Young Adults’ Experiences of a Specialist Probation Hub: Procedural Justice, Trust and Hope

There are growing calls for young adults (18- to 25-year-olds) in the criminal justice system to be treated as a distinct group and for service responses more attuned to this developmental life course phase. This article draws on an evaluation of a specialist young adult probation ‘Hub’ analysing results within a linked conceptual framework of procedural justice, building trust and instilling hope. A dominant finding was how the bespoke Hub service and the probation practice that flowed from it, led young adults to experience it as a service they wanted to engage with, that had tangible benefits and which led to a more substantive form of compliance. The article contributes valuable insights and knowledge on procedural justice in young adult probation.