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Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice

Joseph Janes Orcid Logo

Youth Justice

Swansea University Author: Joseph Janes Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/14732254261428266

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics between structure and agency in Welsh youth justice, focusing on the discretionary power of Youth Offending Team (YOT) managers. Drawing on qualitative research with practitioners, policy actors and young people, it explores how ‘soft devolution’ and local discreti...

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Published in: Youth Justice
ISSN: 1473-2254 1747-6283
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71511
first_indexed 2026-02-26T16:07:30Z
last_indexed 2026-04-29T05:26:49Z
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spelling 2026-04-28T11:18:15.0743660 v2 71511 2026-02-26 Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice 9978c07cfc688537dce1a87a5a779c19 0000-0001-5285-0937 Joseph Janes Joseph Janes true false 2026-02-26 SOSS This article explores the dynamics between structure and agency in Welsh youth justice, focusing on the discretionary power of Youth Offending Team (YOT) managers. Drawing on qualitative research with practitioners, policy actors and young people, it explores how ‘soft devolution’ and local discretion facilitate the development of bespoke, rights-based practices that diverge from their English counterparts. Framed through Mills’ sociological imagination and Giddens’ structuration theory, the article demonstrates how YOT managers translate national policy into locally grounded practice, shaping outcomes in ways that both reflect and reconfigure wider structures. The voices of young people themselves underline the stakes of this process, revealing how professional discretion can either stifle or support their aspirations for the future. The findings highlight how frontline innovation, embedded in devolved governance and rights-based legislation, can transform space for a more welfare-oriented approach to youth justice in Wales. More broadly, the study offers lessons for devolved and quasi-devolved contexts, showing how local agency can sustain meaningful reform within structurally constrained systems. Journal Article Youth Justice 0 SAGE Publications 1473-2254 1747-6283 devolution, policy and practice, structure and agency, Wales, YOTs, youth justice 30 3 2026 2026-03-30 10.1177/14732254261428266 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2026-04-28T11:18:15.0743660 2026-02-26T16:04:45.1213613 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Joseph Janes 0000-0001-5285-0937 1 71511__36620__09351e7dc79943f98c4311c23faf6066.pdf 71511.VOR.pdf 2026-04-28T11:14:36.7506731 Output 190570 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
spellingShingle Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
Joseph Janes
title_short Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
title_full Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
title_fullStr Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
title_full_unstemmed Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
title_sort Agency in an age of structure: the role of YOT managers in shaping Welsh youth justice
author_id_str_mv 9978c07cfc688537dce1a87a5a779c19
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9978c07cfc688537dce1a87a5a779c19_***_Joseph Janes
author Joseph Janes
author2 Joseph Janes
format Journal article
container_title Youth Justice
container_volume 0
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1473-2254
1747-6283
doi_str_mv 10.1177/14732254261428266
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy
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description This article explores the dynamics between structure and agency in Welsh youth justice, focusing on the discretionary power of Youth Offending Team (YOT) managers. Drawing on qualitative research with practitioners, policy actors and young people, it explores how ‘soft devolution’ and local discretion facilitate the development of bespoke, rights-based practices that diverge from their English counterparts. Framed through Mills’ sociological imagination and Giddens’ structuration theory, the article demonstrates how YOT managers translate national policy into locally grounded practice, shaping outcomes in ways that both reflect and reconfigure wider structures. The voices of young people themselves underline the stakes of this process, revealing how professional discretion can either stifle or support their aspirations for the future. The findings highlight how frontline innovation, embedded in devolved governance and rights-based legislation, can transform space for a more welfare-oriented approach to youth justice in Wales. More broadly, the study offers lessons for devolved and quasi-devolved contexts, showing how local agency can sustain meaningful reform within structurally constrained systems.
published_date 2026-03-30T06:14:23Z
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score 11.103813

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