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Objective: This paper reviews a century of research on creating theoretically meaningful and empirically useful scales of criminal offending and illustrates their strengths and weaknesses. Methods: The history of scaling criminal offending is traced in a detailed literature review focusing on the issues of seriousness, unidimensionality, frequency, and additivity of offending. Modern practice in scaling criminal offending is measured using a survey of 130 articles published in five leading criminology journals over a two-year period that included a scale of individual offending as either an independent or dependent variable. Six scaling methods commonly used in contemporary criminological research are demonstrated and assessed using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979: dichotomous, frequency, weighted frequency, variety, summed category, and item response theory 'theta'. Results: The discipline of criminology has seen numerous scaling techniques introduced and forgotten. While no clearly superior method dominates the field today, the most commonly used scaling techniques are dichotomous and frequency scales, both of which are fraught with methodological pitfalls including sensitivity to the least serious offenses. Conclusions: Variety scales are the preferred criminal offending scale because they are relatively easy to construct, possess high reliability and validity, and are not compromised by high frequency non-serious crime types.

To explore user perspectives on applying the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) to systematic reviews of complex interventions. Thirty-three authors of recent (2013 onward) systematic reviews were contacted regarding their perspectives on using GRADE from three Cochrane review groups: Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial, and Learning Problems Group; Cochrane Public Health Group; and Cochrane Depression, Anxiety, and Neurosis Group. Framework Analysis was applied to the data to identify the challenges in applying GRADE and suggestions for its extension, that is, adaptation. These two themes were cross-compared between the groups of answers from “simple” vs. “complex” intervention review authors to identify the specific perspectives on using GRADE in reviews of complex interventions. Specific challenges were identified in applying GRADE to reviews of complex interventions. These were related to the assessment of nonrandomized studies and performance bias in GRADE. Authors perceived these challenges to contribute to frequent downgrading of the “best evidence possible” for complex interventions. Meanwhile, GRADE was found to lack an analytic approach to enable adequate evidence synthesis and assessment of intervention implementation elements. Users suggest that the GRADE guidance be extended to address-specific considerations for complex interventions.

Children placed within the Children and Young People’s Secure Estate (CYPSE) are recognised as a ‘doubly vulnerable’ group of children experiencing a range of developmental differences and adverse experiences. Risk factors contributing to their journey into the CYPSE have been explored within the literature; however, empirical research incorporating their views is lacking. This systematic literature review sought to explore the literature pertaining to the views of children within the CYPSE. A thematic synthesis of the data identified three abstract themes: factors relating to the individual, their relationships, and influences of the setting in which they were placed. Findings illustrate the importance of hearing the voices of children placed within the CYPSE to support understanding and action of the involved professionals in order to positively impact on longer term outcomes.

A new measure of community well-being is developed based on the notion that community residents perceive the quality-of-life (QOL) impact of community services and conditions in various life domains (e.g., family, social, leisure, health, financial, cultural, consumer, work, spiritual, and environmental domains). These perceptions influence residents' overall perception of community well-being, their commitment to the community, and their overall life satisfaction. Survey data were collected in the Flint area (Michigan, USA) in four waves (1978, 1990, 2001, and 2006). The data supported the nomological validity of the measure.

To identify evaluations of interventions that target multiple risk factors in high‐risk young people, describe their characteristics, critique their methodological quality and summarise their effectiveness. A search of the literature published between 2009 and 2014 identified 13 evaluations of interventions that targeted multiple risk factors, compared to 95 evaluations that targeted single risk factors. The methodological adequacy of the 13 evaluation studies was analysed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies and information regarding characteristics and intervention effectiveness was extracted and summarised. There were very few outcome evaluation studies of interventions that targeted multiple risk factors, relative to single risk factors, among high‐risk young people. Of the identified studies, half were methodologically weak. Interventions delivered in community settings targeted a greater number of risk factors, while those delivered in a school or health setting reported a higher proportion of statistically significant outcomes. No economic analyses were conducted. More methodologically rigorous evaluations of interventions targeting multiple risk factors among high‐risk young people are required, especially for those delivered in community settings. Four key areas for improvement are: i) more precisely defining the risk factors experienced by high‐risk young people; ii) achieving greater consistency across interventions; iii) standardising outcome measures; and iv) conducting economic analyses.

