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This study aims to present the findings from an ongoing evaluation of a partnership project between a youth justice service and an independent charity that supports the involvement of children with lived experience of youth justice services in work with other young people who have offended and with policy makers and service providers.

The research involved the secondary analysis of project records and 15 semi-structured interviews with youth justice managers and practitioners and the charity’s staff as well as representatives from external organisations with whom it has worked. The analysis focuses on the nature of activities undertaken, the “theory of change” driving these activities, the perceived benefits of the work as well as some of the challenges involved.

The findings suggest positive outcomes for children in terms of increased engagement and participation, improvements in confidence and self-esteem and the development of personal, social, health and educational skills. The project represents a compelling example of what child-first diversion looks like in practice.

The article adds to existing knowledge of the benefits and challenges of involving children with recent experience of the youth justice system in service delivery and in co-production work with policy makers and service providers. It also offers insights into recent changes in youth justice policy in England and Wales, in particular the commitment to treating children as children first.

This article presents and discusses the findings from an evaluation of the secondment of two Polish police officers to work with the Metropolitan Police Service in a west London borough between October and December 2009. While the secondment was intended to improve the service provided to the local Polish community, the principal outcome was more effective information‐sharing concerning Polish offenders. ‘Cop culture’ in this context had more resonance than national culture. British and Polish officers soon found they could overcome apparent differences in their approach to the ‘job’. Overcoming residents' reluctance to engage with the police proved more problematic.

A successful multi‐level intervention in a high crime low income, innercity Brussels neighbourhood, with a large minority ethnic community, has important implications for how educational and community safety initiatives might be brought together to achieve the goals set out in Every Child Matters, Youth Matters and Narrowing the Justice Gap.

In 2007, seven young people were murdered in London alone, four of them under 16, so there is a pressing need to find out from young people about their experiences and fears in respect of crime as well as their views on how their personal safety can be enhanced. This article discusses the findings of a study of victimisation among young people in an East London borough. Although modest and not necessarily representative, the findings of this study are important because of the relative absence of research into children and young people as victims of crime.

Challenging behaviour among school pupils has been the focus of extensive research in the UK and beyond; however, there has been a lack of recent comparable research on these issues in the further education (FE) sector. This paper aims to report the findings from a larger PhD research examining the introduction of interventions based on restorative justice implemented in colleges. This study focuses on the extent and nature of challenging student behaviour, as explained and understood by the students and staff.

The author used an interpretivist exploratory case study design and mixed qualitative research methods. The institute considered in the case study, Restorative College (pseudonymised), has education provisions for students aged 16+ years and enrols over 16,000 students annually. In the academic year 2017/2018, Restorative College committed itself to becoming a “restorative” institution. Data collection consisted of three stages (including semi-structured interviews, analyses of institutional policy documents and focus group discussions) and was conducted over 14 months.

The extent and nature of challenging student behaviours in the FE sector are significant and merit further research and analysis to support policy development.

Given the research methods adopted (single case study and qualitative research), the findings do not necessarily represent experiences across the FE sector.

This study emphasises the need to expand research on challenging behaviour in the FE sector, which has been limited thus far, also making a contribution in this direction.

Over the past two decades, institutions that make microloans to low-income borrowers in developing and transition economies have focused increasingly on making their lending operations financially sustainable by charging interest rates that are high enough to cover all their costs. They argue that doing so will best ensure the permanence and expansion of the services they provide. Sustainable (i.e., profitable) microfinance providers can continue to serve their clients without needing ongoing infusions of subsidies and can fund exponential growth of services for new clients by tapping commercial sources, including deposits from the public.