What do they really think? Opinions of those working with young people in youth justice of oral language issues for both the young people and the services who work with them.

Abstract

SLT involvement in justice systems is a recent phenomenon. One of the most striking aspects of it is the range of other professions and services that SLTs encounter in this new environment. These include police, judges, lawyers, social workers, youth workers, probation officers, CYFs residence staff, education providers, health workers, and others. Effective practice requires SLTs to make partnerships with these groups. However we oen have little experience of the jobs of these other workers, and little insight into what they think or what their experience has been of the oral language issues that are the focus of our attention. This paper presents some results from a qualitative study which interviewed 15 staff from education providers in two youth justice residences. Some were trained teachers, some were youth workers and some were residence staff. Several analytical techniques were used, including thematic analysis and narrative analysis, as well as some discourse analytic tools. The participants proved to have strong opinions about oral language issues for these young people, some of which chimed with SLT opinions but some of which did not. For some, a clear strand of looking for strengths rather than weaknesses appeared. The implications of these results for further practice for SLTs will be discussed.