The research literature emphasises the importance of ensuring that there is a focus on both needs and strengths to support children’s positive development and their desistance from offending. A review of the literature relating to both youth violence and gang involvement grouped risk and protective factors into individual, family, peer group, school, and community domains, recognising the importance of holistic responses.
A number of these areas are covered in this section of the evidence base. For many children, there are overlapping needs. Of those children sentenced in the year ending March 2020 with a completed AssetPlus assessment, concerns were recorded in relation to at least ten areas in about three in five (63 per cent) of the cases.
