Research objectives

This research brings together the four areas outlined in Chapter 2 – serious youth violence (SYV), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma-informed practice and youth participation – to investigate the complex relationship between ACEs and SYV. Working in close collaboration with justice-involved young people and youth justice workers in Manchester, the research aimed to meet the following five objectives:

• • To gauge the nature and prevalence of ACEs among justice-involved young people in Manchester.

• • To explore young people's own articulations of the causes and drivers of SYV.

• • To develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between ACEs and SYV.

• • To explore young people's experiences of current youth justice practice, in particular their experiences of trauma-informed practice.

• • To co-create with justice-involved young people a resource for youth justice workers.

To meet these five research objectives, a mixed-methods approach was adopted that incorporated quantitative, qualitative and participatory elements. The quantitative element of the research focussed on data collected using a bespoke ACEs assessment tool that was developed specifically for the project. The qualitative element had two strands: semi-structured interviews with youth justice workers and narrative interviews with justice-involved young people. The participatory element of the research was a series of creative workshops involving justice-involved young people, the research team, drama therapists and a professional sports coach.

The fieldwork for the research was conducted over a 15-month period between January 2020 and March 2021. The research was originally a 12-month study (scheduled for completion in December 2020) but, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions, a three-month extension was agreed to enable the research team to undertake the necessary fieldwork and data collection. Ethical approval for the research was granted by Manchester Metropolitan University's research ethics and governance committee.

The ACEs assessment tool

To enable the research to meet the first research objective it was necessary to devise a way to assess the nature and prevalence of ACEs among justice-involved young people in Manchester. Much of the evidence linking ACEs with negative outcomes comes from studies that measure adults’ recollections of childhood adversity.