An exploration of educational psychologists' and youth justice practitioners' perspectives of interagency collaboration

Abstract

This thesis begins by exploring interventions aimed at reducing youth crime, then, based on the findings, shifts its focus to consider interprofessional collaboration between Educational Psychologists (EPs) and Youth Justice Practitioners (YJPs) in England and Wales. Chapter One presents a systematic literature review considering interventions aimed at reducing youth criminal behaviour, highlighting themes of collaboration with other professionals, relationships, adopting person-centred and collaborative approaches, and barriers to maintaining the intervention's impact. Chapter Two provides a bridging chapter, outlining the shift in the project’s trajectory to focus on EP-YJP collaboration. The chapter offers a methodological and ethical critique of the methods in Chapter Three. It provides the rationale for the chosen methodology based on ethical and logistical considerations, outlines the method's strengths and limitations, and briefly discusses considered alternative methods for data collection. Chapter three outlines a two-phase empirical project using questionnaires and then semi-structured interviews with a smaller sample of participants to explore the perspectives of EPs and YJPs on facilitators and barriers to interagency collaboration. Using cultural-historical activity theory to structure the semi-structured interview schedule, phase two aimed to explore participants' perspectives on how these barriers and facilitators arise within the context of professional practice. A thirdgeneration activity theory model is presented, accommodated by the themes emerging from the thematic analysis of EP and YJP interview data. The findings draw attention to the complex interplay of differing worldviews, the application of a range of psychological theories and approaches in facilitating a holistic understanding of the complex needs of CYP, and how models of service delivery can create systemic tensions that both enable and constrain interprofessional collaboration between EPs and YJPs. Chapter four reflects on my positioning, the impact conducting this research has had on my professional identity and practice and the study's possible contributions. Despite the limited literature on EPs working with the YJS, this project fosters an understanding of EP-YJP collaboration and prompts consideration of how services can best support vulnerable CYP through collaborative interagency responses