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Behavioral Sciences
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Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for...
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Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 February 2026) | Viewed by 4725

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Colm Walsh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Interests: youth violence; child criminal exploitation; prevention
Dr. Sean Redmond

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Justice to the School of Law, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland
Interests: youth crime; governance; implementation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Serious youth violence and higher-harm crime in the community is a perennial issue of global significance and impact. Across disciplines, academic research has helped to us to estimate prevalence and capture the impact of exposure, illustrating the different experiences of young people. We now know, with significant confidence, that only a minority of youth are involved in the most serious and persistent violent and harmful offending. Increasing policy attention, driven in part by high-profile and serious violence, sometimes alongside adults, has contributed to the commissioning and evaluation of new innovations in the community.

Despite several decades of this interest in the prevention of youth violence and high-harm crime, recent evidence synthesis and scoping studies have illustrated that—while there have indeed been advances for those at general risk (universal provision), and for those on the periphery of serious violent crime (secondary interventions)—there exists a paucity of evidence-based programmes for young people in the most complex situations and who are engaged in the most serious violent, and often organised, criminal behaviour (tertiary interventions).

This Special Issue will explore new conceptual framing, salient theory, innovations in practice, and advances in research methods for this population of young people most involved in serious crime and violence, and most vulnerable to criminal exploitation. We therefore welcome creative and novel primary research works (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods) and practically oriented insights on the above mentioned topics. Necessary breakthrough development is the reason that we are not calling for evidence reviews or syntheses of extant evidence.

Dr. Colm Walsh
Dr. Sean Redmond
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • community violence
  • criminal exploitation
  • crime prevention
  • prevention theory
  • youth violence
  • youth crime

