission in 1996 established a report Misspent Youth where many recommendations were highlighted for the new youth justice (Goldson, 2000). The key recommendation in the report was to carry out intervening with youth in the early stages of their career so that their offending behaviour can be targeted. The White Paper No More Excuses also stated that YOTs will need to, Deliver community intervention programmes to make youngsters face up to the consequences of their crimes and learn to change the habits and attitudes which lead them into offending and anti-social behaviour. The programmes might adopt techniques such as: group work; family group conferencing and mentoring (Home Office, 1997) Chapter 4 Is the emphasis tough on crime or tough on comers of crime? Look at the punishment and sentencing, public perception look at differences like police want tougher laws on youths but social workers think education and rehabilitation programmes are better .look at the Hansard arguments and news articles to see. How effective are the current strategies in place. Are they reducing the level of crime among youths? Are there different punishments for youths? Level of youths reoffending. Look in to Suggestions instead of punishments Chapter 5 Which interest groups are involved in creating youth offending policies, look at statistics from 2002/03and 2006/07 and compare the data see if the rates are falling etc and which crimes where low and high. Argue for and against punishment and prevention and punishment and rehabilitation. See in the results if punishment becoming harsher is better than the welfare state before and what is happing now such as Multi Agencies. Also look at which types of youth offend and reoffend the reasons behind this. The statistics from 2002/03 compared with 2006/07. What is found and where should the YJS change and forces on etc. The main aim of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) is to prevent crime, the police alone have been relatively ineffective agents of crime prevention due to crime being a multi-faceted in both its causes and effects (Bateman, 2007). Multi-agency is a process that the Audit Commission believed would play a vital role to divert young people from the courts and prevent them from re-offending in which programmes set up by the Youth Offending Teams which will help them to change and also to face up to the harm caused due to their behaviour (Goldson, 2000). Local authorities (LA) gained a huge statutory responsibility in which they had to implement a multi-agency response to youth crime; previously it had been up to the LA to determine how they did so. The Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) required all local authorities with social services and education responsibilities to replace social services youth justice team (Burnett, 2005 pg 106) with Youth Offending teams. Each team consisted of representatives from the local probation and police services, health, education and social services (Burnett, 2005 pg 106). 14 pilot Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISPs) were set up in April 2003 by the Youth Justice Board. This was to target those who were likely to be at the risk of offending, the age range targeted was 8-13 year olds (Youth Justice Board, 2003). The Youth Justice Board (YJB) was first established in 1998 by the Labour Government in which their focus was on the Youth Justice System. YOTs are monitored by the YJB where their performance is measured and aims and objectives are given to them resulting to broad range of expectations that YOTs are supposed to fulfil hence a need for a broad range of expertise within the teams. It is essential for YOTs to develop efficient administration of justice so that when a young person breaks the law; their case is handled and dealt effectively and efficiently. It is vital for the offender to take responsibility for their offence so therefore the YOTs aim is to confront the individual in an appropriate manner so that effective communication is implemented. This will enable them to intervene with one another and discuss factors which causes the individual at a risk of offending. Punishment must be given to the offender which is proportionate to the seriousness of their crime and encouraging reparation to the victims by the offender. Parent responsibilities are also taken account of by the YOTs and are reinforced. YOTs work with a range of services and interventions such as, housing authorities, social services, housing providers and voluntary groups (https://www.yjb.gov.uk ). The YJB sets out corporate targets for YOTs annually. The corporate objectives for 2006/07 to 2008/09 are divided into 3 sections: Reduce offending and the use of custody Support the youth justice system to reduce the number of first-time entrants to the youth justice system by 5% by March 2008 compared to the March 2005 baseline. Support the youth justice system to protect victims and communities by reducing re-offending by young offenders by 5% by March 2008 compared with the 2002/03 baseline, working towards a 10% reduction by the end of the decade. Support the youth justice system to, between 31 March 2005 and 31 March 2008, reduce the size of the under-18 custodial population by 10% through the implementation