By Dr Eoin O’Meara Daly and Edel Kelly, REPPP, School of Law, University of Limerick.

Relationship practice in youth justice emphasises building, sustaining, and developing purposeful relationships between youth justice practitioners and young people to achieve positive behavioural change and reduce offending (O’Meara Daly et al., 2025). It is grounded in evidence-based principles and practitioner skills that create a ‘working alliance’ with the young person, characterised by trust, empathy, and collaboration (Fullerton, Bamber & Redmond, 2021). This article discusses how restorative practice can both strengthen and be strengthened by the new Youth Diversion Project relational model, creating a mutually reinforcing approach to effective youth justice.

Importance of Relationships in Youth Diversion

Relationship building between youth justice practitioners and young people has served as a cornerstone of youth crime diversion strategies in Ireland since their inception (Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 2014). Practitioners have long emphasised the importance of relationships, but few studies have systematically examined their role in reducing youth offending (Fullerton, Bamber & Redmond, 2021).

Ireland’s youth justice system prioritises diversion and community-based interventions over punitive measures, contrasting with jurisdictions that rely heavily on detention (Hamilton, 2023). Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) employ over 400 practitioners who spend approximately 60% of their time building relationships with referred young people (Fullerton, Bamber & Redmond, 2021). Despite this time investment, the mechanisms through which the relationships they build can influence desistance remain underexplored. The Research Evidence into Policy, Programmes and Practice (REPPP) project in the School of Law, University of Limerick, sought to close this knowledge gap using action research and practice wisdom, co-designing a relational practice model grounded in scientific evidence and practitioner experience.

The Action Research Project

The research centred on a three-year action research approach involving 16 Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) and 60 practitioners in Ireland. Researchers and practitioners co-designed and tested a prototype relationship model through iterative cycles of Plan, Act, Observe, and Reflect (the core of action research). Data collection included 24 semi-structured practitioner interviews, national and regional workshop feedback, and two trial phases of interim guidance tested by practitioners. Additionally, practitioners themselves conducted informal interviews and focus groups with 27 young people to capture the perceived ‘soft outcomes’ of relationships, or how relationships can in turn affect the young people (O’Meara Daly et al., 2025).

How Relationships Help Young People Desist from Crime

Findings indicate that effective relationships foster social and emotional changes that enable long-term desistance for young people. Six key outcomes for young people emerged:

1. Trust: Young people reported learning to trust practitioners and, by extension, other authority figures. Trust developed gradually through consistency, reliability, and non-judgmental listening.
2. Optimism and Hope: Relationships broadened young people’s sense of possibility, encouraging aspirations in education and employment.
3. Improved Relationships: Participants became better at navigating interpersonal relationships, particularly with family members.
4. Coping Skills: Young people learned to manage stress and regulate emotions, reducing impulsive reactions.
5. Decision-Making and Maturity: Relationships supported cognitive shifts, helping young people consider consequences and avoid risky situations.
6. Self-Worth and Confidence: Feeling valued by practitioners enhanced self-esteem and agency.

Although causality cannot be definitively established, these outcomes align with international evidence linking supportive adult relationships to resilience and reduced offending (Bellis et al., 2018; Pineau, Down & Volmert, 2019).

How to Build Effective Relationships: Skills and Practices

The research identified foundational and advanced practices for relationship building. At its base, practitioners must create a safe culture, ensuring physical and emotional security. A relational core also comprises trust, time, support, and a young-person-centred approach. Beyond these foundational aspects, seven key relational practices emerged:

1. Commitment: Persistence and consistency, even when engagement is sporadic.
2. Empathy: Active listening and validating young people’s experiences.
3. Advocacy and Connection: Linking young people to services and opportunities while promoting autonomy.
4. Flexibility: Adapting interventions to individual needs and contexts.
5. Use of Self and Reflection: Employing personal experiences judiciously and engaging in self-awareness.
6. Honest and Constructive Challenging: Encouraging accountability without authoritarianism.
7. Guidance, Hope and Building Agency: Inspiring optimism and reinforcing progress.

These practices were synthesised into the YDP Relationship Model (Figure 1 below; see also O’Meara Daly et al., 2025) and described as a ‘relationship journey’ that combines scientific evidence with practitioner craft. The models accompanying guidance also emphasises agility, acknowledging that effective relationships are iterative and contingent on key characteristics that youth justice practitioners focus on at different times.

Fig. 1 – YDP Relationship Model

This approach aligns with the Child First principle in youth justice, emphasising welfare and development over punitive control (Case, Browning & Hampson, 2024).

Restorative Practice and the Relationship Model

The findings underscore that relational work is not ancillary but central to youth justice, aligning with the focus on relationship building in restorative practice. As part of their core training, the YDP network receives bespoke restorative practice training, developed with YDPs’ specific needs in mind. The training strengthens practitioners’ understanding of restorative practices and introduces practical approaches to support everyday interactions. Restorative practice provides an evidence-based approach grounded in values that inform how practitioners understand, respond to, and engage in their work with vulnerable young people.

Practitioners utilise restorative skills and tools to build relationships, resolve conflict and repair damaged relationships (O’Dwyer, 2014). The core values of restorative practice inform this proactive approach and include but are not limited to respect, responsibility, participation, dignity, worth and fair process. This approach deepens relationship building and maintenance of effective relationships. In practice, restorative relationships act as an intervention vehicle, enhancing engagement and amplifying intervention effectiveness.

Figure 2 (below) illustrates the connection between the relationship model and restorative practice.

Fig. 2 – Connections between the relationship model and restorative practice

As can be seen in Figure 2, the core tenets of a restorative approach – grounding practice in restorative values, developing self-awareness through the Relationship Window and participating in circle processes – build the capacity of youth justice practitioners and support the application of the Relationship Model in practice. In effect there is the appropriate synergy to suggest that these approaches complement and gain momentum from each other.

References

Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Ford, K., Hardcastle, K., Sharp, C., Wood, S. & Davies, A. R. (2018). Adverse childhood experiences and sources of childhood resilience: A retrospective study of their combined relationships with child health and educational attendance. BMC Public Health, 18(792). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5699-8

Case, S., Browning, A. & Hampson, K. (2024). The Child First Strategy Implementation Project – Translating Strategy into Practice. Youth Justice, 24(2), 204–230.

Department of Children and Youth Affairs (2014) Value for Money and Policy Review of Youth Programmes. Government Publications, Dublin, available: https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/value-for-money-and-policy-review-of-youth-programmes-december-2014.pdf

Fullerton, D., Bamber, J. & Redmond, S. (2021). Developing Effective Relationships Between Youth Justice Workers and Young People: A Synthesis of the Evidence. University of Limerick.

Hamilton, C. (2023). Crime, justice and criminology in the Republic of Ireland. European Journal of Criminology, 20(5), 1597–1620.

O’Dwyer, K. (2014) Towards Excellence in Restorative Practice – A Quality Assurance Framework for Organisations and Practitioners. Dublin: Restorative Practices Strategic Forum.

O’Meara Daly, E., Dwane, J., Lewis, C. & Redmond, S. (2025). An evidence informed model and guide for effective relational working in youth justice. HM Inspectorate of Probation. Academic Insights Journal.

O’Meara Daly, E., Lewis, C., Dwane, J. & Redmond, S. (2025b, in print). Better Together: Developing Relationship Practice to Effect Change in Young People’s Offending Behaviour. University of Limerick.

Pineau, M. G., Down, L. & Volmert, A. (2019). They All Play a Role: Mapping the Gaps between Expert and Public Understandings of Developmental Relationships. Frame Works Institute.