Introduction

This chapter explores some of the issues surrounding the assessment and management of young people who have been involved in serious offending in Scotland. It begins by outlining how Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) have been set up in Scotland and identifies some of the practical challenges and issues that have arisen in the early implementation of these arrangements. The second section of the chapter briefly reviews some of the findings of a recent literature review on the risk assessment and risk management of children and young people engaging in offending behaviours. The review was commissioned by the Risk Management Authority and undertaken by staff of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (Burman et al, 2008). The final, and most speculative, section of the chapter considers some wider questions about the tensions between practice models based on risk and those concerned with the promotion of ‘good lives’ – particularly in terms of how these debates relate to children and young people.

MAPPA in Scotland: sounds familiar?

MAPPA in Scotland have a much shorter history than those in England and Wales. The arrangements were introduced through Sections 10 and 11 of the 2005 Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act and, at the time of writing, they apply only to adult offenders (meaning those aged 16 and over). Essentially, as in England and Wales, the legislation requires a number of ‘Responsible Authorities’ – the police, the Scottish Prison Service, health boards and local authorities – to put in place joint arrangements for the assessment and management of risks posed by certain categories of offenders. It is important to note that in Scotland there is no separate probation service and probation functions continue to be undertaken by criminal justice social workers (CJSWs) within local authorities (McNeill and Whyte, 2007). However, the Responsible Authority in MAPPA is not the social work department, but rather the local authority as a whole. The legislation also allows the Scottish Parliament to specify ‘duty to cooperate’ agencies who, as the name suggests, must cooperate with the Responsible Authorities in establishing and implementing the arrangements; these include but are not limited to housing providers, relevant voluntary organisations and SERCO (the company responsible for the electronic monitoring of offenders in Scotland).