of the minimising the use of custody work programme. Improve outcomes for children and young people Support the youth justice system to improve the assessment of risk and need for young people who have offended, and improve their access to specialist and mainstream services that will address the factors identified. To ensure that YOTs have action plans in place to achieve equal treatment at local level for comparable offences by different ethnic groups and to deliver targeted prevention activity that substantially reduces local differences by ethnicity in recorded conviction rates, by March 2008. Safe and appropriate use of custody To ensure that all girls under 18 years of age who are remanded or sentenced to custody are accommodated in secure establishments that are separate from adults by October 2006, and replace 250 places for boys in shared adult sites with separate facilities by March 2008. (source: YJB, 2005 pg 6) These aims will help the members in the youth offending team to stay focus on the targets and will direct them to meet them, they are also able to carry out an effective service by monitoring the treatment of young offenders and reducing inequalities, improving access to mainstream services which will help to increase confidence in the youth justice system (YJB, 2005 pg 6). There are key aims that Rose Burnett has identified that underpin Youth Offending Teams that focus on preventing offending and effective practice is made easier by a multi-agency approach, that can respond to young people in an holistic fashion. Youth justice workers should join forces with other professionals this explored the argument regarding young people being related to problems such as truancy, drug abuse and family breakdown each being handled by separate agencies (Burnett, 2005 pg107). Due to YOTs this would prevent a duplication of effort, inconsistencies and differences in emphasis if the team worked effectively together tackling these problems (Burnett, 2005 pg107). All parties should share the aim of preventing offending as over time the approaches to the youth justice have altered which has caused a lot of confusion regarding the purpose and function of the youth justice system. The government established the paper No More Excuses in which they have stated their intention to break with the previous culture of youth justice where young peoples offending was exempt due to a concentration being on their needs rather than their deeds (Burnett, 2005 pg 107). The paper clearly identified the aims of reducing crime by young people which were given to the members of the Youth Offending Team (Burnett, 2005 pg 107). YOTs work in partnership who works in conjunction with all other departments in order to achieve the aims set out. The youth offending teams work in a range of services such as, courts and the prison services, they are also involved in complementary inter-agency initiatives, such as child protection committees and community safety partnerships. The goal is to provide a joined up, corporate approach to preventing youth offending. Both the Government and the youth justice board emphasised that YOTs were not intended to belong to any of the individual agencies. This is a partnership approach which is between all the parties (Burnett, 2005). There are many advantages of multi-agency working within a Youth Offending Team alongside disadvantages which cause areas of concern and which will have to be taken account of. To begin with the advantages of multi- agency working, by working within a Youth Offending Team will result to knowledge and skills being shared. Each member of the team will provide one another with the required information on an informal, ad hoc basis therefore there will be no need for them to write off for information or wait for a return phone call (Burnett, 2005 pg 109). This saves time and communication will be more effective and efficient. By working in the same office was believed to be a great advantage due to a quick access to information and advice (Burnett, 2004). A holistic approach is achieved due to all the representatives of all the relevant disciplines being under one room (Bateman et al, 2005 pg 109). If however, cases do arise which lay outside the expertise of the responsible officer then there is usually someone with the required experience, knowledge and skills in the particular area to handle the problem and also recommend suggestions (Burnett, 2005 pg 109). This therefore portrays that multi-agency teams appear to be very beneficial as they bring together seamless youth justice service closer (Burnett, 2005 pg 109). The availability of representatives from different services facilitate the referral of young people to those services (Burnett, 2005 pg 109. This reduces lengthy waiting lists and also complicated referral procedures that are likely to occur. Opportunities of having the right person in the right place at the right time (Burnett, 2005 pg 109) are increased which is hassle free and more convenient for individuals. For instance young people who offend and get into trouble, frequently may have mental health problems for this reason having a health worker in the Youth Offending Team, who is an employee of Children and Adolescent mental health services would improve