The working relationship and desistance: What constitutes a ‘good quality’ working relationship?

This paper presents findings from a small-scale exploratory piece of research that examined perceptions of what constitutes a ‘good quality’ working relationship between the practitioner and the child, within the criminal justice system. Using a qualitative approach, focus groups and interviews were conducted with practitioners and children, based in two Youth Offending Teams in Wales, United Kingdom. The study sought to explore the characteristics of a ‘good quality’ working relationship, from two different perspectives: (1) the practitioners and (2) the children. Using thematic analysis, findings revealed that whilst both practitioners and children perceived trust to be an important characteristic of a ‘good quality’ working relationship, differences between their perceptions did exist, with practitioners focussing more on the characteristics of reliability and time; and children highlighting the characteristics of genuineness and comfort. It was concluded that such disparity between the way practitioners and children perceive a ‘good quality’ working relationship has important implications for youth justice practice and desistance for children.