Introduction

Having reviewed in Chapter One debates and evidence about restorative justice (RJ) as a response to conflict and offending behaviour, this chapter sets out to consider the particular setting in which this approach was applied in the current research. What is specific to this setting is the focus on children and young people in residential care. This chapter sets out to present the evolving policy context for children in care more broadly (as children move between different forms of care), connecting the circumstances of coming into care, or being in care, with the behaviours that might be addressed by using an RJ approach. The chapter starts with a brief look at the origins of the care system and how this relates to poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, and how this interconnects with conflict and offending behaviour. The concept of ‘managing risk’ is introduced in relation to these circumstances and behaviours, within the broader policy discourse about risk. Evidence about a range of relevant ‘outcomes’ from the care experience is presented and discussed. The contemporary focus on improving outcomes from care through the Care Matters White Paper (DCSF, 2006), within the overall framework of Every Child Matters (DCSF, 2003), is outlined.

Children in care: poverty, marginalisation and social exclusion

In trying to understand how and why the care system has evolved and the nature of the behavioural issues presented to, and managed by, staff and carers, it is worth briefly considering the historical backdrop from which the current system has developed and continues to evolve. There is historical evidence that some children have always been brought up or lived for extended periods outside their birth families (Gorin, 2000). Some have lived away from ‘home’ or birth parents for a period, often with relatives or family friends. Others have been sent away to boarding schools. These different reasons for living away from home are qualitatively different, particularly in relation to any degree of adult choice exercised, the reasons for any choice or decision and the extent to which officialdom or the state is involved, if at all. Also there are likely to be differences in the way behaviours are managed in residential (or group) settings in comparison with individual family homes that act as foster carers. There are practical possibilities and strategies that are more (or less) relevant in these different settings.