“How can they still be person centred and face the law?” An exploration of Educational Psychologist’s views of person-centred working within one Youth Offending Team

Educational Psychologists (EPs) have become accustomed to working in a person centred way with many championing person-centred working (PCW) approaches in their day-to-day practice (e.g., DfE, 2015). One area in which EPs have a key role to play is within youth offending team (YOTs) (Ryrie, 2006). Youth justice board (YJB) guidance has recently promoted a child first agenda (YJB, 2019; 2021a), which on the surface at least aligns to PCW. However, a dichotomy exists between PCW and the youth justice system (YJS). The following study uses a case study methodology and semantic deductive thematic analysis to explore EPs’ views (n=6) of PCW in one local authority YOT. It aims to identify some of the barriers and facilitatory factors to PCW within the YOT context, as well as how the EP can further support PCW. The findings support existing literature in that PCW sits within a continuum. Further, whilst the findings show several barriers exist for working in this way, they also reflect the opportunities of PCW in a YOT context. These factors will be discussed in relation to the inclusion of YOCYP and set within the limitations of this study.