9. ANALISIS Y RESULTADOS
9.2 Momento 2 Indagación y caracterización acerca de los saberes,
The key tasks of the case management process were:
o
engagement with the young adult through the initial psycho-social assessment;o
setting up a range of appointments and devising an action plan with agreed goals in such a way that they were flexible for the young adult, but demanding enough to closely monitor and supervise their day-to-day progress;o
collecting information from a range of sources including the young adult, other professionals, family members (when appropriate), the courts and lawyers to construct a full picture of the young adult’s circumstances;32
o
recording information clearly and consistently to enable a comprehensive overview on the young adult’s progress, effort and upcoming appointments;o
reflecting on the information provided by the young adult and others to understand the young adult’s behaviour;o
exploring the circumstances in which the offence occurred and assessing what was going on in the young adult’s life at the time, through the domains of housing, education, family history, health, substance use, behavioural issues, employment, money and personal relationships;o
identifying risk and protective factors to inform intervention and action plans where the role of the case manager was to guide the young adult to assist them to highlight their own needs and to understand what they needed to do to address those needs.o
providing offence-focused counselling to determine remorse for and understanding of the offence, while applying equal measures of positive reinforcement and disapproval in order to introduce positive norms; ando
presenting conclusions and recommendations to the Magistrates’ Court, based on the overall analysis of the young adult’s circumstances, which would be beneficial for the sentencing process.Weil, Karls and Associates (1985) define case management “as a set of logical steps and a process of interaction within a service network which ensures that a client receives the necessary services in a supportive, effective, efficient and cost-effective manner” (Weil et al., 1985:18). However, while there is a variety of case management models, writers state that case management is essentially a subjective experience. Trotter (1999) outlines that an effective case manager has “... interpersonal skills, such as empathy and reflective listening, self-disclosure, use of humour and optimism” (Trotter, 1999:25).
Dame Ann Owers (2012) reinforces this view as a framework for positive results, based on pilot evaluations that tracked 34 young adults in the UK, only three of whom had reoffended within a six-month period. She states that: “... the provision of individualized and focused support and mentoring – walking alongside young people as they try to change the narrative of their lives – does work” (Owers, 2012:Foreword).
The young adult cannot ‘breach’ the program, but a lack of willingness to engage and participate would very likely be detrimental to the court outcome, as the case managers and the young adult were required to provide reasons for the lack of cooperation when the young adult returned to court. It was therefore in the young adult’s ‘best interests’ to attend. While there was no enforceable mechanism to coerce them to engage, the skills of the case
33
managers in encouraging their interest and compliance across a significant period of time required intensive contact and regular face-to-face meetings.
2.8 Conclusion
This chapter provided an overview the Youth, Community and Law Program (YCLP) and outlined the context of Brimbank in Melbourne’s Western Metropolitan Region where approximately 50% of the program participants live. The rationale and the objectives of the YCLP were outlined: critical to the program model and approach was the case management process, the description of which outlined the interventions with the young adults. The following chapter highlights the literature that is most relevant to the YCLP and provides a broad context and indication of some of the challenges encountered in the construction and delivery of the program.
34
CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 Introduction
In carrying out the review of the literature presented in this chapter, the search was focused on three main areas of interest. The first area related to youth and young adulthood, with specific reference to the attainment of the markers of adulthood and the increasingly accepted view that it is a period in life that is peculiar in its own right18, distinguished as a significant and profound developmental journey in the lifespan, particularly in contemporary Western society.19 The second area related to the concept of social capital and the issues around the measurement of social capital in relation to previous and current research, as carried out by social capital theorists. The third area focused on the treatment of young adults in relation to community justice intervention services, current legislation, and policy and practice in the criminal justice system, both in Australia and in similar Westernised jurisdictions in contemporary society. Furthermore, the literature search was underpinned by the broader issues relating to crime prevention, case management and program evaluation as they intersected with the three main areas of interest. The search revealed a range of publications on which the literature review was conducted, with these including journal articles, books, policy documents and internet-based resources.