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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33 pages, 726 KB  
Article
Implementation Strategies and Outcomes for Whole-System Violence Reduction: A Case Study from Northern Ireland
by Claire Hazelden and Christopher Farrington
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(5), 684; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16050684 (registering DOI) - 30 Apr 2026
Viewed by 247
Abstract
Background: Governments increasingly seek whole-system, public-health approaches to prevent serious youth violence. However, there is limited empirical evidence on how such approaches are implemented and sustained in complex, post-conflict settings characterised by coercive control, political instability, and fragmented system ownership. Aim: This study [...] Read more.
Background: Governments increasingly seek whole-system, public-health approaches to prevent serious youth violence. However, there is limited empirical evidence on how such approaches are implemented and sustained in complex, post-conflict settings characterised by coercive control, political instability, and fragmented system ownership. Aim: This study examines the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) in Northern Ireland as a system-level implementation architecture for addressing serious youth violence, with a focus on how coordinated action was enabled, constrained, and adapted over time. Methods: We conducted an embedded qualitative case study of EPPOC using systematic analysis of programme documentation, independent evaluations, oversight reports, and population-level data spanning nine years of delivery. Implementation science frameworks (ERIC, Proctor’s implementation outcomes, and CFIR) were applied retrospectively as analytic lenses to examine implementation strategies, outcomes, and contextual determinants. Results: EPPOC demonstrated strong implementation outcomes in acceptability and adoption across statutory and community sectors, supported by cross-government governance, trauma-informed workforce development, and shared learning systems. Penetration and sustainability were more variable and constrained by political instability, short-term funding cycles, uneven departmental ownership, and coercive community conditions. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the most transferable element of EPPOC is not individual interventions but the implementation architecture that enabled coordinated, trauma-responsive action across government in a highly complex environment. This architecture represents a potentially replicable design pattern for jurisdictions seeking to address serious youth violence where traditional programme models struggle to operate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
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22 pages, 334 KB  
Article
The Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) Program: A Case Study of Tertiary Intervention for Justice-Involved Youth in Regional Australia
by Tamara Blakemore, Louise Rak, Susan Rayment-McHugh, Elsie Randall, Chris Krogh, Meaghan Katrak Harris, Sally Hunt, Daniel Ebbin, Graeme Stuart and Shaun McCarthy
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(5), 679; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16050679 (registering DOI) - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 214
Abstract
Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) is a trauma-informed program for justice-involved young people aged 12–18 years, recognising that experience and use of violence are often interconnected and may involve serious criminal behaviour, including vulnerability to criminal exploitation. NNN addresses a gap in evidence-based, culturally responsive tertiary [...] Read more.
Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) is a trauma-informed program for justice-involved young people aged 12–18 years, recognising that experience and use of violence are often interconnected and may involve serious criminal behaviour, including vulnerability to criminal exploitation. NNN addresses a gap in evidence-based, culturally responsive tertiary interventions for this cohort in regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia, integrating dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) principles with Aboriginal ways of knowing and doing, co-designed through community-based participatory research (CBPR) with Aboriginal community members, young people, and frontline practitioners. The program aims to strengthen skills for self-awareness, self-regulation and healthy connection through relational, creative, and participatory approaches. Using a realist evaluation framework, this paper examines what works in NNN, for whom, and under what circumstances. Drawing on participant session ratings, practitioner observations, program documentation, and interviews, findings are organised across four domains: effects, mechanisms, moderators, and implementation. Indicative findings show that engagement, emerging changes in the narratives of self, and developing skills for self-regulation were most evident when trauma-informed and culturally safe practice was enacted within genuinely relational, strengths-based encounters. These conditions are identified and discussed as transferable principles for the field, key amongst them that intervention readiness must be treated as a capacity to be actively built rather than a precondition to be screened for; and that creative, participant-led methods represent an epistemological commitment to whose knowledge counts in practice. This case study contributes to a critically underserved evidence base by documenting not only what a tertiary youth violence intervention looks like, but the conditions under which it begins to work and for whom. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
15 pages, 8107 KB  
Article
The Client Network Audit: Assessing Shared Knowledge of a Client’s Social Network Among Juvenile Probation Officers
by Jacob T. N. Young
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(4), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040614 - 20 Apr 2026
Viewed by 345
Abstract
This article presents findings from a pilot that tested a novel “client network audit” approach, designed to enhance supervision by mapping social networks through structured input from frontline practitioners. Adapting the group audit methodology for collecting network information that is used extensively in [...] Read more.
This article presents findings from a pilot that tested a novel “client network audit” approach, designed to enhance supervision by mapping social networks through structured input from frontline practitioners. Adapting the group audit methodology for collecting network information that is used extensively in gang violence interventions, this project measured cognitive network data from two probation officers and a community-based partner to examine areas of consensus and divergence in perceptions of influential relationships in a client’s life. A focus group conducted with participants after the study revealed several themes, including the utility of identifying hidden risks and opportunities for intervention and enhancing multi-agency coordination. This exploratory study finds that, while there are key areas of overlap in these perceptions, there are substantial gaps, indicating that individuals possess unique information about social relationships that is unknown to other respondents. As jurisdictions seek innovative strategies to improve interventions for youth entrenched in high-harm networks, this model offers a potentially promising pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
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19 pages, 3256 KB  
Article
Hidden Harm—Exploring the Utility of Geostatistical Analysis to Identify Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE)
by Antoinette Keaney-Bell and Colm Walsh
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(4), 613; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040613 - 20 Apr 2026
Viewed by 359
Abstract
This interdisciplinary study integrates criminological theory with geospatial methods to analyse large, multi-format datasets using geostatistical techniques. The aim is to predict where Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is likely to cluster, based on the spatial convergence of contextual risk factors. Drawing on insights [...] Read more.
This interdisciplinary study integrates criminological theory with geospatial methods to analyse large, multi-format datasets using geostatistical techniques. The aim is to predict where Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is likely to cluster, based on the spatial convergence of contextual risk factors. Drawing on insights from General Strain Theory (GST) and prior research on CCE, this study integrated seven open-source datasets capturing educational attainment, age demographics, violent crime, deprivation, and paramilitary-related violence. These variables were operationalised to construct a proxy measure for strain. Spatial analysis was conducted using ArcGIS Pro, including the Data Interoperability extension, to enable efficient integration and interrogation of multi-format geospatial data. Geospatial analysis demonstrated that contextual risk factors for CCE are spatially clustered. Using four search parameters, a small subset of wards with elevated risk were identified. This resulted in a reduction in ward locations by 85–99%, land area under investigation from 14.45% to 0.84%, and affected population from 17.91% to 1.41%, enabling more targeted and efficient resource allocation. As understanding of the contextual factors contributing to CCE improves, this methodological approach offers scalable and data-driven means of identifying high-risk areas. By integrating geospatial analysis with criminological theory, the model supports more effective safeguarding strategies and prioritisation of limited public resources. This study is limited by the absence of multi-agency datasets, which were beyond its scope. Future research aims to incorporate cross-sector data to validate and refine the model through ground-truthing, enhancing its predictive accuracy and practical applicability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
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14 pages, 1166 KB  
Article
An Inspectorate Perspective on Serious Youth Violence and Criminal Exploitation
by Oliver Kenton, Robin Moore, Andrea Brazier, Helen Mercer and Helen Davies
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(4), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040478 - 24 Mar 2026
Viewed by 372
Abstract
HM Inspectorate of Probation is committed to building and utilising the evidence base for high-quality youth justice services, and to promoting excellence and having a positive impact upon those inspected and the wider sector. Research evidence and inspection findings are used to inform [...] Read more.
HM Inspectorate of Probation is committed to building and utilising the evidence base for high-quality youth justice services, and to promoting excellence and having a positive impact upon those inspected and the wider sector. Research evidence and inspection findings are used to inform understanding of what helps and what hinders services and to consider system-wide change. In this article, the latest inspection and research findings in relation to the high-profile areas of serious youth violence and criminal exploitation are highlighted. The article encompasses insights from core and thematic inspections, including those from recent joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs) undertaken with other inspectorates. Alongside the JTAIs which examined multi-agency responses to serious youth violence, research was commissioned to hear directly from children and families about their experiences. Other research commissioned and published by the Inspectorate has emphasised the importance of implementing relational, child-centred and trauma-informed approaches and to optimising collaborative/partnership working across agencies and sectors. Reports have also drawn attention to the value of paying attention to the socio-ecological framework, systemic resilience, adultification biases, and both contextual and transitional safeguarding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
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Review