the access of YOT kids to such mainstream services. The same theory can be applied with education and children out of school. This illustrates that multi-agency teams are well placed to reintegrate socially excluded young people into mainstream provision. Focusing on the disadvantages of multi-agency working shows that, a YOT consists of people from different occupational backgrounds; therefore, this may cause cultural differences especially in the process of decision making and may result to conflicts and misunderstandings between the staff. This will have a negative impact upon the service of the YOT and cause implications for effective practice. Each member of the Youth Offending Team is recognised as a team and not an individual therefore when problems do arise there will be a high risk on the group as a whole for example on effective communication amongst the individuals. Looking at recent statistics the Lets Talk about It report states for youth Offending Teams to work effectively, there needs to be effective joint working across specialities, 15% of the YOTs consisted of problems due to joint working between the specialist health and substance misuse workers and case managers. The reason for these problems was due to the lack of adequate procedures for the sharing of information that affected many Youth Offending Teams (Healthcare Commission, 2006). The multi-agency members may be part of one team but may receive different conditions to their service. For instance the operational managers might receive lower salaries than some of the practitioners under their supervision (Burnett, 2005 pg 109), this shows that conflicts may arise between the staff regarding different rewards being attained. This is also explored by Sampson et al (1988) where it can be seen that the police are often more dominating which results to them ignoring the multi agency team which may cause conflicts among the members of the team and shows how tensions between partners with different priorities can arise. The police are often enthusiastic proponents of the multi-agency approach but they tend to prefer to set the agendas and to dominate forum meetings and then to ignore the multi-agency framework when it suits their own needs (Sampson et al, 1998). There has been a debate whether the team members in a Youth Offending Team should be generalist or specialists. Research carried out on behalf of the YJB found out that, in practice many specialist health, education and substance misuse staff are under pressure to undertake generic youth justice duties. This shows an ongoing difficulty of obtaining specialist services from outside of the YOT and contributes to a dilution of specialist provision within it (Pitcher et al, 2004). A Youth Offending Team consists of members from different occupations for example a police officer or an education worker (Burnett, 2005 pg 109), by working in a YOT the members may lose their real identity and profession and for this reason they may not be able to bring their distinctive professional contribution into the YOT. There is a problem about generic versus specialist work, this looks at whether members in the YOT do a bit of everything or do work relating to their specialism therefore causes identity confusion. The work of multi-agency partnerships sounds good but the main question is does it work once its put in practice? Data from the Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report 2005/06 (pg 21) shows five years on from the implementation of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 which established the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, also known as MAPPA. Within the five years (2001-2006) multi-agency partnerships have gained an achievement on employing a safer society for all however there is still a lot for them to do and to ensure that arrangements are fit for their purpose and are applied across England and Wales. The main aim of the MAPPA is to make the communities safer and reducing re-offending (National Offender Management Service, 2005/6 pg 21). Multi-agency is something which was created by the government in order for public services could work together to reduce costs, crime and create a more organised justice system. multi agency is the way forward according to the government who believe authorities such as police, social workers , welfare and Yots will work together this is to have a better understanding of the situation and there for make a more accurate decision. Punishment, prevention and rehabilitation issues would descused regarding the youth offender. It would depend on the crime, social wellbeing, education, poverty etc. Although research shows that multi agency partnership works but there are also many areas and cases created that should be looked into for improvement. This can be seen through the case of Victoria Climbie which took place in February, 2000. Victoria aged eight was living with her aunt Marie-Therese and her aunts boy friend Carl Manning in London. Victorias parents had sent her with her aunt due them believing she would gain a better future but instead she was suffering abuse by Carl Manning that led to her death. Inquiries after her death took place by Lord Laming which showed that multi-agency partnerships are