Covering Green's The Fault in Our Stars, Collins' The Hunger Games, Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Rowling's Wizarding World, Staake's Bluebird and Winton's Lockie Leonard, contributors consider how literature can be used for teaching literary literacy, creative writing, intercultural learning, critical pedagogy and deep reading in school settings where English is the teaching medium. Leading scholars from around the world explore pedagogical principles for English Language Teaching (ELT) widening children's and teenagers' literacy competences as well as their horizons through insightful engagement with texts. From challenging picturebooks for primary and secondary students, to graphic novels, to story apps, film and drama, as well as speculative fiction on provocative topics, recent research on literature education in ELT settings combines with cognitive criticism in the field of children's, young adult and adult literature.

Background Juvenile Dermatomyositis is a rare, potentially life-threatening condition with no known cure. There is no published literature capturing how children and young people feel about their condition, from their perspective. This study was therefore unique in that it asked children and young people what is it like to live with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. Methods Data were obtained from fifteen young people with Juvenile Dermatomyositis, between eight and nineteen years of age from one Paediatric Rheumatology department using audio-recorded interpretive phenomenology interviews. Data were analyzed phenomenologically, using a process that derives narratives from transcripts resulting in a collective composite of participants shared experiences, called a ‘phenomenon’. Results The overarching metaphor of a rollercoaster captures the phenomenon of living with Juvenile Dermatomyositis as a young person, with the ups and downs at different time points clearly described by those interviewed. The five themes plotted on the rollercoaster, began with confusion; followed by feeling different, being sick, steroidal and scared from the medications; uncertainty; and then ended with acceptance of the disease over time. Conclusion Young people were able to talk about their experiences about having Juvenile Dermatomyositis. Our findings will aid clinicians in their practice by gaining a deeper understanding of what daily life is like and highlighting ways to enhance psychosocial functioning. Hopefully, this study and any further resulting studies, will raise understanding of Juvenile Dermatomyositis worldwide and will encourage health care professionals to better assess psychosocial needs in the future.

Purpose The “Picture This, Picture Me” research project enabled young people who have experience of a parent in prison to challenge the narrow narrative of “prisoners’ children” by sharing their wider sense of identities and their needs. This paper aims to show the value of specialised voluntary sector support groups for children with a parent in prison as well as demonstrate that parental imprisonment, whilst significant, is only one part of their story. Design/methodology/approach Children’s experiences are explored through expressive and creative research methods informed by photovoice research, including taking and responding to photos and caption writing, short conversational interviews and curation of artefacts. Findings Children’s perspectives are presented: what matters to them, what makes them happy, how do they perceive themselves beyond the label of “a prisoner’s child”, how do community-based support services help and what they would like people to know about children who have been impacted by parental imprisonment. Research limitations/implications This research contributes to an emerging research area on the role of services from the community and voluntary sector and non-formal educational organisations that support children impacted by parental imprisonment at a personal and family level. Practical implications This research offers useful knowledge to professionals, including those in education, children’s services and non-formal community-based services, with an interest in holistically supporting children and families with a relative in prison. Social implications Children’s insights are offered on the value of peer-to-peer and community-based interventions that support them holistically, including articulating their self-identity, life and educational aspirations and practical issues for families. Originality/value There is minimal research on including and hearing the voices of children who have a family member in prison and their perspectives are invaluable.

Yogyakarta is a part of Javanese society. Javanese culture, which always enforces moral values, has a practical implication toward adolescents' views about their self-identity. Yogyakarta adolescents are well known to have positive self-identity, good behavior, and tend to become successful persons in their youth. In the past years, a phenomenon of youth gangs that often conduct irresponsible acts such as brawls, stabbing terror, and even murder has emerged. The question of the research is how adolescent members of a youth gang give meaning to their involvement in a youth gang. To answer the question, we used a phenomenological research method. We employed a modified Colaizzi method as defined by Moustakas (1994) to analyze the data. The participants of the research are adolescents with criteria as follows: coming from the Javanese family, living in Yogyakarta, a high school student, a member of a youth gang, had been involved in law violation. The research results show that Javanese adolescents, members of a youth gang, value their involvement in the gang as a means of showing their self-existence because the gang is the only place that provides wiggle room to express themselves, adolescents failed to construct values about self-existence, and also they lacked appreciation from their closest people and their environment.