Engaging Justice-Involved Children with Education & Learning: Three European Projects

Shafi, Adeela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6265-5024 (2026) Engaging Justice-Involved Children with Education & Learning: Three European Projects. In: The Palgrave Handbook on the Education of Children in Criminal Justice Settings. Palgrave Macmillan/ Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 399-423. ISBN 978-3-032-23119-2

Text 16599 Shafi (2026) Engaging Justice-Involved Children.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 September 2027. (Publisher Embargo). Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (878kB)

Abstract

This chapter presents insights from over a decade of empirical research conducted through three European Union-funded, transnational projects aimed at improving educational outcomes for incarcerated and justice-involved children and young people. Drawing on the participation of 548 young people from 21 custodial and youth justice settings across 14 European countries, the projects addressed a range of needs: from (re)engaging disengaged learners with education (RENYO), to developing social and emotional competencies through sport-based interventions (Active Games for Change – AG4C), and building practical life skills to support community reintegration (Skills for Life – S4L). Despite the inherent challenges of custodial environments and the complex needs of participants, each project demonstrated meaningful educational and developmental gains through tailored, evidence-informed approaches. Crucially, the chapter highlights the wider implications of these findings for education policy and practice in youth justice settings, advocating for a shift from deficit-based assumptions towards a rehabilitative, child-centred model of education as a fundamental right. By positioning education as a compensatory and restorative mechanism within youth justice systems, the chapter calls for systemic, multi-level reforms that reposition learning as a core component of rehabilitation, reintegration, and desistance strategies. These learnings have particular relevance for European youth justice policy, offering transferable insights for comparable international contexts and contributing to the growing body of evidence advocating for welfare-based, rights-respecting approaches to justice-involved children’s education.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Depositing User:	Charlotte Crutchlow
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2026 11:12
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2026 08:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16599

University Staff: Request a correction | Repository Editors: Update this record