The resilience motif: implications for youth justice

Resilience has not impacted greatly in youth justice to date, yet holds great promise for practice. This article explores salient features of thinking around resilience, in particular Michael Ungar’s research on how young people search for power and identity using whatever resources they can access. This perspective reframes many behaviours conventionally viewed as deviant or risky, arguing that a young person ‘behaving badly’ may at the same time be drawing on strengths, skills and capacities. The opportunities and challenges for practice lie in collaborative work to enable young people to use these strengths, skills and capacities to create more positive futures.