Social Work Now, Issue 42, pages 24-29.
The topic of human rights, particularly the rights of people who commit offences against others, generates intense and sometimes heated community debate. Professionals who work with young people who offend have to negotiate what Connolly and Ward (2008, p. 74) describe as “a tricky mix of imperatives”: supporting the young person’s needs, protecting their rights whilst also ensuring accountability for the offending. This article explores the ways in which professionals exercise their powers in the context of working with youth, using a recently trialled initiative between the Police and schools in New Zealand, ‘Cops in Schools’, to illuminate the issues.