A 12-year-old boy who feared his mother would be murdered after she had been seriously assaulted in their home had to be “calmed down” and an axe “prised” from him in the hall, a family-support worker has outlined.
Sue Hopkins, youth diversion project leader with Crosscare in Clondalkin, said many of the children she works with have experienced “trauma and really serious crime”.
“Unfortunately, some have witnessed their parents being beaten up in front of them, to the extent that some young people have actually had their parents’ blood on them,” she said.
Ms Hopkins was one of several speakers at a conference in Dublin on Wednesday on youth justice, hosted by Minister for Law Reform James Browne. They described significant trauma experienced by some young people engaged in crime and antisocial behaviour.
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Referencing the case where she was able to support the family and link them in with community gardaí to devise a safety plan, Ms Hopkins said she got a call about the mother being seriously assaulted one morning.
“So this young person would be very used to people coming in assaulting his parents. When I went to the house that morning, the 12-year-old was in the hall with an axe. I literally had to spend a few minutes calming him down to prise the axe off him because he thought someone was coming in to kill his mother.”
Emily Murray, a youth worker with Foróige in Drogheda, said the violence that accompanied a drugs-related feud in 2018 still reverberated.
“Families in our project are still fleeing homes after windows being smashed and homes set on fire. Children have shared that they will no longer enter the estates due to trauma they experienced. The effects [of the violence] are still being felt by all of our project participants,” she said.
We are going to have to go out and actively pursue them. Their trust has been broken in so many other places, you need to put the time into it. There’s no magic potion
Minister Browne said it was not inevitable that trauma would lead children into antisocial behaviour but among those that do commit offences: “We know trauma informs so much of the behaviour. Nobody is born wanting to commit crime or antisocial behaviour. Their life leads them towards that.”
He had a particular concern, he said, about the “drop-off” in supports for young adults passing their teens. “We know several factors place young adults more at risk of becoming involved in offending behaviour,” he said, including poverty, early school-leaving and reduced timetables in school.
A discussion paper published at the conference on crime among 18 to 24 year-olds states engagement in crime and recidivism were highest among this age group. Minister Browne suggested Youth Diversion Programme-type supports should be extended beyond 18 and into people’s early 20s.
The discussion paper notes that special approaches for 18 to 24-year-olds in justice systems elsewhere include “extending juvenile justice measures to young adults, special youth courts, and, significant adjustments in policy and practice in relation to sentencing and sanctions”.
Ashling Golden, who works with “hard to reach” young people in Dublin 8 and 12 in the Solas project, said those involved in serious criminality required more assertive outreach.
“We are going to have to go out and actively pursue them,” she said. “That means feet on the street, going into the areas where they are hanging around, the parks, the flat complexes. Their trust has been broken in so many other places, you need to put the time into it. There’s no magic potion. It’s time, and it’s trust, and being ready and willing to accept it’s going to take a bit longer.
“They are not alien or bad to the core. At base, they are young people who want a future and deserve a chance.”