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38 pages, 620 KB  
Review
Conducting Evaluations in the Context of Tertiary Prevention of Youth Crime: Reflections from the Youth Endowment Fund
by Daniel K. Acquah, Claryn S. J. Kung and Rain M. Sherlock
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(5), 626; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16050626 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 299
Abstract
Serious youth violence is a public health issue nationally in the UK and internationally. The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) was established in March 2019, with a £200 million endowment and a ten-year mandate, with a mission to prevent children and young people from [...] Read more.
Serious youth violence is a public health issue nationally in the UK and internationally. The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) was established in March 2019, with a £200 million endowment and a ten-year mandate, with a mission to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence. This article gives an overview of YEF’s successes and challenges to date, focusing specifically on the experience of evaluating tertiary interventions. After providing an overview of YEF’s approach to funding and evaluation, the article summarises YEF’s work focused on tertiary prevention, including: work to test interventions already being implemented in the UK; adapting and evaluating evidence-based interventions from other jurisdictions in the UK; innovations in a group approach to carrying out evaluations; and embedding a focus on racial equity in tertiary prevention. Next, the article discusses the design issues involved in high-quality evaluation of tertiary prevention, including the scale required and the processes for obtaining consent from young people to participate in evaluations. The article then documents the many challenges and lessons learned from implementing tertiary prevention evaluations, especially focusing on the recruitment and retention of young people. Finally, the article discusses the lessons and places them in a wider context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
21 pages, 338 KB  
Review
Preventing Youth Crime and Violence: Intervention and Evaluation Issues
by Nick Axford and Sajid Humayun
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 247; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020247 - 9 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1662
Abstract
Whilst youth offending has been declining, there have been increases in serious youth violence in the last decade. Therefore, there is a pressing need to prevent youth crime and violence owing to its prevalence, harms and cost to society. Part of the effort [...] Read more.
Whilst youth offending has been declining, there have been increases in serious youth violence in the last decade. Therefore, there is a pressing need to prevent youth crime and violence owing to its prevalence, harms and cost to society. Part of the effort to address this involves identifying and disseminating evidence-based practice. We explore key challenges in this endeavour and offer ideas for how to address them. These fall into two categories. The first concerns the focus and nature of interventions and the imperative to increase the effectiveness of our collective efforts. We start by considering neglected issues and groups in need of intervention responses, arguing that interventions too often do not consider relevant risk and contextual factors. Next, we explore emerging means of designing and delivering interventions that warrant greater investment, including those that extend beyond a traditional focus on programmes. Finally, we highlight cross-cutting issues affecting the delivery and uptake of interventions and therefore their success. The second set of challenges concerns intervention evaluation and the need to maximise the usefulness of our cumulative evaluation activity in this field. Here, we start by discussing common challenges involved in moving through the pipeline of feasibility, pilot and definitive (often trial-based) evaluations. We then explore issues concerning the actual design and conduct of such studies, before closing with thoughts on the potential value of underused (non-trial) methods of impact evaluation. Throughout the article, we draw on the scientific literature and our collective experience over many years of developing, adapting, evaluating and promoting interventions and other forms of evidence-based practice in this space. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and Serious Crime: Innovations and Future Directions for Theory, Research and Practice)
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