Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in Aotearoa New Zealand are both primed for, and hindered within the youth justice (YJ) system. This research provides a fresh perspective on how social workers can take a lead role in ensuring young people with FASD receive neurodevelopmentally appropriate interventions both within the YJ system and upon return to their communities.METHODS: A systematic literature review of secondary data was undertaken to explore themes, including the connection between the impacts of FASD and risk of contact with the YJ system; how FASD affects the young person’s ability to navigate the YJ system; best practice recommendations to ensure just treatment for young people in the YJ system; and the potential for social work to take a lead role in improving treatment and outcomes for young people with FASD in the YJ system.FINDINGS: Key findings include the confirmation of the link between young people with FASD and the YJ population; consistent best practice recommendations for treatment and interventions; and a clear positive relationship between the social work mandate and the implementation of the recommended treatment for young people with FASD who have had contact with the YJ system.PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Based on the research findings, an FASD-informed practice framework has been developed as a tool to guide social workers who are working with young people with FASD in the Aotearoa New Zealand YJ system and beyond.
Highlights
Young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in Aotearoa New Zealand are both primed for, and hindered within the youth justice (YJ) system
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Based on the research findings, an FASD-informed practice framework has been developed as a tool to guide social workers who are working with young people with FASD in the Aotearoa New Zealand YJ system and beyond
Young people with FASD are predisposed to a broad range of difficulties, the dominant issue for adolescents being the general impairment in adaptive functioning that occurs through a combination of deficits in both executive functioning and social cognition, and presents as cognitive and neurodevelopmental sequelae that can lead to contact with the YJ system and affect interactions within the system (Bower et al, 2018; Crawford, 2018; Killingley, 2014)
Summary
A systematic literature review of secondary data was undertaken to explore themes, including the connection between the impacts of FASD and risk of contact with the YJ system; how FASD affects the young person’s ability to navigate the YJ system; best practice recommendations to ensure just treatment for young people in the YJ system; and the potential for social work to take a lead role in improving treatment and outcomes for young people with FASD in the YJ system. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Based on the research findings, an FASD-informed practice framework has been developed as a tool to guide social workers who are working with young people with FASD in the Aotearoa New Zealand YJ system and beyond It is universally accepted in the research literature that exposure to alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of permanent neurological impairment to the developing brain, and that it has significant and lifelong impacts (Astley, 2011; Crawford, 2018; Enns & Taylor, 2018). The task of gaining a firm diagnosis of FASD is complicated by the myriad of presenting primary impacts (Chudley, 2018), as well as the similarity of the FASD phenotype to other disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, attachment disorder, dyspraxia, learning difficulties, auditory and visual processing issues, and conduct disorder (Brown & Mather, 2014; Gibbs & Sherwood, 2017). Given that it is widely acknowledged that FASD is underrecognised and PAE is under-reported (Connor & Casswell, 2012; Crawford, 2018; Rogan & Crawford, 2014), the final figure of births affected by PAE in Aotearoa New Zealand could be substantially higher than international norms
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