CYCJ-Seeing Wellbeing, Care and Constraint Through Young People’s Eyes: What This Means for Youth Justice in Scotland

This webinar explores what young people in Scotland say about wellbeing, care, and the structural constraints shaping their everyday lives and considers what these insights mean for youth justice practice and policy. Drawing on participatory research using photovoice and dialogue, the session will highlight how young people understand safety, belonging, stigma, poverty, participation, and trust, and how these experiences intersect with the systems around them. We will examine how justice systems might move from seeing wellbeing as an individual responsibility to understanding it as structural; how relational practice can be understood as core prevention infrastructure; and how participation can become meaningful rather than tokenistic. The session invites practitioners, policymakers, and partners to reflect on how care, accountability, and young people’s voices can shape a more rights-respecting and justice-informed approach across Scotland.

Bio:

Dr Haley Sneed, Participation Advisor, CYCJ
Haley is a community-based researcher, youth worker, and Participation Advisor at the Children & Young People’s Centre for Justice. Her doctoral research explored young people’s experiences of wellbeing, care, and constraint in post-COVID Scotland, using photovoice and participatory dialogue. Her work focuses on youth voice, rights-based practice, and supporting systems change through relational and creative methods.

Content warnings:
References to poverty, structural neglect, mental health challenges, stigma, and justice involvement. No graphic content.

Target audience:
Youth justice practitioners, social workers, youth workers, secure care staff, teachers, local authority colleagues, SG, third-sector partners, researchers, and students.