partly responsible for the death due to the doctors, police and social workers being aware of the situation which could have been tackled and could have saved a life but instead there was a lack of communication amongst the multi-agencys which caused them to be under the assumption that another agency had taken control of the case. For this reason Victoria was unable to gain the support and treatment that she required. This case allowed the work of multi-agency partnerships to be looked into to point out the areas of concern that had to be developed upon. One of the major concerns was the lack of staff. New approaches were introduced regarding children which is evident in the Green paper in 2003 where there government established Every child matters that enabled children to retrieve a better and healthier life, it also addressed many changes to the work of multi-agency partnerships work such as data being accessed by all members in the agencies and recorded accurately, finance was also given (100,000) in order for them to develop upon sharing information between each profession. Children were also give more rights in which they were able to contact more than one service at anytime and there was also a need for assessments to be carried out which would require multi-agency teams to share data. These points will enable each member of the team to work more effectively alongside one another (www.community-care.co.uk). Another problem that has encountered can be seen through a recent report called Lets talk about it by the Healthcare commission (2006) which shows that there is a problem with health and education not meeting standards. The report shows that children and young people who offend have more health needs than the non-offending population of childrenThe provision of healthcare for them has improved, but it remains inadequate. Therefore the healthcare organisations are required to contribute to youth justice in their area in order to reduce the factors that play a part in offending. The report portrays findings from 50 Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales carried out from September 2003 to April 2006. The findings illustrate that services should be made more accessible for children aged 16 and 17 as this is the age where individuals are likely to carry out serious crimes. Healthcare workers within the multi-agency partnerships provided services for the offender based on their experience and specialities rather than the needs of the individual which can have a positive and a negative response. Data shows that from 2004 onwards, CDRPs required to undertake an annual appraisal of their health. To be changed to 6 months following a review, however out of the 20 projects studied over 18 months: 4 had completed, 6 still aiming to implement plans, 6 had abandoned some of their plans and 4 had made very little progress (Hedderman et al, 2001 cited by Bateman, 2007) This engaged problems within the health and voluntary sector. Reference Audit Commission (1996) Misspent Youths: Young People and Crime, London: Audit Commission Burnett R (2005) Youth Offending Teams in Bateman, T and Pitts, J (Eds) The RHP companion to youth justice, Russell House Community care [Online] Available at: www.community-care.co.uk (Accessed 31st March 2008). Goldson, B, (2000), The New Youth Justice, Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing Healthcare Commision, (2006), Lets Talk about It, [Online], Available at: https://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/_db/_documents/YOTs_report.pdf, (Accessed: 1st April 2008) Home Office (2008) Youth Crime, [Online] Available at https://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/youth-crime/ Accessed on 2nd April 2008 Home Office (1997) No More Excuses: A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales. Cmd. 3809. London: HMSO Kirton, D. (2005). Young people and Crime. In: Hale, C, Hayward, K, Wahidin, A and Wincup, E Criminology. New York: Oxford University Press. 385- 402. National Offender Management Service, (2005/6) Keeping Communities Safe: Cambridgeshire Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report 2005/06 [Online] Available at: https://www.cambs.police.uk/information/ plansreportspolicies/reports/mappa20052006.pdf (Accessed 2nd April 2008) Pitcher, J., Bateman, T., Johnston, V Cadman, S, (2004), The Provision of Health, Education and Substance Misuse Workers in Youth Offending Teams and The Needs of Young People Supervised by Youth Offending Teams, London: Youth Justice Board Pitts,J. (2003). Youth Justice in England and Wales. In: Matthews, R and Young, J The New politics of Crime and Punishment. Devon: Willan Publishing. 71-97. Sampson, A., Stubbs, P., Smith, D., Pearson, G and Blagg, H (1988) Crime, Localities and the Multi-Agency Approach, The British Journal of Criminology 28(4) 478-493 YJB, (2005) Guidance: A guide to the role of Youth Offending Teams in dealing with anti-social behaviour, London [Online] Available at: https://www.yjb.gov.uk/ Publications/Resources /Downloads/ ASBGuidance.pdf (Accessed 1st April 2008) Youth Justice Board, (2003), Speaking out: the Views of Young People, Parents and Victims about the Youth Justice System and Interventions to Reduce Offending, London: Youth Justice Board